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Information & Advice From CounsellorsIf you're interested in an article below and want to find out more about that particular counsellor, simply click on their name to be taken through to their full profile. October 10th, 2008 by Ian Barratt MASC (Corp.) Identifying, Reducing and Managing Workplace Stress This year, National Stress Awareness Day falls on November 5th and should be celebrated with the “big bang” normally reserved for this famous date. Over the past few years, awareness of stress and the negative impact it can have on both individuals and companies has been raised to such a level that most of us are now familiar with stress as a phenomenon, but do we risk assess our businesses and our employees sufficiently enough?With 1 in 6 workers suffering with stress and the same ratio working more than 60 hours a week, it’s no wonder that at some stage we succumb to one of the many health problems associated with stress. The latest figures suggest that in the UK alone, we lose 13.8 million days a year to stress, which is the equivalent of each stress sufferer taking just over 30 days sick leave per annum. The identification of what causes us stress can often be difficult without specialised help. Companies may not realise what the contributory ... October 6th, 2008 by West Suffolk CBT Service THE PARADOX OF DEPRESSION - SESSION ONE (c) From “Think about your thinking to stop depression: A fast and simple system to reduce distress”. 2009. Dr James Manning & Dr Nicola Ridgeway. W. Foulsham Publishers.ACCEPTING YOUR FEELINGS IS ESSENTIAL TO STOP DETERIORATION IN YOUR MOOD Client: But that makes absolutely no sense to me at all. Why would I want to accept that I’m feeling this way, when all I really want is for these feelings to go away? Therapist: Well, just ask yourself, has trying to get rid of your feelings worked so far? Client: I guess not! Therapist: I’ll explain what I mean. All emotions have a function, even those that don’t feel nice (such as guilt, shame, disgust and sadness) and we have evolved to have all of our feelings. What impact would there be on society if nobody ever processed painful feelings? Feeling low is often connected to a process of loss, whether this is a physi ... October 5th, 2008 by Dr James Manning How to use the law of opposites to relieve distress associated with depression How to use the law of opposites (C) (from Session 17 "Think about your thinking to stop depression: A fast simple system to relieve distress" 2009 Dr Nicola Ridgeway and Dr James Manning, Foulsham Publishers.) Available now from the West Suffolk CBT Service.A useful rule of thumb when dealing with depressed mood is to think: What could I do to make myself feel worse? Make a list, and make your list as exhaustive as possible. When your list is complete, take each point on the list and write down exactly what you would need to do to make it happen. Then do the opposite! Client: I’m slightly frightened of doing this. I feel as though I’ve come a long way and if I start thinking about what might make me feel worse, I’ll get depressed again. Therapist: Well, I can understand why you’d think that. However, in order to truly reduce the risk of relapsing into old ways of being, we need to be aware of the risk factors. When you’re able to do thi ... October 2nd, 2008 by Linda Wolfenden, MBACP, MISMA, Cert Ed WARNING: Anger Can Seriously Damage Your Health! The recent transmission of the excellent two-part BBC2 documentary, ‘Losing It’ presented by Gryff Rhys Jones is at last bringing this subject to an even wider audience. Anger at last appears to be receiving the attention it deserves.The catalyst for the most recent foray into this complex and misunderstood emotion is the ‘Boiling Point’ report published by the Mental Health Foundation in March this year. In the report, Dr Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive, defined anger as ‘a major social problem.’ The study suggests that people are getting angrier, with almost 1 in 3 of us having a close friend or family member who has trouble controlling their anger, 1 in 4 worried about how angry we sometimes feel, and 1 in 5 ending relationships with people because of how they behaved when they are angry. This report is serving to keep the subject where it needs to be – at the forefront of public awareness. Anger is a significant part of clinical practice, occ ... September 22nd, 2008 by Lesley Eastman Counsellor/Psychotherapist MBACP The Therapeutic Benefits of Rhythm and Hand Druming “Rhythm lives within everyone and its not something special. People don’t have to have professional musical talents and techniques to express their rhythmical spirit. Everyone has a rhythmical sensibility within and how they express it differs from person-to-person. Rhythm permeates everyone’s life. It is in everything we do, we see we feel and it is within the circadian rhythm of our bodies as well. Rhythm is a fact of life”Arthur Hull From the cradle to the grave we are all exposed to the rhythms both inside ourselves and those of the world outside of ourselves The first cell to develop after conception is the heart and it is this pulse that signals a new life has begun. It is the beat of our own heart which accompanies us every step of our journey through life. Our first awareness of “other” is the rhythmic beating of our mother’s heart. When we first emerge into the w ... September 22nd, 2008 by Rob Finley UKCP (reg) MBACP (accred) Relationship issues: therapy with individuals or with couples Many people may begin to notice that intimate relationships with partners or friends are unsatisfying or fraught with difficulties. You may realise you have a certain ‘type’ that you are attracted to or discover, often painfully, that you have a pattern of relating to others in unhelpful ways.This can take the form of engaging in repetitive arguments where the root cause is never resolved. Old grievances are brought to the surface each time so that even a fairly simple disagreement turns to dispute. New ways of relating You can stop this cycle by gaining insight into how you contribute to this and find new ways to relate. The cause of this is often that we get stuck in playing out a role - usually this is done without really being fully aware because we have learnt to minimise the importance of our feelings. You may play out roles in one of three ways: • Perhaps you habitually ‘Rescue’ others putting your own n ... September 21st, 2008 by Deborah Hill, MBACP, UKRCP, MNCH (Lic) Managing Change in Challenging Times In these challenging economic times, it is no wonder than many of us feel a sense of dread about the future. Much of that dread is related to personal fears about an uncertain future, as well as life experience with insecurity generally.Many human beings are hard-wired to resisting change, even when the change is likely to be for the better. Why is this? For one thing, we humans are programmed to gravitate towards the familiar. That’s because familiar things feel safer than anything unknown or unfamiliar. Unfortunately, this is even true when the ‘familiar’ person, situation or feeling is quite negative. So, if people are used to a dysfunctional upbringing or abusive or neglectful relationships, guess what feels ‘normal’ in adult life... You already know how some people will cling on to things (jobs, relationships, or even emotional states) that are no longer appropriate or helpful. Often this is the result of the proverbial ‘old shoe’, where somet ... September 16th, 2008 by West Suffolk CBT Service Does excessive physician utilisation prolong the sick role in individuals with multiple unexplained symptoms? AbstractIndividuals presenting with somatisation or multiple somatic complaints not related to any demonstrable pathology, are frequent attenders at both primary, and secondary care levels, (Weich, Lewis, Donmall & Mann, 1995). Early recognition and effective clinical management are thought to be crucial with this group of individuals, as it is thought that, excessive physician-utilisation can prolong the sick role, multiple investigations can promote poorer outcome, and ‘iatrogenic’ factors can lead to medically unexplainable symptoms becoming intractable. In order to investigate the efficacy of management, and attitudes towards management of this group of individuals by primary care physicians, a protocol was used to search a series of databases. Relevant studies were then examined. Results indicated that individuals with somatisation could be managed effectively at a primary care level, with a reduction in associated healthcare costs. However, negative reactions ... September 16th, 2008 by Zenon Kyle MSc MBACP Accred Harassment and bullying at work Harassment is closely linked to stress. A study conducted by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Workplace Conditions found that people, not machines, are responsible for most of the stress suffered in the workplace. Perhaps as much as half of work-related stress is caused by harassment and bullying. The consequences for the victims are devastating, affecting their mental and physical health, self-esteem and performance at work. Many other colleagues are affected if only indirectly, covering for sick absence, handling on-going tensions etc.As with so many situations involving people and relationships, remedies are not always straightforward. However, a perspective that sees the individual experiencing the harassment as being the only one responsible for remedial action, is unbalanced. Policy makers, managers and all colleagues in the organisation have responsibilities. At the most basic and general level everyone has a choice to ignore or address i ... September 13th, 2008 by Andrew Richardson What exactly are men looking for - and why don’t they go to counsellors (very often). The strong silent John Wayne type, so long out of fashion, may be about to make a comeback – well sort of. It is all very well to get in touch with your feelings and your feminine side but the price many women are paying are depressions, anxieties and phobias - at twice the rate of men.Men, more silent and less given to talking about their problems, will tend to find their own solutions. Not that men have much to be superior about. They are more likely to be addicted to alcohol or other drugs, while 75% of successful suicides are by men. So in this as in so much else, men and women are different. Women talk about their problems - but this may encourage many women to worry more and so risk spiralling down into anxieties and depressions. Counsellors, trained in their thousands to listen and provide support and a safe place to unburden and realise that you are not alone, are available at schools, universities, GP surgeries, companies and ... Counselling Directory is not responsible for the content produced by counsellors |
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