What is it like to fail?
Whatever your politics it was hard not to feel sorry for the Prime Minister, Theresa May, last week, as she resigned having ‘failed to deliver Brexit’. Failure – facing it or fearing it – stalks the therapy room. Failed relationships,…
The Need to Feed…
It's Mental Health Awareness Week this week, focusing on body image, and we're delighted to welcome Bramham Therapy counsellors Rachel Cooper and Deb Burch as our guest bloggers, tackling the subject of food and the body: Hunger. Food. Longing. The need to feed…
How to survive exam season
Our work with children tells us that anxiety around exams is a huge cause of stress for young people and their parents. Helping kids through this tricky time requires a lot of courage on the part of their adult carers…
Is it ok to make mistakes?
Most of us have a voice in our heads that says an emphatic ‘no’! ‘You need to do better, be stronger, try harder,’ this part of ourselves might say. ‘Nothing less than perfect will do.’ From an evolutionary perspective this…
Teen with Asperger’s leads the world on climate change
Greta Thunberg, the 16 year-old Swedish schoolgirl who started the school strike movement as a protest against inaction on climate change, has Asperger's syndrome. I’m different, she told an interviewer this week, and that difference “allowed me to focus on…
Tips for managing anxiety
I came across a novel treatment for anxiety on social media this week - custard creams under the duvet! I love this for its compassionate approach to the self, but there are other strategies out there for helping ourselves when…
To medicate or not to medicate?
Prescriptions of anti-depressant medication have doubled in a decade, it was reported last week. A total of 70.9 million items used to treat conditions such as depression and anxiety were given out in England in 2018, according to NHS data. But…
The art of breathing
Did you know that simply slowing your breathing can have a settling effect on your nervous system, leading to a reduction of stress and anxiety symptoms? This is because tight, quick breathing is what we do when our fight/flight response…
Peace be upon you…
I’ve been struck this week by the stories of compassion coming out of Christchurch, New Zealand in the aftermath of last Friday’s terrorist attack on two mosques. “Peace be upon you, and peace be upon all of us,” said New…
Worried about Brexit?
Two weeks until we leave the European Union – or is it? Will we be delaying? Will we be crashing out? Will we perhaps not leave at all? It all feels hugely uncertain and this lack of clarity is challenging…
Shout out for masculinity
So here I am listening to my teenage sons arguing about capitalism versus socialism. I don’t know if teenage daughters would be the same but I do know that boys can get a hard time as they reach their way…
Helping kids form good relationships
Relationship education will be on the syllabus for all primary and secondary school children from September 2020, it was announced this week. This is good news for our profession as difficulties in relationships form a huge part of the therapist’s…