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July 31st, 2008 by Ian Beardsall

When bulimia is in our lives we are not just dealing with food and weight issues.

When bulimia is in our lives we are not just dealing with food and weight issues.

There are underlying concerns that drove us to focus on food and body initially. Many of us have feelings of low self-worth, and a strong need to control emotions and surroundings. We experience escalating cycles of binging and purging in our attempt to feel in control of our lives. Binges distance us with an external sense of safety. The purges help us to regain a sense of control over our body and behaviours. That sense of control comes at a high price however, as we will ultimately end up feeling guilty and disgusted with ourselves for binging and purging and we still haven’t solved the problem that led us to binge and purge in the first place.
The majority of those with bulimic behaviour are secretive about the cycle of binge, purge, shame, and guilt. They struggle with feelings of self hatred, blame, low self-worth, loneliness, and fear of failure. Those who struggle with bulimi ...

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July 25th, 2008 by Georgina James MBACP

Panic Attacks

Panic attacks belong to a family of anxiety disorders like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) and Phobias. A panic attack occurs when a high level of anxiety causes adrenalin to produce severe symptoms reaching a peak in minutes.

Panic attack symptoms can include chest pains, nausea, breathlessness, pounding heartbeat, and even a fear of dying. The effects of panic attacks continue long after an attack, and sufferers live in fear of the next one. Panic attacks can seriously impact the way a person lives their life by limiting what they do or where they go as they attempt to avoid situations that trigger the attack.

We all experience fear or anxiety from time to time and often there is a real reason why we are afraid or anxious and we still feel in charge. However, when the fear or anxiety is triggered arbitrarily, the experience is sudden and overwhelming; the sufferer of the panic attack is so distressed they feel ...

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July 12th, 2008 by Howard Widdicombe BSC (Hons) Behavioural Science; Post Grad Dip. Psychotherapy; UKCP Reg.

Humanistic Psychotherapy

Humanistic psychotherapy seeks to explore and promote a holistic understanding of people. It has relevance for people, both as individuals and communities (domestic, social and work related) as well as for the larger society and culture within which we all interact.

Working with a wide-lens and multi faceted vision leads to the study and understanding of people in their entirety. People are seen as whole beings made of many interacting parts, for example: body, feelings, thoughts, senses, imagination and spirit.

The whole is seen not only as more than the sum of the parts but by exploring the nature, action and interaction of the many parts Humanistic Psychology offers a deeper understanding of what it is to be human than approaches which focus more narrowly. Indeed, Humanistic Psychology can include and integrate such approaches. This broad perspective is allied with an understanding of human potential which is both positive and facilitative.

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July 12th, 2008 by Howard Widdicombe BSC (Hons) Behavioural Science; Post Grad Dip. Psychotherapy; UKCP Reg.

Formative Psychology

In recent years Formative Psychology as pioneered by Stanley Keleman at the Centre for Energetic Studies in Berkely California has particularly interested me and become my main focus of professional study. I use formative psychology to seek to
understand human experience from an anatomical perspective.

The essence of formative psychology is the principle that the thoughts, emotions, traumas and psychodynamics of the mind are also encoded in the body. The view that the body is the basis of experience is supported by a practical methodology that teaches people how to influence their own behavior and the way they function.

I work through visualization, expression, bodywork (the use of muscular tone),breathing, physiology and cognitive tools & techniques in order to help to re- organize attitudes, beliefs and behaviors where desired and relevant.

Formative psychology works with the neurobiology (biology, physiology, neurology,chemist ...

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July 9th, 2008 by Tricia Johnson

Tiredness II

In my last article I introduced three possible causes of excessive tiredness or general fatigue. In this article we will look at three more.

Boredom

In my last article I stated that over-activity can be the cause of exhaustion. Conversely, however, fatigue can also be generated by doing too little or being under-stimulated. As can, for some personalities, getting stuck in a rut! A close look at our lifestyle as to its content could be very illuminating. Maybe we might need to consider going on an adventure, whether physically, intellectually or spiritually. It may be that we can’t change the main cause of boredom, in which case we need to look at what is going on around it to try and compensate.

Over-consumption

It is well known that too much food or drink before going to bed can seriously affect the quality of our sleep. But over-consumption can also be about material goods. If our aim in life is to have the big ...

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July 9th, 2008 by JANET JOOSTEN - OMIKRONS PSYCHOTHERAPY CONSULTATION

GRIEVING

"The loss of a loved person is one of the most intensely painful experiences any human can suffer, and not only is it painful to experience, but also painful to witness, if only because we're so impotent to help (Bowlby, 1980)".

The death of a loved one is the most difficult loss one can have!
It presents us with a kind of suffering that challenges our own mortality that often creates a search for meaning of human existence. Grieving is one of the hardest and the most painful experience a human can endure. Yet the fundamental tragedy of death brings out the best in people as well because when death touches us in some way, we are inevitable altered by this process. Yet death, often too painful to contemplate, can spur us to value life with passion that helps bring about new and significant changes, outlook on life, personal meaning, and a deeper understanding of our selves an others and changes in worldview.
It is a given that sooner or later most of us have ...

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June 27th, 2008 by Pierre Cachia CPsychol

Men & Love Relationships

What do men want? Many women are baffled by the contrasting aspects of their male colleagues’, friends or lover’s relational interests. Men, unsurprisingly, are themselves unsure of how to resolve the internal conflicts that close relationships so often provokes in them. Many believe that the expectation that romance unifies both erotic and companionate love has made men’s relational dilemmas even more pronounced.

Paradoxically psychological theories and research have often failed to address men’s life issues in a meaningful manner. Indeed most research and interest in so called ‘male psychology’ has often centred on the ‘dark side’ - men’s propensity towards infidelity, relational violence and addiction. Psychology has in the last two decades or so started to address men’s everyday challenges such as personal growth, romantic attachment and “good enough” fathering. There is also more awareness of the influence that socio-cultural contexts have had on men’s perce ...

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June 23rd, 2008 by Ray Maloney M.Sc

How can an understanding of Anxiety from a CBT perspective assist in the treatment of Psychosis

Abstract

CBT has now moved on to consider the area of psychosis. Anxiety related models have proved a useful tool for developing theory and guiding practice. Early stress vulnerability models are considered before going on to consider the relevance of Clark’s panic model to hallucinatory and delusional experience. The role of trauma is considered with particular regard to childhood sexual abuse and early life trauma. New developments in the area of Metacognition and GAD are considered. Psychosis is considered to be a normative process with difficulties arising from the misattribution of intrusions (delusions or hallucinations) in a catastrophizing or unhelpful fashion; use of safety behaviour complicates the picture. Implications from the normalization of psychosis are considered with regards to treatment. Discussion is made of the weaknesses involved with the model regarding its effectiveness and the research base. A positive outlook is cautiously assumed for the ...

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June 20th, 2008 by Ray Maloney M.Sc

A Cognitive Analytic Perspective of Depression with a consideration of the role of the emotions

The aim of this article is to consider depression and lowered mood within a Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) context; initially depression will be contextualised in terms (briefly) of a bio-medical, sociological, emotional, evolutionary and psychological background. The CAT literature has discussed models for conditions as diverse as borderline and narcissistic personality disorder (see Ryle A, and Kerr I, 2002), deliberate self-harm (Cowmeadow, 1994), treatment non-compliant diabetes (Fosbury et al, 1997), substance misuse (Leighton, 1995) and sexual abuse (Pollock, 1996). Yet, surprisingly little, apart from an article by Ryle (1991) and a few paragraphs in their introduction to CAT (Ryle and Kerr, 2002) has been written on a CAT perspective of depression. We shall attempt to construct a CAT model, or template, for depression together with an analysis on the role of the emotions. Two different ‘types’ or causal routes to depression will be considered together with an appreciation of ...

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June 20th, 2008 by Ray Maloney M.Sc

What is meditation?

Why meditate?

The basic idea generally associated with why people meditate is that during our day we are constantly subjected to sensory input and our minds are always active in the process of thinking. We read the newspaper, study books, and write reports, engage in conversation, solve problems, etc. Typically, as we do these normal activities we engage in a constant mental commentary, sort of an inner "The Drama of Me." Usually people aren't fully aware of all the mental thought activity that we are constantly engaged in. Meditation allows all this activity to settle down, and often results in the mind becoming more peaceful, calm and focused. In essence, meditation allows the awareness to become 'rejuvenated'.

Meditation can be considered a technique, or practice. It usually involves concentrating on an object, such as a flower, a candle, a sound or word, or the breath. Over time, the number of random thoughts occurring diminishes. More importan ...

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