Student stress is a common and sometimes poorly acknowledged phenomenon. I recently gave advice on how to study without getting stressed out to an organisation in Taiwan that helps students study abroad in Sweden. In an interview with Enspyre Academy, Taiwanese students told me that they feel a lot of academic pressure not only at university, but from a young age.

When faced with constant pressure, it is important to develop a mindset that helps you to cope with stress. I actually do advocate studying abroad, as the broader your mindset, the more likely to are to have behavioural and mental tools at your disposal- and you can pick up on these when you exposed to different attitudes and ways of doing things from other cultures.

You can see my video with tips on how to study without stress here, and there is also the interview, which you can put into Google translate if you're not fluent in Mandarin! As well as speakiing about stress, I also talk about the best way to write a book, as a lot of students were interested in that.

To find out about my anti-stress workshops, or for 1:1 work to help you deal with stress, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Can you be too honest? I don't really think so. My story has just appeared in The Daily Express. In it, I tell of my former life as an alcoholic semi-prostitute with an anxiety disorder. Why on earth would I want to talk about all that, I hear you ask. It's quite simple really. I need to show others it is possible to escape from the throes of addiction, no matter how bad it all got. There is always hope. Always.

If you want to read some of the sordid details, do click here to read the story. Whatever you think about the way I lived my life, take away the message I intended. No matter how far down you think you have gone, there is always a way back. And I'd be delighted to help you find yours if you are willing to start changing for the better.

Drop me a line to have a chat about how I can work with you to help you become free of the past and your problems.

If there's anything better for the spirit than Mindfulness Meditation it might be giving away Mindfulness Meditation MP3s for free!

I am lucky enough to have come across Mindfulness Practice and Meditation many years ago, when it was introduced to me by an Alcohol Counsellor. Back in those days, Mindfulness wasn't really used very much for addictions and mental health, but my Counsellor was way ahead of the game.

Mindfulness is one of the core aspects of Buddhism and of Dialectical Behvaiour Therapy, which I now teach and use with clients. It has been found to be very useful in treating people with addictions, personality disorders and even common complaints such as stress.

I sometimes conduct quick Mindfulness exercises in client sessions, but I am often asked if I offer any recordings so that people can download them and use them at home, too. Well now I do!

I now have a selection of Mindfulness Meditations in my MP3 store, ranging from a quick 6-minute guided focus on the breath to a 30-minute relaxing body scan. I will be adding to the collection as time goes on, but for now follow the link below to enjoy your free Mindfulness downloads.

Free Mindfulness MP3s

My forthcoming book The Happy Addict: How to be Happy in Recovery from Alcoholism or Drug Addiction is now available to pre-order on Amazon.co.uk.

The book is out on July 3rd, but you can reserve your copy now by clicking through the link above. The book has just popped into existence on Amazon.com too. Get The Happy Addict if you're in the US.

You can read more about my new book here. It does exactly what it says on the tin - it will help you to change your thinking, so that you can build on your sobriety and create a life full of happiness and positivity in recovery.

If you haven't yet got a handle on the basics of sobriety, or you find that you're relapsing, then be sure to check out the prequel, The Recovery Formula. You can order it now on all the international Amazon pages, as well as on Kindle.

I'm really excited about the new book and I hope you will find it a valuable addition to your recovery.