It’s hard to look at the hard things in our lives. I recently found myself carrying out a bit of informal research at a bus stop. On the same bit of pavement where I stood, I noticed, in a doorway, a homeless person under a sleeping bag. Around him or her was a small scattering of coffee cups, plastic drinks…
What’s the story?
Here’s a true story. The other day, while having a walk with my dogs, a woman made a bee-line for me. When she got right up to my face, she began shouting abuse and pointing her finger. I initially froze. Attending to my dogs, I was somewhat lost in thought. My spontaneity and ability to respond well appeared to have…
Psychodrama-gaining new insights
I wrote a guest article on The Counsellor’s Cafe about psychodrama, which I’m linking to here. Psychodrama is one of the many tools I bring to my work as a counsellor and psychotherapist and is a method which has been around since the early 20th century, yet little is still known about it in the therapeutic world. It is a…
Relationships at work
Relationships are not purely a transactional exchange of pleasantries or functional statements we use to get things done. They carry the expression of our humanity. They touch the core of us and let us know that we hear and we are heard, we see and we are seen, we value and we are valued. At work, healthy and robust relationships…
Anger is our friend
Anger, like the rest of our emotions, are part of what makes us human. Indeed, evolution has gifted us with a brain that is driven by our emotional responses to our environment. As much as we pride ourselves on our intelligence and logic, they often sit in the passenger seat when we make decisions navigate relationships with partners, work colleagues…
Do I need counselling?
When I was younger, I recall that the idea of anyone getting counselling or psychotherapy meant that there was something wrong with the person. Like seriously wrong. There was some stigma attached to getting counselling because the implication was that the person was somehow faulty or broken. It wasn’t viewed like other kinds of healing, which were viewed as ways of…