Abandoned, lost property, All of the lost unclaimed things. Do you fear that you might be discarded, lost and left behind? Abandoned children and animals are very vulnerable. Abandonment threatens our security. As adults we may be less vulnerable now, but if you … Read more
What do we mean by an internal working model? In this blog I am looking in particular at John Bowlby’s (1907-90) internal working model. I will consider the work of other psychoanalysts as well. John Bowlby was a psychoanalyst and developer of … Read more
The book, A Guilty Victim, Recovering Creativity after Trauma and Abuse tells the story of one man’s struggle in psychotherapy to understand the way his experience of boarding school in the 1970s had left him with emotional wounds that had … Read more
Do you find yourself crying for no reason? Is there anything wrong with crying? Is crying for no reason a sign of clinical depression? Is it a sign of anxiety disorder? Or are you crying about a deeply sad, perhaps … Read more
When we speak of feeling tired of being alone, what are we describing? We are naturally drawn to relate to other people; relationships are a fundamental part of our experience. When we don’t have them for prolonged periods of time, … Read more
Midlife crises is an imprecise term for changes that tend to occur any time between the ages of 35 – 60. If you: then you might be having a midlife crisis. But don’t despair, it might be possible to see … Read more
Labile mood is associated with severe mood swings and with intense emotional reactions. Typically the emotional experience will be particularly strong and disproportionate to the actual situation the person is in. Labile mood indicates that there is little control around … Read more
It is a common assumption that alcohol, in moderation, helps us to relax. For a lot of people that may be true, but for others, alcohol does the reverse and makes them feel more anxious than they were before. Alcohol … Read more
In Carl Roger’s model, conditions of worth are the moral and behavioural codes that we live by. The curious thing is that often we are not entirely clear about what our conditions of worth are. Are you attached to conditions … Read more
Trauma and complex PTSD are sometimes difficult to diagnose. The symptoms can develop over many years and during that time it is not uncommon to be given an incorrect diagnosis of depression or anxiety disorder. This means that a sufferer, … Read more