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Emotional permanence refers to our capacity to believe in the feelings of other people even when we are not with them.  For example, to know that your partner loves you even when you are not together.  For some of us, … Read More

Object constancy refers to our ability to retain a stable relationship and emotional connection with another person, even when that relationship encounters problems. When things go wrong in your life or your relationships, do you take it in your stride, … Read More

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), or body dysmorphia, is a mental health condition in which a person spends a lot of time worrying over problems in their appearance. These problems are often not recognised by other people. People of any age … Read More

Withdrawal describes a combination of psychological, physical, and emotional effects that are experienced by a person when they stop using pornography or try to break other addictive habits. In what we might think of as active addiction, the user turns … Read More

Reactive abuse is a term that describes coercive and abusive relationships in which an abuser provokes reactive displays of emotion from their victim and then exploits the reaction. Manipulation, control, shame and blame This kind of abusive pattern of relating … Read More

Developmental trauma is a consequence of traumatic experiences that occur during a child’s early years.  The concept of developmental trauma is used as a way to think about the distress that the adult may have been exposed to in their … Read More

Intergenerational trauma and generational trauma are terms that are used to describe trauma that is passed down from one generation to the next.  Each generation of the family may experience symptoms differently, but the experience can be traced back to … Read More

An emotionally absent mother may fail to develop the kind of satisfying attachment bonds in her children that make sustaining ordinary relationships possible.  Such children may come to grow up with a complicated sense of emotional absence in themselves.  An … Read More

Retroactive jealousy is an obsessional problem. It sits under the umbrella of obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD). Commonly, people will identify that they have become caught up in an obsessive cycle before they recognise it as part of retroactive jealousy. The … Read More

Why do we repeat the same mistakes?  Why do we keep doing things when we don’t get a different outcome? We all develop patterns that have become ingrained.  How do we find a way out of them? The past exerts … Read More