People can have an idea that a psychotherapist or counsellor will quickly make inspirational interpretations of their situation and that their lives will be changed very quickly. I think this is unrealistic. What is possible is that through working with … Read More
A woman reflects on a recent period of intense distress brought on during an argument with her husband. Though the dust has started to settle, she knows that the argument raised up a sense of distress that she had not … Read More
It is not uncommon to come to a point in life where the certainties of the past no longer seem to work for us. It can be an unsettling and disorienting experience. Suddenly, for whatever set of reasons, perhaps a … Read More
Often people will describe living with difficult feelings. They might not have them all of the time, but they experience feelings that recur and that make their lives difficult. These might be feelings of anxiety, fear, stress, loneliness or anger. … Read More
It is remarkable how a confidential psychotherapy or counselling conversation helps to open up questions and worries that someone may have kept to themselves for years. Sometimes, in just a few sessions you see someone open up about themselves in … Read More
Question: How do you judge when might be the right time to explore psychotherapy or counselling? Answer: I think often you can have an idea that there is something going on, or that something is wrong, and have the sense … Read More
In my work I sometimes find myself exploring the fronts that people have developed, the shells they have built around themselves, possibly from the very beginning, the sense they have learned and developed that for their own protection things must … Read More
I spent last Sunday at a seminar revisiting one of the Laing and Esterson cases, the Danzig’s, from : Sanity, Madness and the Family. It is always valuable to go over a case history. But, a question that I have … Read More
Broadly speaking, in codependent relationships, one person’s help supports (enables) the other’s underachievement, irresponsibility, and immaturity while making the helper feel better about themselves. Left unchecked, in codependent relationships, a pattern of relating develops in which one person becomes the … Read More
People can be surprised by the idea that psychotherapy is work. They can see it as something lighter than work, surely talking can’t be work? It can take time to appreciate the kind of work that this is. For example, … Read More