At various times in our lives we will be faced with deciding how best to support family, friends, colleagues – and sometimes strangers – who are in distress. Perhaps we have a friend who has been bereaved or a family member dealing with a serious health problem. How to be…
When we come to counselling or psychotherapy we are usually looking for something in our lives to change. We talk things through and gradually new possibilities for being in the world come to light. However, for some of us, something is holding us back from making those changes. Could it…
Many couples struggle to find a way to communicate effectively. Without a solid platform from which to discuss tricky subjects safely and productively we may flounder around feeling unhappy, angry and stuck. There might be rows, silences and slammed doors but no matter how much energy is expended nothing changes;…
Could black and white thinking be hindering you from making friends, forging a career or finding a life partner? Many of us can get stuck in an old pattern of behaviour where a relationship or situation is seen as either all good or all bad and something that starts well…
How we deal with loss is fundamental to our mental and emotional well-being. Hopefully, we will have learnt that our connections to other people – family and friends – can help us make loss more bearable. But what happens if as children we are left to cope with a major…
Many of us struggle to find the right balance of assertiveness in relationship with a partner, family members, friends or at work. Something is getting in the way of being able to firmly state our own needs, negotiate with others and reach a compromise that is satisfactory for all. How…
A common problem brought to therapy is bewilderment as to why friends and potential romantic partners repeatedly leave us. Often, there is a clear pattern of new relationships going well for a time and then we suddenly get a sense of having been dropped. How can psychotherapy and counselling help?
Over the years, we will all develop strategies for being in the world. Most of the time these personal guides for decision-making are useful to us. Sometimes, however, we might have become over-reliant on one particular strategy and not noticed that it is no longer serving us well. How can…
What do you do if the very thought of talking about your anxiety with someone else makes you anxious? My guess is that you will hang on in there until it becomes impossible to ignore symptoms such as panic attacks, fear of enclosed spaces (e.g. travel on trains and planes),…
Many people coming to counselling or psychotherapy for the first time describe how they cannot stop themselves from dwelling on old hurts or mistakes from the past. The memories are, without exception, negative and often evoke feelings of frustration and shame. How can counselling or psychotherapy help?
