Welcome to my blog. Here I will post my thoughts about the world of therapy and other topical issues when I can.
Let me know if anything strikes a chord!
How to be (un)happy – existentialism in a nutshell
In a previous blog I’ve written about the question of self love, how it can be achieved through a deep connection with another. In recent times I have become increasingly interested in the answers that existential philosophy offers to this question. In the wonderful talk linked below, Dr Meg-John Barker speaks about this and other…
Silence is golden?
The success of counselling may depend largely on what happens between counsellor and client – what is talked about, what is discovered in the exploration, the new reflections and insights that emerge. So what if you arrive at a counselling session and don’t know what to say? The feeling of not having anything to say…
Leaving the rat race & self actualisation
Almost a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, with vaccines coming and the bright prospect of a return to normal life on the horizon, we as a society are having to consider how things will have changed when it’s all over. Will everything be the same as it was before? The future is notoriously difficult to…
Writing it out
In a previous article, I talked about the benefits of art in relation to mental wellbeing and how it can be used to aid communication in therapy. Here I specifically want to talk about writing, one of my own preferred outlets, and how I think it can be of great service when one feels stuck…
How to move through trauma
When I was in training, someone recommended Bessel Van Der Kolk’s “The Body Keeps The Score” to me as fundamental reading. A seminal work on the latest understanding of trauma and its treatments, this book ended up having a profound effect on me and my work as a therapist. Since then I have read articles,…
Art and therapy
I’ve used art and creativity all my life to express myself and make sense of the confusing vagaries of life. It wasn’t until I began my counselling training that I realised art could be used as a powerful therapeutic tool. Expressing oneself and making sense of life are of course two important processes in therapy.…
Keeping it together in isolation
It’s been a tough few months. In the UK we entered ‘lockdown’ on the 23rd March, following most European countries by requiring everyone to stay at home except for essential trips outside. Efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus have forced the world to adopt social distancing and become more isolated. It’s been four…
The benefits of being inside
I have seen a quote doing the rounds on social media that seems apposite during present events: “If you can’t go outside, go inside.” I cannot find the original author of the quote – perhaps it belongs to an ancient sage, or perhaps it was a random tweet that went viral in the last few…
Social anxiety and the fear of the unknown
You’ve been invited to a party and you don’t know whether to go. It’s your closest friend’s 50th birthday, you want to help them celebrate and they’re expecting you to come. They invited you months ago and you’ve given every indication that you will be going. But you’re not having a good day today, and…
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LGBTQ+ counselling for anxiety and trauma 