For most of us, the start of a relationship is an extremely exciting time. Not only is the relationship itself hugely enjoyable – fun and life-enhancing – but it can also seem to transform our world. Put simply, it makes the world seem a better place. It seems odd to think that something that develops…
One of the most common questions asked by individuals enquiring about couple’s counselling is whether the process will save their marriage? This is an understandable question and is driven by anxiety in relation to thoughts of a break-up. The answer to this question is not simple and the variables lie with the two individuals in…
Counselling and Psychotherapy can help with a range of issues that we may find difficult overcoming by talking to friends and family. There is a significant difference in talking to a skilled professional outside of your social and family circle, someone who is formally trained and experienced in what they do and understands how to…
Starting couple counselling can feel both daunting and anxiety provoking, especially if it something you have not previously undertaken. Knowing up-front what to expect can reduce some of the anxiety and enable you to focus on what you actually want to get from your sessions. Your counsellor or psychotherapist should be suitably qualified You are taking…
So you have taken the difficult step to go to couple counselling – what do you do now? Obviously there are a lot of variables when it comes to couples’ attending counselling together. Some couples are both on the same page and have a common goal, albeit they are struggling to reach that goal, whereas…
Mental Health has become a hot topic in the last few years. We often hear about it in the media, and because of more public awareness about mental health issues, more employers are adopting mental health policies and offering employees more support. Whilst mental health used to be seen as something related to mental illness,…
Couples Counselling or Couples Therapy can help the couple communicate better, look at past influences on present behaviour and help the individuals within the couple understand themselves and their partner better. Depending on approach to couples therapy, the therapist will either work with the here-and-now issues and provide the couple with tools to better communicate…
The term ‘mental health’ is pretty broad and encompasses emotional and psychological health. When people talk about mental health they are often referring to symptoms such as depression or anxiety but rarely do they mean psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, for example. Therefore, the answer to how to go about getting a mental health diagnosis…
Psychotherapy is a method of treating mental health issues through psychological, rather than medical means. Known as ‘the talking cure’ a psychotherapist’s role is to work with patients or clients, generally on a minimum of a weekly basis, over a period of months or years. The work takes place within what is called a ‘therapeutic…
Starting a new psychotherapy group always gives me a sense of excitement. Until everyone is in the room together you never quite know what’s going to happen. And of course, that’s just the beginning. Growing a group In group analysis we often talk about ‘growing’ a group. It’s a useful way to describe the process….
Mental health is constantly in the news and not a day goes by without an article, blog post or news piece on the topic. The great contradiction is that whilst we know more about mental health now and how to manage it, the busy, chaotic and plugged-in world we live in does little to help…
Finding a psychotherapist can feel like a daunting task. For starters, the difference between a counsellor and psychotherapist may not immediately be apparent. Then there are the different modalities, or approaches to therapy. And lastly, there are the different professional bodies to make sense of. The term ‘psychotherapist’, unlike ‘clinical psychologist’, is not a legally…
In both coaching and psychotherapy I am always fascinated by the reasons people choose certain career paths or lines of work. It is also interesting to see how career paths develop and change because of personal choices and how people’s personalities interact within organisations and changes in the job market. These explorations can be vital…
How many people are you? Personally, I know I’m quite a few and always will be. Some years ago at a conference on ways of treating trauma a speaker was challenged from the audience to define what ‘mental health’ was. She paused for a moment and then replied that a mentally healthy person was ‘comfortable…
Birthdays are generally depicted in the media as happy events that should be celebrated. However, for no small number of people birthdays can be complicated and evoke difficult feelings such as sadness, listlessness and even feelings of depression. Why is this? The ‘birthday blues’ is a term used to capture the range of difficult emotions…
There have been many more articles written on Narcissism in recent times, as it seems to be the age we are living in. Narcissistic political, organisational, and religious leaders who lack accountability, manipulate information, and deny any wrongdoing has become a normal phenomenon across the world. This is not a new problem – narcissists have…
It’s not a secret that most people presenting for therapy come with symptoms of depression or anxiety and in many cases both – more about that later. And it is also not uncommon for people unfamiliar with psychotherapy to simply want to be ‘happier’. After all, don’t we all on some level wish to be…
As human beings we have evolved to connect. However sophisticated we have become over time though, our capacities for clear communication are enduringly mired in complication. Our inclinations are tilted toward a negativity bias whereby, when in doubt we will tend to assume the worst of an(other)s intent. One negative comment will more often make…
The stigmatisation of mental health and mental illness is nothing new and can be traced back through the centuries and across cultures. Despite much improvement in the treatment of mental illness and an increasingly open dialogue about the effects of mental illness from sufferers and professionals, the evidence shows that paradoxically increasing numbers of the…
Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy, as the name would suggest, is an applied psychology practice located in central Brighton and Hove in operation since 2014. Whilst many of our clients travel from further afield to see and be seen by our clinicians, and whilst we offer online therapy, most of our clients over the years have…