In Lacanian circles, the 'mirror stage' is regarded as nothing less than marking a fundamental turning point, a radical change, in the psychical development of the human infant. For the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, it is between six and 18 months that the infant is effectively given to choose between accepting to receive something from outside – an image – or refuse it, and bear the potentially devastating consequences his rejection will likely wreck upon his life. What is...
Deciding you’re ready to see a counsellor can be hard, but once you've decided to undertake private counselling, how do you choose which professional to go with?
There are so many factors that can affect our choice and, in an unknown territory, it can all feel a little overwhelming.
To help make the process easier, we’ll walk you through how to use our search tool to find the right counsellor for you.
Before you start
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While we shouldn’t...
You knew it was coming. Months of planning went into it. Choosing, visiting, waiting, packing, registering. Leaving. Leaving. Years really. You dig deep to find the best you you can - not too clingy, not too distant. Appropriately helpful without being controlling. Cheery, hopeful, upbeat. All goes well right until the end when you hug your goodbye and it all suddenly gets real. How is this happening? When did he get so tall? So grown up? You feel suddenly small. There’s a warning tug...
It’s a common problem that couples who present at counselling say that they are unable to communicate effectively with each other. Sometimes one partner feels that the other is ‘holding back’ – not being honest about how they feel or what they think. For some couples, the frustration of feeling that their partner is hiding something, or more hurtfully that they don’t trust them, can escalate into recriminations or painful withdrawal. There can be several reasons...
This post attempts to summarise the origins of group therapy, as well as describe its potential to help those in distress. Where does group analytic therapy come from? A few decades after Freud disturbed the orthodox science of the 19th century with his theories of infantile sexuality, one of his apprentices, S. H. Foulkes, gave birth to group analytic therapy. Foulkes was a psychiatrist and a Freudian analyst, who, influenced by different therapy schools and disciplines such as gestalt...
What is counselling? Some of us will know what counselling is, but some of us won’t. It may be something that is mysterious, something that is shameful to admit to, or something that is only for people who are really unwell. Or it may be something that we have been around or have used ourselves. I guess at one time mental health was considered inferior to physical health. I mean, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing or hearing about health and fitness, but I can never...
Whether we like it or not, kids are going online sooner than we may think. With an ever changing digital landscape, it’s imperative that we make sure children and teens are equipped with the tools and know the right behaviours and expectations to keep them safe online.
Helping young people learn how to spot the warning signs that something may be wrong, and making sure they know where to turn if they feel uncomfortable or encounter something that upsets them is vital in helping them to...
Dating. An explosive world of pain and passion! The incredible highs of meeting someone who is attractive, engaging and seems to be interested – and the dreadful lows of hurtful arguments, unanswered phone calls and perhaps most insulting of all – being ghosted. Is there any way we can protect ourselves from the heartache - and even perhaps the elation too – which can so easily distract us from other parts of our lives we could be focusing on? As someone who has been...
Our culture is becoming more and more obsessed with the pursuit of happiness – being in the moment, the power of positivity, feeling content, meditation, mindfulness, yoga, smiling – but it may never happen! And I believe a lot of these messages and do practice yoga! Life isn’t always like that. One emotion, joy, is not more important to acknowledge than the others, even though it feels nicer. There are four core emotions - anger, joy, sadness and fear - and all...
Executive Functioning Disorder (EFD) is a term being bandied around a lot these days, and not just in the context of adults. In the US and UK, it seems parents are now paying for their children to be taught executive functioning skills by coaches and therapists when they are struggling to start or complete goal-oriented projects such as homework, and are habitually procrastinating as a coping mechanism. In order for children to do well and succeed at school, it is deemed essential that they...
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