Emerald Tree Consulting

An emotion may last only seconds or minutes.
Feelings can last much longer because our thoughts continue to replay the experience and create meaning around it.

It's often not the event itself that keeps us feeling stuck—it's the story we continue telling ourselves.

The next time you're emotionally overwhelmed, ask yourself:

What actually happened?
What story am I telling myself about what happened?
This simple shift can help create space between the experience and your interpretation of it.
Awareness creates choice.

💵 A Friendly Reminder: We Accept Cash

With so much of life becoming digital, it's easy to forget that cash is still welcome at Emerald Tree.

Paying with cash can:
• Avoid credit and debit card transaction fees.
• Provide greater privacy by reducing the digital record of your purchase.
• Be a simple and convenient payment option for many people.

Many people also value the discretion that cash offers when attending counselling or therapy appointments.

Did you know? From the beginning of this month, large supermarkets and petrol stations are required to accept cash between 7:00am and 9:00pm for transactions of $500 or less. It's a timely reminder that cash continues to play an important role in our community.

Whether you choose cash, EFTPOS or another payment method, we're happy to accommodate what works best for you.

📍 Emerald Tree Psychological Therapies
📞 03 5222 4737
🌐 www.emeraldtree.com.au

This winter, take a moment to consider "the joy of missing out". Time to get out of the mouse wheel? 🌳✅

🌿 Dry July Motivation: The Hidden Cost of "Just One or Two Drinks"

Many people believe that one or two alcoholic drinks in the evening are harmless and have little impact on their health.

The evidence tells a different story.

Even small amounts of alcohol has an impact on your brain, your body and can disrupt the quality of your sleep, and because sleep underpins almost every aspect of our physical and mental wellbeing, those effects can extend well beyond the next morning.

🍷 Alcohol is a sedative but not a sleep aid.

It may help you fall asleep more quickly, but the sleep that follows is often less restorative.

Research shows alcohol can:
😴 Reduce REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. It's the stage important for emotional regulation, learning and memory.
🌙 Increase sleep fragmentation, causing more frequent waking during the second half of the night.
💨 Worsen snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea by relaxing the muscles of the upper airway.
❤️ Increase overnight heart rate and reduce heart rate variability, meaning your body remains under greater physiological stress while you sleep.
🧠 Leave you feeling less refreshed, even after what appears to be a full night's sleep.

Over time, regularly disrupted sleep can contribute to:
• Increased anxiety, irritability and low mood.
• Reduced resilience to everyday stress.
• Poor concentration, slower decision-making and memory difficulties.
• Reduced work performance and productivity.
• Increased blood pressure and cardiovascular risk.
• Changes in appetite regulation, metabolism and weight.
• Reduced immune function and slower recovery from illness.

Sleep is one of the foundations of good mental health. When we consistently miss out on restorative sleep, it becomes harder to regulate emotions, cope with challenges and engage fully in the things that matter most.

For many people participating in Dry July, one of the earliest changes they notice is waking feeling more refreshed, having more consistent energy throughout the day and experiencing improved mental clarity.

Whether your goal is to improve your sleep, support your mental wellbeing or simply become more mindful of your drinking habits, every alcohol-free day is a step towards better health.

If alcohol is affecting your wellbeing, relationships or daily functioning, remember that support is available. Seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness. It will help support your goal to be a better healthier you 💚

References

• Pietilä J, Helander E, Korhonen I, et al. (2018). Acute Effect of Alcohol Intake on Cardiovascular Autonomic Regulation During the First Hours of Sleep in a Large Real-World Sample. JMIR Mental Health, 5(1), e23.

• Alcohol and Drug Foundation (Australia). Alcohol and Sleep.

• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Alcohol and Sleep.

• American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Sleep education resources on alcohol and sleep.

• Sleep Health Foundation (Australia). Information on healthy sleep and lifestyle factors affecting sleep.

• World Health Organization. No level of alcohol consumption is completely safe for health (2023), highlighting that health risks increase with alcohol consumption, even at lower levels.

Instead of thinking about emotions as positive or negative, it can be more helpful to think of them as pleasant and unpleasant.
Pleasant emotions like joy, gratitude, love, hope, and calm help us connect with others, build resilience, and support our wellbeing.

Unpleasant emotions like fear, anger, sadness, disappointment, guilt, and frustration may not feel good, but they also play an essential role. They can warn us of danger, highlight unmet needs, signal loss, or show us where healthy boundaries are needed.

Every emotion provides information.

Rather than trying to avoid unpleasant emotions or chase pleasant ones, practise becoming curious about what each emotion is communicating.

Reflection: Which emotion has been trying to tell you something lately?