February Introduction
Staying With the Season
The urgency of the New Year has softened. The promises have quietened. What remains is something closer to reality. Energy is uneven. Motivation is patchy. The sense of being in the middle of something, without clear endings or beginnings, becomes more noticeable.
At Therapy On the Hill, February is a month we often think about in seasonal terms. Rather than asking how to push forward, we become more interested in how to stay with where we are. This approach draws on psychology, philosophy and something older and simpler: the idea that humans, like nature, move in cycles.
Seasonal modelling recognises that different times of year invite different psychological tasks, and that forcing the wrong task at the wrong time tends to create struggle rather than change. Winter is not designed for acceleration. It is designed for consolidation, restoration and reflection. When we try to force growth during this period, we often activate threat, shame and exhaustion rather than genuine change.
The February posts that follow explore what it means to winter well in a modern world. They draw on ideas from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy, psychoanalytic thinking and cross-cultural philosophy. More importantly, they aim to offer permission. Permission to slow down, to do less without giving up and to trust that not all progress needs to be visible.
This is not a programme for self-improvement. It is an invitation to seasonal intelligence.
February sits between intention and renewal. It is the middle of winter, not the beginning and not yet the turn towards spring. This series is written for that middle space, where effort alone is rarely helpful and where understanding, kindness and patience tend to matter more.
Historically, early February marked moments of orientation rather than action. Candlemas, observed across the UK and Europe, was a time to take stock of light, resources and readiness rather than to rush ahead. In Celtic traditions, Imbolc honoured the first quiet signs of return, not growth itself, but the conditions that make growth possible. These customs recognised something we often forget: that this part of the year is about tending and waiting, not pushing.
As the poet Rainer Maria Rilke once suggested, living well sometimes means living the questions. February, psychologically speaking, is very much a month of questions rather than answers.
Dr. Richard Pomfret
About the Author
Dr. Richard Pomfret is a HCPC-registered Counselling Psychologist and founder of Therapy On The Hill. He works with adults experiencing a range of emotional and psychological difficulties, offering evidence-based therapy in a compassionate and collaborative way.
Contact
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Important Note
The content of this blog is for information and reflection only and is not a substitute for professional psychological assessment or therapy.
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