A new year brings me thoughts about reflection and intention. In recent years I’ve been connecting the new year more with reflection, recognising that January is the darkest month, and thoughts of new growth, new direction, feel more appropriate for the Spring. As I wrote in my last blog, the winter is a period of […]
New Year Reflection and Intention Read More »
I recently heard psychotherapist John Price describe Dickens’ A Christmas Carol as Scrooge “doing the work”, which made me laugh, and sounded like the jumping off point for a blogpost. “Doing the work” has become synonymous with going to therapy, engaging in some other therapeutic transmutation, or sometimes general self-improvement. It probably goes without saying
How Ebenezer Scrooge “Did the work” Read More »
I felt very fortunate to have spent two weeks in Japan in the Autumn, travelling around a bit between different cities. Not a restful holiday in terms of step-count, but as my supervisor commented, restful in an opening-up sort of way. Commitments fallen away, I could relax into pursuing my own agenda, which often involved
Pre/Post Holiday Museings Read More »
The latest issue of the BACP’s Therapy Today magazine focusses on the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). There’s obviously been a huge rise in the use of prevalence of AI in the last couple of years. I mostly hear a lot of people worried about the impact of this. Many industries, including therapy, are concerned
As an existential phenomenologist, I am partly indebted to Heidegger’s philosophy, which has been very influential in the world of counselling. His 1927 book Being and Time addresses ontology, the study of being, arguing that we (human subjects) are inseparable from the objective world. We are beings-in-the-world or (his word) Dasein. If I were born
Counselling and Neutrality: Sitting on the Fence Read More »
Maps Experiencing a walk through Brighton is so much richer than looking at Brighton on a map, even via Google street view. The diversity of sounds, tastes, temperatures and connections with others can’t be replicated on a map. And, this doesn’t negate the usefulness of maps. Maps are not experience, but they do help us
Enneagram: Nine Ways of Falling Asleep – and Waking Up Read More »
I’ve been aware of my anger recently. Much of the global news over the last few months has been one factor. I notice myself reasoning with my anger. Reason comes from an intellectual ‘head’ space, whereas anger occupies more of an instinctual ‘body’ space. I’m very familiar with living more in my head than my
Anger, Counselling and Men Read More »
I love the films of David Lynch, so was really saddened to hear of his death recently. His films offered me a way out of the ‘real’ into the wonders and darkness of the ‘unreal’. Life is often mysterious and unexplainable, and Lynch managed to capture that on film. The way he spoke about making
Expanding your life with dreams through Gestalt Psychotherapy Read More »
The most searched-for term on the Counselling Directory website at the moment is ‘anxiety’. This is understandable, as it feels like more and more people are suffering with intense levels of worry. Anxiety is the feeling of unease in the face of nothingness. The feeling often comes about because of things outside of my control:
Changing Our Relationship with Anxiety Read More »
Are we ever truly alone? Loneliness More people are spending Christmas alone in the UK, whether by choice or not. According to the Campaign to End Loneliness approximately 7.1% of people in Great Britain experienced chronic loneliness in 2022. This is up from 6% in 2020. Loneliness is not a ‘mental health’ problem in itself
Loneliness and Counselling Read More »