Understanding Self
We often develop unhelpful stories when we are young and unable to emotionally process what is happening. These stories are developed to help us cope at the time but often end up becoming thorns in our side as we grow…
How to survive as a carer
Carers need help too – how counselling can help you cope Being a carer Are you looking after a parent, spouse, disabled child, or friend? Many of us in the UK are now shouldering the main responsibility for looking after…
Broken Hearts Can, And Do, Mend
If your relationship has left you hurt, bewildered, confused, bitter, disappointed, angry, rejected, broke, broken, or any or all of those, you may be feeling as if you will never get over it. You will, with a little help or…
Kindness
I’ve been reflecting a lot on the nature and impact of kindness this week. When someone is kind to us, we can have two reactions - we can accept it and soak in the gift, or we can feel uncomfortable…
Counselling children and young people, within schools using creative play therapy and how early intervention could improve society
Introduction Having worked within a number of local authorities in various capacities, I have identified some important issues in counselling within the care system and also the educational establishment. Many children who come into care arrive either as young babies…
Post Natal Depression: How can Counselling help?
Have you recently had a baby? Are you struggling with feeling low and are often tearful or feel emotionally overwhelmed? You could be suffering from Post Natal Depression, something that affects one in every three new mums in the U.K.…
What teens might say to a parent to avoid conflict
Mum, Dad, I would like 20 mins of your active presence and that means looking at me and really attuning to what I am saying without reacting to what I say. If I am still angry and talking about it…
Retail therapy? The truth
Retail therapy? The truth about shopping addiction. There’s no such thing as a shopaholic right? You will often hear people call themselves Shopaholics but what actually is a Shopaholic? Although it’s not classified, as an addiction, in the DSM 5,…
Developing better work/life balance
How exactly do you leave work at five and not think about it until the next morning? Is that possible when you’ve an important presentation at nine the next morning in front of the entire senior management team? What if…
Empathy and counselling
What is Empathy? Empathy has been described in different ways: walking in another's shoes, entering into another person's frame of reference or having the ability to experience life as the other person does by entering the person's world of thoughts,…
Counselling for Work-Related Stress
Work related stress is an increasingly common issue in today’s busy society. Health and Safety Executive figures for 2013/2014 indicate that ‘Stress, depression or anxiety and musculoskeletal disorders accounted for the majority of days lost due to work-related ill health.’…
All The Lonely People
The Lonely People ‘All the lonely people where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong?’ The Beatles The lonely people come from another universe where ironically they are never alone. Love is everywhere,…