So therapy helps build the bridge between the person you had to become back then, and the person you are becoming now. The bridge is made of mini-experiments. The things you need to do to get to where you want to be. But there are obstacles! Very good reasons why change feels very, very bad - insane, even! Asking for things feels extremely dangerous. Saying no to a parent’s request feels like you are about to face a public firing squad. Saying no to somebody asking you t

In therapy, progress is visible and invisible. External and internal. It takes time. It’s not easy to set up therapy, so often it takes pain to drive us there. There is something hurting that we have already tried everything we can think of to fix. So how do we start to feel better? We begin by noticing and becoming aware of the water you have been swimming in all this time. What is “just how life is” ends up having a large component of “stuff I am, in fact, bringing to

There are generational differences in how therapy is viewed. We are moving away from the older narrative that therapy is self-indulgent...

This week I had a session of equine-assisted psychotherapy. It was a completely new experience for me! I’m a psychologist who’s always...

What’s the collective noun for a group of porcupines? a) A herd b) A spine c) A prickle The answer is c)... a prickle. Join me in...

As is so often the case, the right ideas come when you’re in the middle of doing something else. On a walk I got the answer to a...

Have you ever wondered how old your creativity is, how old your imagination is? It’s about as old as you are! One of the crucial tasks of...

Last week I had the honour and privilege of visiting my oldest friend. As is the mark of any good friendship, she was happy to leave me...

Dissociation is a concept I’m coming across more and more. The word is from a Latin root, dissociatio, meaning to ‘sever’ or ‘separate’. ...

I used to take my friends’ dog Rufus for a walk regularly. He (and they) were glad of the extra walks, what with him being a large,...

I’ve got a confession to make: I’m bored of mental health advice. The same advice that you find online over and over again. We all...

I’ll have been a qualified Clinical Psychologist for eight years this year. It feels like I should have a lot of answers by now. Of...