On an unseasonably autumnal August Bank Holiday I am celebrating my birthday by sitting in the queue at a drive-in McDonalds, determined to have cheap ice cream. My daughter and her boyfriend are in the car in front, and my son and his girlfriend are in front of them. A text comes through from … [Read more...] about The End Of Summer
Recovery
The Joy Of A Second Childhood
The arrival of the puppy has sparked a shift in my older dog which I hadn't anticipated and reminds me of a shift that once took place in me. Bringing a new dog into the family caused us to worry that our established dog would protest. In fact, it has unlocked a second childhood in her. "Do … [Read more...] about The Joy Of A Second Childhood
Handling Disruption
One of the jobs I do is write answers to random questions posed by people who are struggling with some aspect of their mental health. Mostly they write asking for advice about their anxiety, how to overcome imposter syndrome, or why they might have an inability to focus on their … [Read more...] about Handling Disruption
Dealing With Disappointment
The jasmine that I grew some years ago across a huge piece of trellis appeared to have died. Thin strands of sorry-looking wood stretching up in disparate directions from the ground it was hard to see anything much on it that looked like green shoots. It was hard to hide my disappointment in … [Read more...] about Dealing With Disappointment
It Might Happen
I can remember once having a conversation with a client who suffered from an array of terrible anxieties in which he told me how hard he found it to either walk or drive across a bridge. One of the phrases I remember uttering to him in the course of the work we did together was something along … [Read more...] about It Might Happen