2024 June How to pick a Counsellor that is right for you The following has been largely produced by Emma Faulkner BA(Hons), Dip. Couns, MNCPS (Accred) and appears in the Counselling Directory. I have added additional signs and tips. Keeping yourself safe Make sure your counsellor is a member of a professional body which is overseen by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), such as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), the National Counselling Society (NCS) or the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). Currently, the titles of ‘Counsellor’ and ‘Psychotherapist’ are not legally protected in the […]
2024 May Childhood trauma leading to adult pain. It is undeniable that childhood trauma doubles risk of mental health conditions. From the publication Psychology Today in 2023 is the following extract, ‘The effects of childhood trauma are often longstanding and chronic. Adult survivors of complex childhood trauma can struggle with processing what they survived in childhood, which can lead to a host of emotional, psychological, and physical symptoms. Equally common are histories of toxic romantic relationships, poor choices in friends, and patterns of self-sabotage based on shame and guilt for what they survived.’ The word ‘trauma’ seems dramatic but in fact It’s important to realise that trauma affects […]
APRIL 2024 Addiction Last month’s blog referred to addiction so perhaps more information may be of help in understanding it. Addiction is a complex phenomenon that involves both psychological and biological factors. It is a progressive disorder characterized by compelling and repetitive engagement in a substance or behaviour, despite negative consequences. So, individuals with addiction may use substances such as alcohol, inhalants, opioids, cocaine, and nicotine. Addiction can also manifest through behaviours like gambling. Some key features of addiction include a person becoming reliant on the substance or behaviour and over time, the body adapts, leading to increased tolerance. Then, when the substance or behaviour is discontinued, withdrawal symptoms […]
MARCH 2024 LOST CONNECTIONS In this month’s blog I want to try to define how as a society we have evolved, but in doing so we have become more anxious and depressed. We seem to have lost connection with some of the ingredients of a confident, healthy community. Many people deal with depression and anxiety in consultation with their GP. Figures published by NHS Business Services Authority (BSA) showed an increase in the number of people prescribed antidepressants from 7.87 million people in 2020/2021 to 8.32 million people in 2021/2022. The latest increase means that the […]
FEBRUARY 2024 BEREAVEMENT This subject naturally follows from ‘overcoming heartache.’ The loss of a loved one is the common factor in both and clients often compare the two. Perhaps the most accurate description of both is a crippling psychological, physical, social, financial, and often demographic change. A change in who we are. A loss of ourselves. A foreigner in a land that looks the same but isn’t. No one is qualified to judge the level and impact of someone else’s grief since we are unique with unique circumstances. Grief can come later rather than sooner, and […]
JANUARY 2024 OVERCOMING HEARTACHE Romanticism is everywhere around the Christmas and New Year period. It is present everywhere – on screen and in print. Many of us grow up believing this is the ideal. I have also heard that sexual attraction is God’s way of complicating this further to ensure the survival of our species. Last month we noted that we cannot be blamed or feel guilty for who we fall for because our reasoning and emotional systems are separately organised. This can lead to an imbalance of power in relationships where the emotionally smitten individual […]