Some Willow Tree History

When I started Willow Tree Counselling back in 2009, it was suggested to me that one of the best ways to connect with public about who I am as a therapist and human, would be to write blog posts. This seemed like a good idea because I was also super-interested in the fact that back then, the process of therapy was largely shrouded in mystery. I couldn’t find much information online and I became obsessed with the challenge of demystifying counselling for regular people.

Not knowing I was neurodivergent back then, and over time recognizing that providing information up front before trying something new, is key to reducing anxiety for many neurodivergent folks, motivated my 12-year drive to make counselling and psychotherapy more transparent to the public.

I started my article writing or blog, at the tail end of blogging’s apparent golden age and at a time when Facebook was only 5 years old, X was called Twitter, Instagram didn’t exist and social media wasn’t the phenomenon of today. Yes, I am that old.

For those therapists who had an online presence, blogging, was variably popular. I I noticed that therapists who had blogs on their websites had a lot of start and stop blog posts. Some counsellors would mega-post a high volume of articles in the first few months and then stop, or post monthly for longer stretches and then stop, only to start up again and then stop again. There was a part of me that was judgemental, thinking that I could be more consistent than that, but when it was also suggested to me that I should be writing content every week, I balked! Between raising young children, maintaining a household and developing my practice, I knew that weekly would be too much.

And once I had a bulk of the webpages written for willowtreecounselling.ca, I moved into article writing, starting like many of the predecessors that I’d originally judged with a smattering of articles written in 2009 and 2010 and then moving into a regular writing practice of one article a month every month starting at the beginning of 2011, which also converged with the launch of my newsletter, The Listening Ear. Every newsletter should contain an article, right? And here we are in 2026.

Pondering Article Writing Today

So, are writing articles still relevant in 2026? Does anyone even have the attention span to read long-form articles anymore?

I’ve thought about that a lot, particularly since the upsurge in AI, where it seems that some are encouraging therapists to use AI to help them write articles or web pages. But I won’t be going in that direction as it would defeat the purpose of people getting to know me and my practice authentically. And yes, I do take pride in my website and article posts, written entirely by yours truly.

Because I like to write long-form articles–an extension of my neurotype and personality–articles always take a long time to write. And  yes I have very mixed feelings about writing over time: I loved writing in high school when I had an English teacher that really believed in me, I loved it a less in university when it led to exhaustion and burnout once my degrees were finished, and I started to enjoy it again when I wrote for my website and could do so more casually, blog-style. But still, articles take me a long time to write and edit. If I’m speedy, 5 hours, if I’m struggling with a topic, 12. Regularly, about 6 or 7.

But I’ve been thinking a lot about the rigid routines I’ve carried for all of my life. For example, a family member once said to me that in getting ready for work I’m so laser-focused that morning family chaos could be descending all around me and I just wouldn’t notice, which is not an exaggeration.

And a variation of this exists for article-writing too, which goes something like this:

1. Early each month check my article idea list (and update regularly)
2. Let different ideas cogitate in the back of my mind for about a week
3. Midway through the month, select topic and start the writing process
4. End of the month: complete and edit article, post it, publish newsletter
5. Repeat every month without fail

Am I Stuck? Time For Analysis

Why is it so hard for me to break this routine? I’ve asked myself this increasingly over the years but my questions lacked specificity and didn’t bring me any clarity.

So this month I decided to analyze my resistance to changing this routine into a series of questions, to help get to the heart of the matter and arrive at possible next steps:

How does the thought of changing this routine make you feel?

• Anxious

Why does it make you anxious?

• Sticking to routines make me feel safe (whether or not this is true)
• I worry about the unknown that comes with doing something different and I don’t know how I’ll react

What specifically do you worry could happen?

• People might be disappointed. Maybe—especially those who read and like my articles. Or, those that don’t read them probably won’t even notice that anything is different
• I worry I’m giving up my mission about clarifying the counselling process to the public. Hmm… I have an extensive archive of these articles if people want to look up a particular aspect of counselling
• I’ll have to face my truth that I don’t have quite the energy I did in my 30s and 40s for writing. Yes, my recovery time is longer
• Willow Tree Counselling will lose online visibility in an online search for general counselling. That already happened about 5 years ago, seemingly because Google thought I was writing too much about counselling and erroneously concluded I was keyword-stuffing
• I’ll feel like a failure. That’s old childhood stuff

What if I keep the routine?

• I’d stay in my comfort zone of familiarity
• I’d keep pushing myself, sometimes when it wasn’t good to do so
• I’d keep my writing practice alive, although it might feel more like a chore at times
• I wouldn’t have to face some of the fears I outlined above

What if I broke the routine completely?

• I’d miss writing and I’d probably feel sad
• If I hadn’t written for ages my blog archive would be dated. True
• My newsletter would be pretty thin. Maybe. I tend to ramble about a lot of things so maybe it will now be a reasonable length
• I might have to contend with feelings of laziness. Old childhood stuff and internalized ableism
• The public would only get a sense of me up to 2026 and I’m not dead yet. There are other ways of getting to know me such as contacting me to set up a free consultation.
• I’m not ready to give up writing entirely. Fair. I still like writing articles

But what about a modified writing routine? What could this look like?

• Some editions of The Listening Ear could have an article and others could be published without one. Technically, yes. My article archive would have gaps. I could go by how I feel each month and what my energy levels are
• I could have more time for my other ancillary work commitments such as my newsletter, low-cost counselling resource lists, updating my website, attending counselling-related trainings and continuing professional development events, problem-solving issues with the Jane App, professional reading, handling administrative issues and researching complementary resources for my clients. There’s never a shortage of work duties
• It might start a domino effect of being less rigid about the above tasks and any associated routines. A little more flexibility with those things might be good for me too
• I might forget to write for awhile (yes, that’s a distinct possibility, given the way my brain is wired), especially since routine aids my memory
• I could have more time with people I care about. Baby the cat would also be happy and my sourdough might improve. I might knit more things
• I could face my fears while still maintaining some familiarity, avoiding all or nothing thinking.
• I might be less anxious and feel more of a sense of internal spaciousness. This has surprised me before.
• I would be taking a step towards being a more flexible person, like the branches of the Willow Tree—a metaphor which appealed to me so much that I named my practice after it

In Conclusion and Making it Personal

So, I’ve learned a few things from this exercise:

1. There is no guarantee of a “perfect” solution to changes in routine. Real life typically involves some kind of compromise, unless we have a desire to suffer more.
2. Making changes can be hard because this process may involve facing fears that we have been avoiding.
3. Original routines and the reasons behind them may not reflect one’s current reality. It’s important to ask: are they still serving me?
4. If we’re forcing ourselves into maintaining a routine that is no longer working,  will always pay the piper.  Take note:  what are the mental, emotional, biological, interpersonal, systemic or social consequences that our nervous systems will absorb, or have absorbed, no matter how much we want to fool ourselves?
5. We might like the changes more than we originally thought. This has happened before

All of this is to say that on a Megan-specific level, you may see me writing a little less, with potentially fewer articles attached to my newsletter and posted to my website, depending on how inspired I’m feeling to write that month.

If you struggle with changing a routine, I encourage you to make up some of your own questions to see what comes up for you, or choose from some of these steps:

• Identify: What is the routine that I’m thinking about changing? What are the specific steps that make up the routine?
• Intention: Do you want to stop the routine entirely or modify it?
• Motivation: What are your motivations for considering changing your routine?
• Fears and Feelings: How do you feel about changing the routine? List your thoughts, feelings and worries.
• Possible Change-Related Consequences: If you’re feeling anxious or trepidatious, what do you think might happen if you change your routine? Write out all possibilities, both likely and unlikely.
• Possible Consequences of Staying Put: What might it look like for you if you kept the routine? If you broke it entirely? If you modified it?
• Goal Alignment: Do you see any possible advantages to making a change and that align with your original reasons for wanting to make a change?