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How can I live with my white privilege (when I just want it to go away)?
I’ve been thinking a lot more about systemic racism and white privilege in the last few weeks, like many people. Part of me feels that I have to somehow make an excuse, or apologise, for writing about this topic on my blog. I usually blog when I feel I have something to offer that may…
How to ease coronavirus-related anxiety
I’d like to introduce a simple practice that I believe can really help with managing uncomfortable feelings. It’s relevant in any situation, but perhaps particularly so at a time when more of us are dealing with unaccustomed feelings because of the unusual situation we’re in, with changes to routine, uncertainty, fears for ourselves or loved…
COVID-19: Transferring your therapy practice online temporarily
First up: Don’t Panic. You can do this. Or, actually – take a moment. Bring your attention to the part of you that is panicking. This isn’t the whole of you; you are still functioning. Let that part of you that is feeling anxious know that you hear it. Say to it “No wonder”. Anxiety…
Listening to your inner child
When is it OK for a therapist to talk about their pants? The answer is (I hope 🤔) right now! Putting on my therapy pants! My training was in Transactional Analysis. The ‘transaction’ is any interaction with another person, and one of the aspects that we ‘analyse’ is what ego state someone is in when…
Why is Christmas so bloody hard?
The run-up to Christmas can be a difficult time, for all sorts of reasons. Explore and understand why you might find Christmas a challenge and get some tips on what might help you.
How I put my needs first! (on one day of the year)
November is my birthday month and for as long as I can remember – or at least for as long as it’s been an option – I’ve always taken a day’s leave for my birthday. Now that I’m self-employed, that feels more significant than it did when I was taking a day of paid holiday…
Counselling for counsellors
The therapist as human being A while ago I read an article in a therapy magazine which referred to the reluctance of therapists to undertake personal therapy. Then I saw a question on an online forum along the lines of “Should you be working as a therapist before you’ve got all your shit together?” This…
Changing behaviours – what I learned (part 2)
Part 2: How to make changes In the first part of this blog I talked about setting myself a challenge of using my bike every day for a week, in order to change my ‘transport habits’, and what I learned from that experiment. Now I’m going to explore what makes changing behaviour hard, and offer…
Changing behaviours – what I learned
Part 1: A self-experiment Saturday 8 June was the start of National Bike Week 2019. What a great opportunity for a post on my Facebook page encouraging people to get out on their bikes, I thought. I’ll say that I’m planning to use my bike every day this week. That gave me pause, though…
