I am "lurking" on Slack watching messages exchanged between other therapists. Most are uninteresting details of sessions rebooked or reassigned but the thread which catches my eye is about the fixation clients sometimes have with being given written exercises to do in order to identify what's … [Read more...] about Are There Any Exercises For That?
Recovery
Being In Your Own Head
My daughter is sharing with us the latest instalment of her parking tribulations. "I just can't park, even though I know that I can." "You've got into your own head. Your conscious brain is getting involved where your unconscious can already cope." "I know, but if I keep scraping the kerb … [Read more...] about Being In Your Own Head
How To Be Assertive
It's all very well having lots of strategies that other people can use to become more assertive but there are times when the phrase "physician, heal thyself" rings loudly in my ears. In the space of a few days at the beginning of the month, I was asked to take on several projects that require a … [Read more...] about How To Be Assertive
An Antidote to Loneliness
It's Mental Health Awareness week and this year the theme is "loneliness" Over dinner, my family is asking me if I am intending to write something on the subject this week. I tell them that I can never think of anything to write other than pointing out that developing a feeling of love for … [Read more...] about An Antidote to Loneliness
Shortcuts
Shortcuts often seem alluring in their promise to get us somewhere we want to be faster than we thought possible, but most of the time they don't really work, and anyway, sometimes we use them to get to a place that we don't really want to be. I'm in the garden painting the third coat on the … [Read more...] about Shortcuts