Viewing blogs by tag: anxiety
From Exam Nerves to Driving Tests: Why Do We Worry?
Alina Kurylova | 1st May 2026
We've all been there: the dry mouth, the racing heart, and that nagging voice in your head wondering if you’ve forgotten everything you ever learned in a matter of seconds. Whether it's a GCSE paper, a university essay, or even a driving test, anxiety can feel like a heavy weight.I recently finished my Master's degree in International Relations. Yo
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The Worry Workbook
Molly Rackham | 17th October 2025
Everyone worries sometimes, it’s completely normal! But when worries start to build up, it helps to have ways to understand and manage them. That’s why here at Phase we have created The Worry Workbook. It's a fun, interactive resource designed to help children and young people explore their worries, learn about how they affect their minds and bodie
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Hope; not pressure
James Gore | 28th May 2025
In the midst of exam season, we often see a multitude of social media posts telling young people: you are not defined by your exam results.I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. If you’re a young person preparing for more exams after half term, you will not be defined by your exam results. Meanwhile, I’m aware that this statement can be u
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An attitude of gratitude
Guest Contributor | 1st November 2024
What do you have to be grateful for? Seems like an odd question, right? But science has shown that practicing gratitude regularly has several well-being benefits. Whether you practice gratitude when you need a quick pick-me-up, when you can’t get yourself motivated, or when you just want to take stock of what you are grateful for, practicing gratit
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Goals
James Gore | 29th August 2023
With the new school year right around the corner, I thought it would be cool to write about goals. September brings a mix of emotions for a variety of reasons: new school, new level of pressure, new teachers, (or vice versa) new students, the list goes on. Novelty means change and change means uncertainty, or, excitement. Either way, if we’re at th
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Mental Health Awareness Week 2023
Molly Rackham | 15th May 2023
It is Mental Health Awareness Week 2023 this week and this year the theme is Anxiety. The aim of Mental Health Awareness week is to open up conversation with others about important topics and support one another by sharing experiences and tools. Anxiety is an emotion that we have all felt, it's completely normal. Some people may get anxious about e
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New Resource Available...
Hannah Dengate | 11th November 2022
At Phase, we are passionate about helping build wellbeing and resilience in children and young people. We do this in various ways, from primary school workshops, assemblies, secondary school lessons, 1-1 mentoring and support groups.At the start of this academic term, we released a new resource called Focus. This resource aims to enable and equip t
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Let's Talk Anxiety Support Group Reflections...
Hannah Dengate | 2nd July 2021
Over the past term we have had the privilege of running 5 'Let’s Talk Anxiety Support Groups' across the Hitchin Secondary Schools. We are seeing more and more young people struggle with anxiety, especially as we start to emerge from lockdown and are processing all that has happened over the past 18 months. A recent survey by the Mental Health Foun
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Porn-pandemic
Kieran Murphy | 18th June 2021
In a recent Ofsted survey it was highlighted that teenage girls were asked for nudes by up to 11 boys a night. The impact of pornography on young people is a silent pandemic that has been spreading for years.The rise of social media channels where images can be shared for a limited time, the increased amount of free to access pornography straight f
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Let's Talk Anxiety Support Groups
Hannah Dengate | 23rd April 2021
At Phase we are passionate about helping young people live life in all of its fullness, to reach their full potential and thrive. However, due to the pandemic, we have seen a rise in mental health issues and a high level of anxiety. A survey carried out by Young Minds in January 2021 found that: 67% of young people believed that the pandemic will h
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Looking ahead and moving forward...
Kieran Murphy | 5th March 2021
Our Director, Kieran, takes stock of what we have ahead of us as a nation (and town of Hitchin) and offers practical advice for this last stretch of lockdowns and restrictions...It was exciting news from PM Boris Johnson as he announced the roadmap for the way out of lockdown and hopefully the dawn of a new era of life alongside covid. Despite feel
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Happy New Year Hitchin
Elizabeth Feltoe | 9th January 2021
Where do we start then, friends?! There’s so much to say but we’ll keep this brief.Phase knows that the start of 2021 has been difficult and upsetting, to put it mildly. You may be experiencing anxiety, stress and worry for many people in Hitchin (and of course further afield wherever you are). Schools are closed to most pupils, exams have been can
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World Mental Health Day
Elizabeth Feltoe | 9th October 2020
Tomorrow (10th October) it’s World Mental Health Day.This is the day that the World Health Organisation uses to highlight mental health issues, and this year’s theme is ‘mental health for all’.Now, perhaps more than ever, we are talking more about how we feel inside our heads. We are all aware that for some people the consequence of lockdown was in
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Brain Twister!
Amanda Maylin | 25th May 2020
Do you find that sometimes you have rigid thoughts in your head that you can’t seem to change, even if you really want to? I’ve been wondering about that recently…Whilst on holiday in February this year I found an interesting article by Lee Griggs about riding a Backwards Brain Bike (ie where turning the handles has the opposite effect on the steer
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How To Support Your Child
Donna Wade | 30th October 2018
We had the privilege recently of being asked to write a blog post for The Motherload (a website and blogzine for parents) about mental health. It is an area that their readers were requesting some information about, and we know from our own experience at Phase that parents do not receive enough support and guidance. Here are some thoughts that I s
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