If you find yourself constantly checking how others feel about you — needing reassurance, approval, or praise to feel okay — you're not alone. Counsellor Caroline Ballard explores where validation-seeking comes from and how understanding your patterns can help you find steadiness from within.

The wait for a reply that doesn't come can feel disproportionately painful — and that's worth paying attention to. Counsellor Caroline Ballard explores why unanswered texts can activate deep feelings of rejection, what our attachment history has to do with it, and what we can do about it.