Why it’s time to stop pursuing happiness

Positive thinking and visualising success can actually make you miserable – happily, other strategies for fulfilment are available

How to find the right therapist

More and more people are seeking help – but where to look? An expert offers pointers

My lockdown meltdown drove me to try therapy – did it help?

When my Spice Girls-related coping mechanism stopped working, a friend suggested cognitive behavioural therapy

‘Listen as well as talk – and try not to interrupt’: how to be a better friend

For many, keeping in touch with people we love has been harder this past year. But it’s not too late to rekindle friendships, or find new ones

I teach a course on happiness at Yale: this is how to make the most of your resolutions

Forget tough love. Adopting a positive mindset and being kind to yourself is a more effective way to make a change

Amid the gloom of lockdown, I have taken solace in nature

If you’re feeling cooped up, defy the cold, head for your local park and marvel at the antics of gulls, starlings and fieldfares, says urban birder David Lindo

Silence your inner critic: a guide to self-compassion in the toughest times

Is your internal monologue friendly, calm and encouraging – or critical and bullying? Here is how to change it for the better

Musician, heal thyself: how ambient music brought solace in 2020

With no clubs or gigs to go to and pandemic anxiety to quell, ambient music chimed more strongly in a year when artists reconsidered their sense of purpose

2020: the year relaxation became impossible

Since March I’ve felt like a tensed cat ready to pounce. It’s a side-effect of Covid - and this government, says Joel Golby

Giving birth seemed to spell disaster for my mental health. Were my anxieties unfounded?

I feared isolation, sleep deprivation and an end to the activities that had been keeping me well. I never expected to be filled with such love and wonder