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This piece isn’t specifically related to psychotherapy, but I would like people reading it to view it as an example of how I see the world, our personal health, and the contradictory way in which we still look at individual and social health. Personally, I don’t like social media. I do use it occasionally for my work but I quite truly believe it isn’t good for any person of any age. But when the teen social media ban was announced, I was genuinely unsure whether I saw it as

I recently hurt my shoulder — I overstretched my neck, but I actually felt the pull in my shoulder blade. I knew immediately something was wrong; it felt tight and loose at the same time. Despite using an ice pack to help it recover, I often felt a burning pain that wouldn’t subside. For no particular reason, I was reluctant to go to the chiropractor, so I tried acupuncture and a massage, but that only eased it slightly. I continued trying to manage the pain with ice and rest

Last night my father and I were talking and, as so often happens, the discussion centred around personal growth and change. My father is very philosophical and, much to my annoyance, he often responds to a practical question or worry I have with a quote or another question that challenges my perspective. This, as I have pointed out, is not always helpful — but, non the less, his words are insightful. “The problem is that, rather than letting themselves grow into frogs, most p

This has been a question I’ve wanted to address for some time. Trauma and experiences of trauma seem to be widely spoken about now and people appear more comfortable sharing personal experiences and aspects of their own lives —clinicians included. A simple Google search defined Trauma as “an emotional and physical response to an event that is perceived as overwhelming and/or life-threatening.”  From this point, people may become hyper-vigilant , or they may shut down—both emo

As someone who is still new to working as a therapist, I find myself coming up against my own anxiety far more than I expected. I admit to feeling extremely nervous as I began to advertise myself as the professional I now am—or am qualified to be. As I thought about ways to calm myself in the future, I considered lighting a candle—unnecessary during the day, perhaps, but still a possibility. Then I remembered that a therapist I saw years ago used to light a candle and burn es

Thoughts can come about in many ways, but to keep this brief and general, thoughts can be either spontaneous or deliberate.  You can choose to think about where you were yesterday at 10 a.m., just as you can choose to think about what you might like to be doing tomorrow at 10 a.m. One can be called a memory , and the other we might label imagination . The truth is—these two are the same in form, and yet they can produce very different feelings. Yesterday at 10 a.m. may or may

I was recently in New Zealand, and where I was staying had limited television channels available. I would start my day with Al Jazeera news and end it on one of New Zealand’s commercial stations. On my second night, at 8 p.m., I found myself watching Married at First Sight , which was on TV3. Watching television is something of a comfort to me — it always has been. I love waking up and putting the news on, and I so enjoy programs that make me feel good. Over the past few year

There’s a wonderful podcast I listen to that features three Jungian analysts. They discuss psychological topics from a Jungian perspective, and I learn so much from them. I’m always amazed by how many clever, thoughtful, considerate, and talented people exist in the world. Recently, they had a guest on who spoke about memory. This guest had studied memory and later turned her insights toward visual art. Even though everything she said was interesting—more than some of it new

To experience Eating Anxiety is to feel nervous, uncertain, untrusting or scared in any situation that involves food. It may be the act of eating anything at all, eating particular foods or eating in different situations.   I specialise in helping people move away from any form of restrictive eating. Whether the restriction is in quantity or in style. A pattern and habit of eating can emotionally feel as restrictive as not feeling brave to eat as much as your body may need or

A little while ago I was talking with my sister about her little boy who is two and a half. She said, “Em- he’s so funny. The other day he was upset, and I knew he was hungry. I offered him a bread stick but he only got more upset. I went through a list of things I could give him before I eventually asked if he wanted two   bread sticks. He said yes and stopped crying.” We both thought it was so sweet and I think I would have made a comment about how exacting he was.   Later

I am still very new to this work—my number of professional hours is still few. Yet, I have noticed that often, people require far fewer sessions than I expected. Particularly when it comes to eating disorders, people can spend years in therapy receiving treatment, and it can be a painful process. It has come as a great surprise to me that things can change rather swiftly, if a person is ready. Hypnotherapy and Strategic Psychotherapy can provide insight into your own mind and