Latest articles on counselling and therapy

'Being yourself' exercise I first devised this method of enquiry into meanings and words associations a few years back. I wish it can be said that it was a somehow spontaneous, technical, or practice skill exercise, but it is, in fact, a...

Why do we behave in a destructive or unhelpful way when we communicate with certain people? We are constantly in contact with others, whether that is at work, with family, or in personal relationships. Sometimes, interactions and behaviours can...

In everyday communication, much use is made of initials and abbreviations. Although sometimes helpful, the overuse of initials can give rise to confusion. A careless reference can cause uncertainty as to what the initials represent. Alternatively,...

In the US and Canada, counselling is seen as a normal thing for someone to do and is just like going to see a GP for a physical illness. In the UK however, we are not so comfortable with the idea of seeing a therapist. Though it is encouraging that...

Whilst men and women suffer from similar difficulties regarding their mental health, there is a difference in the way they address them. Women tend to be more open in discussing their feelings and emotions, whereas men have a tendency to keep it to...

Eye movement desensitisation reprocessing (EMDR) is recommended for post-traumatic stress by NICE. The therapy involves using eye movements, taps, or buzzers to create bi-lateral stimulation, and access the traumatically-stored information and to...

Earlier this year, as part of the BBC's Mental Health and Me season, the actor David Harewood allowed us into his world as a young man living with manic depression. In his excellent programme, 'My psychosis and me', we heard a moving statistic -...

One of the things I’ve learned over the years, through my own therapy, therapy training, recovery from addiction and understanding the influence of my pathogenic family, is that every person we meet has some pain or confusion. It might...

Although depression is a form of mental ill-health that has been written about extensively and is a diagnosable category with common symptoms that can be check-listed, the lived experience of depression may vary enormously from one person to the...