This is my third day back at home. I’m not sure how far I am in to processing the experience of the past 4 weeks; nor how long it will take to do so. People I know how have completed Dathun retreats say it takes as many weeks as you’ve been away to “recover”. I’ve …
Having gathered good momentum for my weekly writing, I am taking a blogging pause’ for a month. I am about to head off on a retreat – a 4 week retreat that in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition is referred to as Dathun, literally a ‘moon session’. The month-long period of practice is an opportunity to …
One of my work roles is that of Course Leader for the MSc psychotherapy at the University of Brighton, a post I have been in for nearly two years now. Over the past few weeks its been mid-year assessment time, and whilst marking and moderating work can be tiring and requiring much concentration, it is …
This weekend I joined my fellow Shambhala Buddhists for our regular book club. Every 4 to 6 weeks, we take a book which has a Buddhist tone: its not always a Dharma book – as we often take more mainstream psychology books (as I have written about previously) or even novels. I enjoyed our latest …
Continuing the ‘five things’ theme that I started last week, in this post I wanted to share five books that have touched me and changed my way of thinking. I wouldn’t say these are my ‘top five’ reads ever, but more ones that have triggered a way of thinking or have shifted my life …
Last week, I used Portia Nelson’s poem “Autobiography in 5 chapters” to illustrate the therapeutic journey. What I didn’t share was my personal interaction with that piece. I went to a coaching conference in London (I think it was in 2008) and one of the speakers read out the poem – it touched me, it …
January is a month when people are often attempting to re-write (at least part of) their life story: resolutions to change habits, a chance to re-boot and try new attitudes and approaches to life. In the past week, I have sat with many of my clients expressing their wish that 2018 is different, that their …
As I begin writing this morning, I have no idea as to what will appear – well, I guess that isn’t entirely true…but it would be fair to say that this is not a post that I have planned to my normal levels. A well planned blog post this morning falls secondary to just sitting …
What does 2017 have in store for you? New Year is a common time to be looking at our lives, taking stock, and considering making change. We set intentions, make resolutions and plan goals. When I get client enquries in January I notice that this is the time when people seem most resolute about what …
Read more “Goals: do the they have a place in counselling and psychotherapy?”
In my last blog post, I talked about some of the theory that underpin CBT, Gestalt, and Buddhist ideas in relation to therapeutic work. As a practitioner who works mainly in relational psychotherapy (under which we would include Gestalt and Buddhist ideas), I have been intrigued by the ascendence of CBT in our national health …
Read more “CBT: sticking plaster or power tool? A case study”