The way the sun cut through the twilight blue, the way the bird song had a tilt of optimism…little reminders; today I’ve been thinking back to years gone by when I would be spending time in warmer climes on training camps. For about 7 years, the first couple of weeks in February would be spent …
Last Friday saw my first visit to The Globe in London: the replica of the iconic building originally erected by Shakespeare and his playing company in 1599. I finally found a good excuse to visit – walking passed the venue back in the autumn, I saw a poster advertising an anthology of plays under the …
A little over a week ago, a friend of mine dropped me a message to ask if I had “seen this? https://www.lionsroar.com/pioneering-east-west-psychologist-john-welwood-dies-age-75/ “. I hadn’t. As I read the headline I immediately connected to a deep sense of loss, sadness. One of my, if not THE, biggest influences in my current path had died. I wasn’t …
Read more “The legacy of a teacher: my tribute to John Welwood”
I was ill all of last week, struck down by a chesty cough and flu combo. What was to be the second week back to work in the New Year became somewhat of a hiatus. Resting again, this time not through choice but necessity. No clients, no University work; 5 days of nothingness. For the …
Happy New Year! I’ve often considered the break afforded by the Solstice / Christmas / New Year celebrations as the one time of year I can truly ‘break’. And having been off work for the best part of 3 weeks, I can honestly say I have needed that time to unfold: to truly rest. The …
The end of another year is fast approaching. I feel fortunate that I don’t get snagged up in the chaos of Christmas, so instead this time of year begins a kind of hibernation period: its probably the only 2 weeks of the year where I really withdraw from the world – in part, there is …
I’m going through a phase of dreaming a lot – experts will remind me that I actually dream each and every night; so its probably more accurate to say at the moment, I am more aware of my dreams. Sometimes I can remember the dreams in vivid detail, sometimes there are 3 or 4 a …
Something that often comes up in my work as a therapist and role as teacher of therapists is “intimacy”. We might crave it, we might push it away, we might do both. How on Earth as people with different needs, do we “meet” – how do we form relationship in a satisfying way? Can we …
Read more “Safe intimacy: simply an oxymoron or a relational necessity?”
I mentioned a few weeks back how being in groups can offer a useful experience in which to explore aspects of ourselves; to look at dynamics that feel familiar to us – literally familiar, as they often originate in the family. I had the privilege of working with a group of trainee therapists at the …
I’m probably not the only person experiencing “a mood” on a Monday morning mid November…but it can feel like it. This is one of those days that I could easily find myself spiralling in to a worsening “mood”, and then projecting that on to everyone I meet, everything I do, the entire external situation of …