‘The room started to spin, my breath grew short’: could I conquer my fear of public speaking?

For years, speaking in public has triggered panic attacks. So to overcome them, I road-tested some popular methods, from psychotherapy to virtual reality

Julie was smart and competent, yet her less qualified colleagues surpassed her. Imposter syndrome held her back

By not seeking promotion, Julie never risked failure. Viewing her chronic self-doubt as a defence mechanism helped her challenge it

Naomi Stadlen obituary

Psychotherapist and author who focused on the communication of mothers with their babies

‘Women have more power than they think’: self-help superstar Mel Robbins on success, survival and silencing her critics

The lawyer turned motivational speaker fills arenas with her promise that you can always turn things around – even if her ideas aren’t exactly new. What is it about her that makes people listen?

The noises you make every day fill me with disgust. Now I’m not afraid to tell you

Misophonia has clearly been with me forever. But I’m ready to start the conversation

Inside the LA ‘psychic reset’ bootcamp that promises happiness – at a price

I was told my life would change if I let strangers prod my deepest wounds. But I wasn’t sure: were these group training sessions empowering or exploitative?

Chronic pain sent Jabez into a spiral of despair. Behaviour therapy brought her back

A new study has found that helping sufferers manage their emotions lessens their experience of chronic pain

In a culture obsessed with positive thinking, can letting go be a radical act?

Beyond self-help mantras like ‘Let them’, radical acceptance shows us the value in learning how to truly accept life just the way it is

I’ll never play golf like Rory McIlroy. But maybe he can teach me how to live with my mistakes

I need to stop dwelling on everything I get wrong, from sending my ball into the drink to squeezing the wrong bottom, writes Adrian Chiles

How an American businessman lost his job and found himself in an old French vineyard

One day, life as a finance consultant stopped making sense for Peter Hahn, so he took to organic winegrowing in the Loire instead. He talks to Genevieve Fox

‘It’s less intimidating, less vulnerable’: why cooking in company helps us to talk

The pressure’s off when we’re not staring at each other, we can relax and have a nice chat. By Alim Kheraj

The truth about stress: from the benefits of the ‘good kind’ to the exercise that only makes it worse

The authors of a new book explain why understanding the science of stress can help us manage it better

What happens when love tips over into the infatuated state of ‘limerence’?

A neuroscientist decided to study the addiction-like obsession of limerence, while overcoming it himself

Realising we’re all made-up characters in a story world helps me understand people

Considering everyone is a protagonist in their own narrative brought clarity for Will Storr

The death of my friend inspired me to follow my standup dreams

For one writer, tragedy led to comedy, the sudden loss of a colleague giving her the nudge she needed