Author: Adam Szmerling

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed life as we know it across many regions of the world in just a few short months. I could not have fathomed how quickly my life and that of everyone impacted by COVID-19 could be upended. We are all adjusting to new terminology such as “social distancing”, “essential and non-essential […]

Anxiety disorders can affect people from any walk of life but often many struggle to recognise that they are experiencing anxiety and it can be common for people to want to keep the issue private. This means that many can find it tough to admit there is a problem, often relating it to general “stress” […]

When we get asked “does hypnotherapy work?” (as we do innumerable times) a torrent of assumptions underpin the question. Typically we appreciate the wishful element in such a question but, in general, we recommend a healthy sense of scepticism. Recently, Bayside Psychotherapy received a visit by an intelligent, young Google employee for a survey. He […]

Mindfulness meditation has gained enormous popularity in the last decade and is now being offered as a ‘self help’ or therapy method. It has also been incorporated into mainstream psychological treatments, namely CBT, despite mindfulness and CBT coming from completely different ideological frameworks (interestingly, it sometimes appears proponents of mindfulness are unwittingly promoting CBT, but […]

What is germ phobia? Sometimes articulated as Mysophobia (Germophobia), a germ phobia characterises a disproportionate emotional arousal in response to a thought associated with contamination through contact with germs (whether real or imagined). Germophobia is often thought to arise in some instances of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) however it’s possible to also have germophobia and […]

A little known condition called trichotillomania (otherwise known as compulsive hair pulling) was once thought of as rare. This is no longer the case with estimates ranging from 0.6% to 3.4 % (Christenson, Pyle, & Mitchell, 1991). This means that approximately 285,000 individuals in the state of Victoria have firsthand experience of hair pulling. This […]

Anxiety disorders manifest through many different symptoms, and one of these can be mysophobia (aka germophobia). It is an issue that is more common than you may have realised, one which often leads to disrupted lives with increased levels of stress and anxiety. In order to find out more about this condition from the inside […]

Although there are many aspects to anxiety disorders, one of the most debilitating can be panic attacks. We have spoken with Kayleigh Johnson about her experiences with anxiety and panic attacks, and she has given us an insider view of how it has affected her everyday life. We hope that Kayleigh’s story can show how […]

Anxiety disorders are an issue that can affect anyone. Even those who seem to be the most courageous, strong willed and outgoing people that you know can have days when they have trouble leaving the house. Professional adventurer, John Cantor, has work stresses that can trigger anxiety at the least opportune times, disrupting work and […]

There are a million and one things to do. You have so many deadlines, you couldn’t meet them if you worked until Christmas. The family need dinner, the house needs tidying, the car has broken down and you want to curl up in bed until they all go away. We all feel overwhelmed sometimes. Everyone. […]