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You know sometimes I get these crazy ideas about things that may not really be there. Howard Hughes, The Aviator (2004) Do you suffer from unwelcome and intrusive thoughts? Do you feel guilty, or that you may have done things … Read More

Donald Winnicott’s concept of the emerging self is that it is develops within a maternal dyad.  Winnicott describes the transition from absolute to relative dependence.  This work builds on Freud’s map of the child’s journey from the pleasure principle to … Read More

Low mood refers to an emotional state which is often characterised by feelings such as sadness, anxiety, low self-esteem, and loss of energy. If it is left it can become a more serious depressive problem. Equally, recognising that you are … Read More

Internalised oppression is the name given to the psychological condition in which an oppressed individual comes to view themselves with the same negative attitudes that their oppressors show to them.  Once the oppressive view has been internalised it can be … Read More

We might think of frame of mind as just another mood that we are in.  But what happens when our frame of mind takes over, dominates us and stops us being able to reflect on what we are doing? My … Read More

The term disorganised attachment comes from Bowlby and Ainsworth’s work on attachment theory.  When we talk about attachment, we are referring to the affective bond, the quality of the emotional relationship that develops primarily out of a search for safety … Read More

Psychotherapy based on Freudian or Jungian ideas is not a moral exercise.  It is an attempt to understand the dynamics that shape our lives and the world we live in.  I developed the idea that my problems were my fault.  … Read More

Inner demons might be thought of as negative recurring voices and messages that we repeatedly tell ourselves. They might be based on old situations and relationships that involved a high degree of criticism, self-doubt and negative type thought patterns and … Read More

Our emotional and psychological identities develop throughout our lives. But at some point, they can become fixed and we lose the fluid adaptability that we have in our earlier years. I don’t understand why I can’t cry. Even when my … Read More

Othello Syndrome describes a type of delusion characterised by irrational jealousy. The delusion is based upon the idea that your partner is having an affair. The groundless, the idea takes hold and it can’t be shaken off. In Shakespeare’s play … Read More