Blog Posts
How Funkadelic Saved My Sanity
Sometimes I get stuck. This information may come as a surprise to you. Even though I’m a therapist and have spent years studying the art of avoiding holes, I still fall into some deep pits when I’m on autopilot. When I got stuck last week, Funkadelic threw down a rope and pulled me out. Here’s what happened. Life Is Hard My life in so many ways is easy. I have a roof over my head, I can feed my family, my loved ones are healthy. What have I got to complain about? Sometimes I feel dissatisfied but then think I…
The Top 10 Resources For Learning About Acceptance And Commitment Therapy
I deliver training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) at two levels at my therapy centre in Cheadle, Cheshire. If you know very little about ACT and want to know more you can come on my Introduction to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy course, which runs several times a year (click here to find out more). Once you have been on that course, or if you already know the basics of ACT, I offer an Intermediate Training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, (click here to read about the course and to sign up). I also use ACT with both individuals and…
Crossing The Bridge: An Interview With Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt
Imago Relationship Therapy is a couples therapy created by Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt. Imago is a contactful and effective way of working with couples and closely related to Transactional Analysis. I’ve spent over a decade training in Imago Relationship Therapy, almost as long as I’ve been a practicing TA therapist and supervisor. Imago has had a huge influence on me as a therapist both in the way that I work with couples, and how I work with individuals. It has changed the way I interact with my partner and given me a mechanism to create a deep, loving…
The Biggest Single Mistake Couples Make In Their Relationship
I see many stuck couples in my couples’ therapy practice in Cheadle. Why are many of them stuck? They’re focusing on the wrong thing The Single Biggest Mistake You Can Make In Your Relationship The single biggest mistake you can make in your relationship is to focus on the content – the who said what, when, etc and ignore the process – the Space-Between. It‘s easy to get caught up in your own stuff, forcing your point home if you don’t think your partner is getting it. When you do that, you miss the most important thing. THEM If you behave this…
Can I Bring The Passion Back Into My Relationship?
“Can I bring the passion back into my relationship?” is a question I hear all the time as a couples therapist. It makes total sense that you would want to know if it could be like when you first met all over again. Passion, aaaaah. Remember the days when you first met? You’d stare into each others eyes, want to spend every waking moment together and could not keep your hands off each other. Heady days. The amazing, all consuming feeling of being attracted to another human being. And the sex – blimey! You never knew you had it in…
Does Couples Counselling Work?
If your relationship is struggling it would make sense for you to wonder does couples counselling work? Couples counselling is not cheap, requires you to find a good couples therapist and then make time for the sessions – all demanding. So does couples counselling work? “Yes” and also “No” well actually it’s “It depends” Confusing? Let me explain. Going to the gym Imagine you decided you wanted to get super fit. You signed up to the local gym and you met Kev the gym coach. Kev is ripped. This man knows what he is doing. Kev is the sort of…
Why I Trained In Couples Counselling
Marriage Counseling Cheadle If you are finding life with your partner difficult and need someone to offer support then I have trained specifically to work with couples. You may ask yourself why I mention this. Surely all therapists are trained to work with couples? Sadly not. I offer Marriage Counseling Cheadle, Cheshire. What I notice about many therapists that offer Marriage Counseling is that they have had little training to work as Marriage counselors. In the five and a half years I spent training in counselling and psychotherapy, I received one day of training on working with couples. One day! This…
How To Do Couples Counselling
If you are thinking of having couples counselling and are not sure what to expect here are a few pointers. I work as a couples therapist using Imago Relationship Therapy in my psychotherapy practice in Wilmslow so know a thing or two when it comes to couples therapy. Couples counselling can be challenging Be prepared to do some work if you are going to couples counselling. The therapist is not a judge and will expect you and your partner to do the work. If you want the therapist to tell you who is right and who is wrong then the chances are…
Do I Have An Anger Problem?
Anger is just another emotion along with happiness, sadness, fear and anxiety. So how do you answer the question “do I have an anger problem?” I work with clients who have anger problems frequently (but not like this). The people I see in my counselling practice in Cheadle are mostly men who are finding the behaviour that they carry out when they feel angry is seriously impacting their lives. We work together to move them on to having richer, more fulfilling lives. So how do you know if you have an anger problem? Here’s a few pointers that might…
The Aim Of Transactional Analysis
In many of my blog posts I talk about what I see as the aim of therapy. As a therapist I work with my client to move them towards a rich, fulfilling life. Notice I did not say happy life. Since happiness is an emotion then you can reliably predict that it comes and goes. You have no say in when it does either. If your aim in life is to be happy then you fall into The Happiness Trap. The happiness trap involves chasing something you have no control over and then becoming frustrated/angry/despondent/ anxious that you can’t control it.…