When someone is experiencing anxiety it is easy to say something like, ‘I know how you are feeling. I get anxious before interviews.’ For someone with an anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not just disappear once the event is over. …
Tag: healing journey
What is Reparenting?
When we have experienced neglect, abuse, invalidation, narcissism, conflict or violence as children, as adults, there is still part of us that is expecting the same behaviour from those we love. We learn that love looks and feels like conflict, …
Anxiety Disorder V’s Normal Anxiety
Anxiety is a normal result of stress, which impulses to do something to get to safety. In the right situation, it can save our lives. When we can’t turn the anxiety down, it can lead to a generalised anxiety disorder …
Creativity and the Inner Child
This painting is Claude Monet’s ‘The Artist’s Garden at Vetheuil’. It happened to be hanging in a place we stayed in a few years ago, and I spent a good hour lying on the sofa, drinking chai tea and thinking …
Using the Inner Child to work with Emotions
I like to think of emotions as messengers. They are there to tell me that something is not right. There are LOTS of ways to work with emotions in psychotherapy. One way to do it is with the transactional analysis …
Integration
As children, we are complete, whole and unique. As we become socialised by our parents, we learn that parts of us are not acceptable. In response, we disown parts of us that are disliked or we think are wrong. In …
The Art Of Self-Care
When discussing self-care with my clients, I like to start with the basics. Are you getting enough sleep? How much is enough sleep? Everyone is different, but I believe there is a minimum requirement for most people. A few years …
Self- Discipline
Wherever it was, know that your parents only did what they were taught or could manage at the time. Know that it is not your fault if you struggle with self-discipline. How are you supposed to know if you weren’t …
Getting to Know Your Inner Child
When I first met my inner child doing an inner child meditation similar to the one in the ‘Meet your Inner Child’ short course, she was about 16, sitting on a wall, wearing knee-length leather boots, smoking a cigarette with …
Negative Thinking
Sometimes it can feel like it is impossible to stop the negative thinking. I know. I have been there. When nothing, like nothing, works. It happens mostly when we are stressed or anxious about a particular topic and our mind …