Sports stars and their mental health, emotionally manipulative partners and counselling as an employee benefit were some of the areas of discussion in the media for our members.

Nicola Vanlint provided insight to the Daily Mail Online about the importance of mental health to athletes and sports stars.

It followed the withdrawal of four-time Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles from the Tokyo games to prioritise her mental health.

Nicola, who is based in Greenwich and works with athletes, was also featured on London Live TV and KMTV talking about the Olympics, sports stars and their mental health, and raising awareness about seeking professional support if you need it.

Rochelle Armstrong and Deone Payne-James offered advice for people affected by the racist abuse of England footballers after the final of Euro 2020, while Kemi Omijeh discussed challenging racism in the workplace.

Caroline Plumer spoke to the Independent about how the England football team could use the disappointment of defeat in the final to spur them on in the future while Glenda Roberts spoke to the East Anglian Daily Times about problem gambling around the tournament.

Fiona Ballantine Dykes, our Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Professional Standards Officer, contributed to an article in the Guardian about professional standards in counselling and psychotherapy, and the need for people to see a qualified therapist who is on a Professional Standards Authority register, such as ours.

Anthony Davis spoke to The Voice about increases in racial trauma and isolation among Black African, Caribbean and LGBTQ+ clients since the pandemic.

Denise Freeman shared her expertise from working with TV and film companies with newspapers in Scotland as she discussed the mental health support that needed to be available for contestants on ITV’s Love Island.

Emma Davey talked to the Daily Mail about ‘negging’, a form of gaslighting where someone insults you and undermines your confidence through back-handed compliments, and how to spot the signs of an emotionally manipulative partner.

Jessica Mitchell talked to GM Journal about how to support the mental health needs of people with cancer.

The mental health impact of social media was discussed by Jennifer Park in Cosmopolitan, while the benefits of running were highlighted by Eve Menezes Cunningham and William Pullen in Stylist.

Dee Johnson spoke to Voice of Islam radio about anger and how counselling can help people struggling with anger.

Anxiety at returning to workplaces after the ending of COVID restrictions and working alongside other people again was discussed by Melissa Sedmak with Yahoo Finance.

Cate Campbell spoke to the Metro about our annual Public Perceptions Survey, which found that half of women in the UK who’d decided to have counselling for the first time in the last 12 months said it was influenced by COVID.

Another statistic from our survey, that 74 per cent of people in Scotland said their mental health had been negatively impacted by the pandemic, was discussed on BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Orkney and BBC Radio Shetland.