Parable Pod Counselling

01/03/2026

27/02/2026

Did you know that if you text 85258 when you are feeling depressed or suicidal, a trained crisis worker will text you back immediately and continue to text with you? Many people don’t like talking on the phone and are more comfortable texting. It's a FREE service.

Anxiety - 03444775774

Bipolar UK - 03333233880

Mind - 03001233393

PAPYRUS (Young su***de prevention society)- 08000684141

Young minds - 08088025544

NSPCC - 08001111

Refuge - 08082000247

R**e crisis - 08088029999

Victim support - 08081689111

All uk numbers that can help, they are free or charged at a local rate.

11/02/2026

In Irish, there’s a gentle word you don’t hear very often: Sásamh
(pronounced SAW-suv, with a soft “v” at the end).

It means contentment, or deep, quiet satisfaction.
Not the loud, chest-puffing kind of pride.
Not arrogance.
Not showing off.

Just the soft feeling of looking at your own surroundings, your own life, and those who love you, with gentle eyes.

In the old Irish stories, heroes weren’t perfect.

They were brave one day and frightened the next.
They got lost. They made mistakes. They had to start over more than once.

And still, the bards sang about them.

Not because they were flawless, but because they kept going. Because they tried. Because they grew. Because they were human.

Somewhere along the way, many of us learned a harsher lesson.
That we shouldn’t feel proud unless everything is perfect.
Unless the house is spotless, the work is finished, the family never struggle, and we never fall short.

We look at other people’s lives, other people’s homes, other people’s families, and we start measuring ourselves against them.

But comparison is the thief of joy.
It steals the quiet victories.
It blinds us to how far we have come.

So if the word pride feels heavy or uncomfortable, maybe try this one instead:

Sásamh.

That quiet, steady feeling of contentment or ease or peace with your own journey.

If you woke up today and won an Olympic gold medal,
I hope you feel a deep sásamh.

If you cleaned your whole house top to bottom and organized it just the way you like it,
that is worthy of sásamh.

But you know what else?

If you didn’t… you still deserve it.

If today you managed to smile for others although not fully feeling joy yourself,
that effort holds sásamh because you’re trying,
there is real sásamh in that step.

If today you openened your eyes when all you wanted was to keep them shut…
there is deep, quiet sásamh in that too.

Your effort matters.
Your small steps matter.
You matter.

You are not only the distance you still have to go.
You are also the miles you’ve already walked.

And that deserves to be honored.

Take a breath and look at your life with gentle eyes.
And allow yourself a little sásamh.

24/10/2025

Parable Pod Counselling is on the move from Kinross to Monifieth! Annie would like to thank everyone who has supported Parable Pod during its time in Kinross, such incredible clients and supporters ❤️ https://parablepodcounselling.wordpress.com/

14/10/2025

Parable Pod Counselling https://parablepodcounselling.wordpress.com/ and Celebrant Training Academy Scotland https://celebranttrainingacademyscotland.wordpress.com/are delighted to be helping out The Dogs Trust this month by donating art materials to make Pupkin Patches picture perfect for your precious furry friends. Lovely Hazel from Perth Dobbies is working her paint magic in store this week 🧡🧡🧡

22/01/2025

“The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love — whether we call it friendship or family or romance — is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our view, but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that person for another.”
James Baldwin

17/01/2025

❤️ There is so much we miss everyday. So much that passes us by, that we barely even see let alone notice.

The leaf in the shape of a heart. The toddler dancing to the music playing in the supermarket. The puppy carrying a huge stick in the park.

Little things that make us smile.

Things that we share with the people we love when we get home and say “guess what I saw today.”

And yet, we don’t do it enough. We are tunnel visioned, living always a few steps ahead, thinking that we’re closer to some elusive light at the end of that tunnel.

But the little stuff is the light. It’s the things that slowly light us up from within that romanticise our everyday lives. That remind us there is joy everywhere if we look for it.

We can’t always rely on the big stuff - the holidays, the parties, the weddings, the weekends - to fill us up with joy. They are too short-lived, too fleeting.

We need to slowly drip feed joy into our lives. Our veins. Our souls. That’s how we’ll hold on to it.

And just like a child or a puppy or a plant that grows without us even noticing how big it’s getting, our joy - our love of life - might just do the same.

So that one day we might not cling to the holidays and the weekends.

And one day we might look around and realise that we’re not in the tunnel at all.

But that we are the light at the end of it.

~ 'Tunnel Vision’ from 'Letters from Life' by Becky Hemsley

24/12/2024

I am often asked. Do Counsellors cry at Christmas?
Yes counsellors cry at Christmas.

Tears of care and respect for those who getting through Christmas intact, is no mean feat.

Tears of joy and gratitude to give thanks to the beautiful people we meet.

Tears of pain because inside every heart is a hidden struggle, ours too.

Tears of love, blessing and care from my heart to you 💕

13/12/2024

❤️ If you would like to explore healing through counselling Parable Pod Counselling is here for you ❤️

09/12/2024

A beautiful surprise today from the loveliest Parable Pod visitor ❤️ I feel very blessed and humbled to meet so many incredibly special people here ❤️

13/11/2024

Kinross High School’s Pupil Support Café will be open every Thursday from 11am to 12.15pm until December 19th 2024. Please pop along and support the young people who plan, bake and serve at the café. Funds raised are used to purchase resources for our pupil support department 😊

29/10/2024

When Your Soul Is Tired~
"I want you to understand that it's okay to have a tender and tired soul. It's okay to be gentle with yourself, to acknowledge and embrace the emotions you experience, and to let them open up in the depths of your being. It's okay to not be okay, to feel sadness even if you can't fully understand its origins. You don't have to live in just one extreme or dwell only in your wounds. It's important to realize that you exist in many aspects. You are a complex tapestry woven from hope and despair, and it's okay to navigate this world while learning how to balance the two."