Unravelling some of the mysteries — I often hear people saying that they really wouldn’t know where to start if choosing a therapist. And they are right, it can be so difficult to know if a therapist is the right match for us and if they have the right qualifications. These are just a couple of…

It isn’t as simple as you might think — Having had clients tell me stories of issues and therapeutic approaches that were mismatched, I wanted to include in my book, The Essential Companion to Talking Therapy, a chapter simplifying the hundreds of talking therapies available. This is an excerpt from the chapter Choosing a Therapy. The excerpt is a…

The support that helps us to achieve the best we can in therapy — A therapist has undergone training and studied for years to be able to work safely with their clients. Even then, they still benefit from having a trained supervisor, who is also a therapist, to talk with about their cases and clients. In fact, all therapists who is registered with one…

And how can it help — As a therapist I’ve often been asked by people who perhaps have never experienced a talking therapy before, what therapy can cure. …

Challenging expectations and preconceptions — Talking with friends and family about my upcoming trip to Kenya, brings remarks such as “Uh, it’s going to be hot there”, even the stewardess on our Qatar flight asks excitedly, “Are you going to see the migrating wildebeest?”. The image of a sunny and warm, if not hot, Africa…

The ideas that stops us from getting the help we need — In this fourth excerpt from the book The Essential Companion to Talking Therapy, we take a look at the myths that as a therapist I have heard and that has stopped people getting the skills or help they need. Enjoy! Debunking some myths about therapy In our conversations about therapy, it is still common to…

And why it matters — This is the third extract from my book The Essential Companion to Talking Therapy, where I write about the physical space of therapy and why it is set up the way it is, the differences between therapies and how therapists might consider the therapeutic space. Enjoy! The physical space It is surprising how…

Exerpt two of the book The Essential Companion to Talking Therapy — In this excerpt I talk about a part of my background that paved the path to me becoming a therapist. The whole chapter is too long for this article, so I have chosen, if you like, the best bit. Enjoy! MY STORY I remember looking at the faint outline of…

Part one of the serialisation of excerpts from The Essential Companion to Talking Therapy — Therapy or counselling should be available to all, that I completely agree with. However, it can be difficult to benefit from a talking therapy unless you understand what it is and how it works. …