Counselling Supervision This is part of the title of my PhD research project. Included in my research aims are the following questions: What is happening in supervision? Does supervision do what it claims? In this short blog, I share in the briefest of ways, some of what I have discovered and hope to take…
Our thoughts on what is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the controversy over whether its diagnostic criteria cover what people call ‘trauma’. “A bad thing happened – I didn’t want it to happen – nobody could stop it happening” Survivor of American school shooting. This is for me a very clear definition of…
Holiday self-care checklist As therapists, we spend our days helping people through difficult times. Our subject matter is heavy. Each hour brings a new cognitive, emotional or relational conflict for us to understand and confront. It’s fascinating work, but it takes its toll. It’s all too easy to focus on improving our clients’ self-care at the…
This post is to mark Creativity and Wellness Week, written by Emma Steadman. Creativity in supervision Creativity in supervision is a key factor in enabling us to see what we cannot see or what we only partially see. For me, creativity in supervision enables insight for the benefit of our clients. It is not the…
Sandplay therapy is an effective and proven therapy to use in counselling children, young people and adults. In simple terms, the sandplay therapist asks the client to choose miniature figures from shelves and put them into a box of sand. This creates a free and protected space. The client can express feelings, memories and traumatic…
By nature, counsellors, play therapists and psychotherapists are caring and compassionate people. We enter the field to help others. But sometimes caring can be over-done. We focus on other people’s well-being and spend hours giving, often leaving ourselves outside of the circle of care. Nutrition and stress management is an important part of re-balancing that.…
Sandplay therapy is an excellent non-verbal way to help a person with a diagnosis of dementia express themselves. To mark Dementia Action Week, Emilia who is a recently qualified Sandplay Therapist (who trained with Jill) describes working in sandplay and dementia counselling … Sandplay offers a safe place to support for people living with…
“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves”. Buddhism psychology and psychotherapy often go hand in hand. But who is the man who became Buddha and how is his life relevant to counselling today? In many parts…
Unite and unite and let us all unite For summer is a-come unto day And wither we are going, we will all unite In the merry morning of May Jung’s archetypes appear in The Cornish May Carol, which is one of hundreds of songs and poems celebrating May Day. Traditionally, it is a holiday…
It seems as if the Star Wars films have been around forever. If the person that the films’ director George Lucas called “My Yoda” is right, then they have been. Lucas had read the book “Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey” when he was a student and returned to his books whilst completing the original Star Wars films in…