I turned 40 in September, which feels like a significant milestone. How do I make sense of this? What does this mean? I think about starting University in 2004, 20 years ago, which is exactly half my life ago. 2004 doesn’t feel that long ago. I think about my favourite albums or films that came […]
Finding Meaning and Balance Read More »
I’m currently enjoying reading ‘The Discovery of Being’ by the late existential psychologist Rollo May. The focus of the book is what existentialism can teach us about ‘being’ human, drawing on the philosophers Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. What emerges for me is the concept of people as ‘beings’, and a reminder that ‘being’ is a verb.
Transforming Anxiety Read More »
David Bowie, one of my favourite musicians, who went through many ch-ch-ch-changes I’ve been thinking a lot about change recently, partly because of the recent change in government in the UK. The Labour party even made “change” their campaign slogan. How much real change we’ll see from them remains to be seen of course. I’m
Changes (turning to face the strange) Read More »
It’s been a while since I’ve added to this blog. I’ve had a couple of false starts where I’ve half written out my thoughts, but in speaking to my supervisor today I realise how much value there is in me re-engaging with writing. I know that regularly writing a blog can help with marketing, as
Writing and reflection (and doubt!) Read More »
We live in a capitalist world which emphasises the importance of winning. I believe this idea is tangled up with notions of masculinity and the patriarchy as a whole. But what does this do to us as individuals, and to our organisations? Is there value in losing, not by re-framing it as a step on
Capitalism is very efficient at eating resistance ideas and spitting them back at us, and the concept of self-care is no different. Self-care is now a multi-million-pound industry, where to care for yourself means spending money on pedicures, spa days, gym membership and so on. Exploited employees are encouraged to practice mindfulness breathing exercises on
How to Practice Radical Self-Care Read More »
“There’s power in our struggle” – No Paradise, Santigold The seven largest oil firms made a profit of over £150 billion this year. It’s difficult for us to comprehend how large a number that is. Even defining a billion as one thousand million is still difficult to visualise. Meanwhile British customers are paying 96% more
“Action is the antidote to despair” – Cid Ricketts Sumner, 1957 Deciding to start counselling can be a positive step towards finding your way again. But when we start anything new we are unlikely to know what to expect, and that can feel unsettling. It’s completely normal to feel anxious or awkward when preparing to
What happens in the first counselling session? Read More »
Today we define anxiety as an emotion arising from an unknown or poorly understood threat. This is distinct from fear which arises from a specific and known threat. We may be anxious about uncertainty (e.g. the unknown of entering a new social situation), but afraid of certain things (e.g. an attacker). Walking through a park
Anxiety: What does it mean? Read More »
If you ever wonder why you act a certain way in relationships, attachment theory may be able to help. This could be romantic relationships, or any other type of relationship for example with a friend of colleague. A word of caution: I think of theories of human behaviour like maps, in that they can be
Attachment: How early experiences affect your relationships Read More »