Latest articles on counselling and therapy

Arguably three of the most important relationships in your life, securing trust in romantic, parental and friendship relationships is key to a harmonic existence together. Trust is an essential foundation in a relationship, enabling strong communication and a support system to flourish.

But when a key player in the relationship is suffering with trust issues, communication breakdowns can occur, frustrations can arise, a so-called elephant in the room can appear and the feelings of...

There are many different types of trauma. Some are a one off incident such as vehicle accidents, others are repeated trauma's such as war or domestic violence. Trauma is a threat to life experience, so at the point of trauma the brain goes into a survival mode. This means:

A release of energy boosting neurochemicals, adrenalin and cortisol. Digestion stops. Muscles are more efficient, in order to run away. Attention is really focussed or in some cases completely blank. Memory is stored...

Dealing with chronic shameI believe shame is at the heart of many presenting issues clients bring to therapy, whether it be anxiety, depression, trouble at work, or in personal relationships. In this article I define what shame is and how, with supportive therapy, clients can overcome shame on their way to emotional well-being.What is shame?The word shame’s origins are in meaning to 'hide' or 'cover up'. Shame is about a debasing or humiliating sense of loss from loving connection, a need...

I work with stories, stories that are often dark and despairing as they understandably would be in the aftermath of violence. Yet I know through my work that it is in the telling that we heal. Trauma following violence disrupts everything. All is fragmented in its aftermath and we are left with pieces of our past life that no longer make sense. The past is so far removed from the present and it stops us from seeing a future.  Sometimes it can stop us from living, wanting to live, wanting...

When we experience strong emotions we try to process what is happening to us. As well as involving the logical brain this has an effect on the physical body. When traumatic events occur physical feelings of discomfort in the stomach, chest and other ares of the body are common. Images, sound and smells may become very focussed in trauma situations. If these situations are not processed by the brain and resolved they will generally leave a person hypervigilant to the sensory information...

Healing Complex Trauma through the Wisdom of the Body When we think of healing, the general picture which arises tends to be that we are healing to become whole or moving towards health or wholeness. There is another understanding which is that we are healing to understand our wholeness; our health, which is present at the beginning of our lives; when it comes to trauma and chronic stress, in particular. The neuroscience which explains these concepts shows we are born with an innate sense of...

Medically unexplained symptoms are usually ongoing problems which cannot be explained by a clear medical condition. They include the following;

Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Chronic headache. Fibromyalgia.

These issues can be related to trauma, often in childhood, sometimes as a pre-verbal child and can also be related to trauma as an adult.EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing) is a therapeutic method which was originally developed to treat trauma by...

A couple of weeks ago I read a review about the forthcoming television drama, 'Patrick Melrose'. It was a well written and sensitive review by a national newspaper paper that didn't shy away from the subject of intrafamilar child sexual abuse experienced by Patrick Melrose as a boy. The review also discussed the novels that the drama is based on, highlighting the novels were loosely based on the experiences of the author Edward St Aubyn. Often the media does not cover the abuse and child sexual...

"Sometimes I'm okay. I am able to get things done, am productive and sociable. But when I rest, it's agony." The urge to overwork and keep busy can be a coping mechanism to avoid negative thoughts and feelings. These negative thoughts may be the residue left over from past unresolved childhood experience and trauma. Aside from the energy expelled in the pursuit of distraction, holding onto these unprocessed thoughts and feelings can be exhausting. What gets broken with trauma is the basic,...