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On Living as Becoming (Part Two)

We seem to be in a world slipping deeper into seeking safety, transparency and the need for power and control to sanitise life. All as an apparent response and remedy to pain and suffering. A desire for continued uninterrupted happiness and security. We seemingly long for the place where happiness is and will remain,  but as Nietzsche states-  

“the hunt for happiness will never be greater than when it must be caught  between today and tomorrow; because the day after tomorrow all hunting time may have come to an end altogether”. (Walter a. Kaufmann, Nietzsche. Philosopher, Psychological, Anti-Christ. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950, p.140.

I interpret Nietzsche’s quote as an ironic statement, one that is not validating the search for happiness but understanding it as a fleeting endeavour. I believe he is asking us not be distracted by it. To go deeper and face and live life in the knowledge of our impermanence.

Both Nietzsche and Kierkegaard (great influences in existential thought) were concerned by how humans repressed and avoided self enquiry. They both strived to understand human existence and used their own existences as a case study for analysis. They recognised how they, and others, would seek to protect themselves from reality and consequently suffer extreme symptoms and tensions, such as depression, guilt, anger, anxiety, obsessive behaviours and disconnection. They had not even considered the effects of social media as an escape on human experience when writing this.

What might get lost in avoiding these affects in terms of our potential and freedom?  Soren Kierkegaard (1844) felt without anxiety there would be no possibility and growth as a human being. He suggested anxiety is the ‘dizziness of freedom’ and ‘freedoms possibility’. He famously wrote,

“Whoever has learned to be anxious in the right way, has learned the ultimate…” (Kierkegaard S. The Concept of Anxiety. New York: Liverlight; 2014. p. 188.

They both emphasised the influence and importance of passions and the significance of commitment,  to take responsibility for their existence, to act, to create. They discussed in their own ways how our affects are significant for explorations (see more in a blog on Nietzsche’s magnificent monsters).  That attempts to avoid inner conflict and intensity and intellectualise and externalise struggles were in some way a defence against one’s own vitality. Anxiety was considered as a potent and necessary force for transformation. Potentially leading to an individual’s confrontation with their illusions and consequently a deeper awareness of how they are implicated via defences and rationalisations. As a dear friend and wise man recently said,

“without inner conflict, what chances do we have to give birth to ourselves. At the very least inner conflict is good for generating creative work”. 

Both Nietzsche and Kierkegaard died young (in the modern sense of the word). In that time they wrote prolifically and created great texts and thoughts, used to this day, that inform life and some types of psychotherapy in particular. In my mind both seemed to surrender generously their existences to creating and self enquiry (distanced from a need for notoriety or self preservation). They certainly left an enriched soil for those yet to come. There are many stirring and striking aspects to both of them and their writings.  However what moves me the most is their similarity to the eucalyptus tree’s surrendering of self-preservation as a dominant force: letting their passions, tensions, vulnerabilities, heartbreaks,  limitations and crises become a strength and force for creativity and transformation for those who are interested.

To end this piece, although more will come later about Nietzsche’s ideas about Will to Power’, I thought it might be fun to insert a quote kindly gifted from the aforementioned wise friend, where Nietzsche compares himself to a plant.

“It is absolutely unnecessary, and not even desirable, for you to argue in my favour; on the contrary, a dose of curiosity, as if you were looking at an alien plant with ironic distance, would strike me as an incomparably more intelligent attitude towards me”. (Nietzsche in a letter to Carl Fuchs, July 29, 1888)

 

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Susanna, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

 

Susanna Petitpierre, BACP Registered, is an experienced psychotherapeutic counsellor, providing long and short term counselling. Her approach is primarily grounded in existential therapy and she works with individuals.  Susanna is available at our Brighton and Hove Practice.

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The Psychological Impact of the Recession

So we are officially in a recession in the UK. And not just any recession, but ‘the longest ever recession’ is predicted ‘since records began’. The word ‘recession’ is one that fills most working-age adults with a sense of dread, only further exacerbated not only by the suggestion that it will be ‘longer’ than ever before, but that it comes off the back of a couple of extremely anxiety provoking years thanks to the global pandemic. Will there be any respite for us all?

Our nervous systems have evolved to protect us from threat and very good they are at it too! We experience increased levels of anxiety and vigilance when our nervous system locates anything in our surroundings that may be threatening to our existence. For centuries, this would involve the literal threat to life resulting from the risk of becoming food for a wild animal or the victim of an attack by a neighbouring tribe. However, the world that most of us now live in is, fortunately, not punctuated by wild animals prowling around us or a neighbouring tribe mounting an attack. This is not to say that there are not dangers around us, but the risk of imminent death has unequivocally reduced as a result of multiple factors such as the rule of law, healthcare and our dominance over nature. Our nervous systems just don’t seem to have gotten the news.

Anxiety, which is the predominant emotion we feel when initially under threat is unlike other emotions in that it seeks to attach to an external event (rather than always being triggered by an external event). Thus, our ancestors would have an underlying level of anxiety they would navigate the world with and invariably when they felt a threat their anxiety levels would shoot up and they could appropriately respond to the threat. The same process happens with modern humans, however, the anxiety we feel is now often unhelpful when facing ‘modern threats’ as these, whilst real, are not imminently life threatening and even if they do represent a sort of existential threat – like a recession may – they are not something we can run from, fight, freeze up against or fawn; these are the four options our nervous system presents us with when we feel under extreme threat.

The psychological impact of the news of a recession can be similar to that of the psychological impact our ancient cousins would face when confronted with a sabre tooth tiger. And this stops us being able to think things through calmly. We then become reactive rather than able to take action.

What can you do?

I am no financial adviser and it is important to remember that each and every one of us will be impacted differently by economic events such as a recession, just as we are all impacted differently by all other events happening around us. But what I do understand is the human nervous system and anxiety.

Firstly, remember that ‘The News’ irrespective of the outlet, is designed to grab your attention – much like that sabre tooth tiger sticking its head out of a bush and into our face. News headlines are designed to sell newspapers, or in the modern world, to get ‘clicks’. This does not mean that it is ‘fake news’ but the devil is in the detail, not the headline. Take time to read the whole article and digest what it means. Think about whether you will actually be directly impacted and if so in which ways. Then you can take the time to take action methodically.

Remember that recessions are a part of the ordinary cycle of an economy and that each time one has arrived, it has once again passed and followed by a period of growth. People are affected but again, like the headlines, the news will report these effects from a ‘newsworthy’ perspective, rather than as a balanced view or perspective on society as a whole.

Limit your exposure to too much ‘news’ even though you will likely be drawn to ‘consume’ more.

This is human nature – your nervous system has signalled that this is a threat and so you are inclined to gather as much information as you possibly can. However, a recession, unlike a marauding tribe, is something that is approaching slowly and will also unfold slowly in relative terms – you do not need to get into a panic.

Focus on helpful ways of managing your anxiety such as taking time in nature, sharing your feelings with friends, practicing mindfulness, doing exercise or anything else that both brings you into your body, into the ‘here and now’, and calms your nervous system. Why is this important? It’s not about denying reality – on the contrary, it is about calming you enough so that you can once again think and if you can think you can make plans, rather than simply react to the news.

It is also worth bearing in mind that at present, what you are reading about the recession is a prediction. In other words, not may not be as bad as predicted or pan out quite as predicted.

We have all, collectively, got through the pandemic and coped with the anxiety of the unknown – the virus – that we all faced. This is likely to be the same.

 

Mark Vahrmeyer, UKCP Registered, BHP Co-founder is an integrative psychotherapist with a wide range of clinical experience from both the public and private sectors. He currently sees both individuals and couples, primarily for ongoing psychotherapy.  Mark is available at the Lewes and Brighton & Hove Practices.

 

Further reading by Mark Vahrmeyer – 

Can couples counselling fix a relationship?

How to get a mental health diagnosis

What is psychotherapy?

How to improve mental health

How do I find the right psychotherapist?

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Why do People Watch Horror Movies?

Horror as a genre of ‘entertainment’ has, I would suggest, always been a part of the human experience, as it is through this collective narrative that we give shape and form to a world in which we have very little control. Long before movies existed and extending back to before the written word, our early ancestors would ‘invent’ super-natural beings with whom they would do battle in story and ritual. Why?

Anxiety

Human beings are inherently anxious beings. One can argue that this anxiety has come about as a result of two facts: the first being that until very recently we had good reason to be anxious as much of nature and the animals and plants in it posed an existential threat to us – only the anxious survived.

Secondly, and perhaps more psychologically relevant, is the suggestion that humans are the only animal who is conscious, self conscious, hyper conscious. What fundamentally makes us stand out from other animals is our ability to project our minds into the future which renders us capable of planning and achieving great feats, however, also brings us into brutal contact with the knowledge that we are destined to die. We are therefore in the impossible position of being able to largely shape our destiny (providing we don’t get eaten by a wild animal) only to face a certain death at the end of life (if we are lucky), or potentially at any moment. This renders us anxious in nature.

Humans use all sorts of methods and means as individuals and in groups to manage their underlying anxiety such as having children and building a career, through to subscribing to a culture (being British), that provides constituents with shared answers to cosmological questions – where have I come from, what happens after I die? So how may this apply to horror?

It has been noted that more than half the population enjoys watching horror as a genre. What is specific to this group is that they tend to score high on neuroticism which, amongst other characteristics, is denoted by high levels of anxiety.

When we think of anxiety as being the price we pay for our consciousness, and we consider that humans are always trying to somehow manage their anxiety, the draw to horror movies becomes a little clearer, particularly when considered in conjunction with the events of the past couple of years.

Why are we collectively watching more horror movies?

As a collective global society, any notions of safety and security were suddenly taken from us in early 2020 by the emergence of a virus that swept the world. We were all required to remain at home, stay away from work and consider friends and loved ones as ‘high risk’ and potentially contagious. For our nervous systems this represents a horror movie in itself! The problem is that it unfolded far too slowly for us to ‘attach’ our anxiety to it and then let it play out over 90 minutes.

Watching horror as a locus of control

I would suggest that one of the prime reasons that horror has become so popular over the last couple of years is that it represents a vehicle onto which those who already have a disposition to using horror as a means of evacuating their anxiety through projection, to do so by ‘projecting’ the anxiety of the unknowns generated by the fallout of the pandemic, into something tangible – a movie.

Psychologically horror movies may also function in a pseudo-ritualistic manner, in the way a dance or group ritual may have worked for our ancestors to gain mastery over their world – even if only in fantasy. The themes in horror movies are primal and archetypal in nature – they represent what lurks in the deepest recesses of our minds – and what we once imagined lived behind every tree out in darkness as we cowered by our campfires with mere sticks and stones to protect us.

Horror movies represent the ultimate battle of good versus evil and as it is a battle that plays out on screen we feel activated in the way our ancestors did when facing real and imagined dangers, however, it provides a locus of control to the viewer in that they are choosing to feel anxious and embark on the quest they experience playing out in front of them.

I therefore do not believe that horror films represent a conscious desire on the viewers part to confront their fears about the real world ‘head on’ but rather that it is a displacement activity whereby anxiety can be expelled in a socially sanctioned and safe manner. It is a method and means of gaining mastery over unbearable feelings through experiencing them safely.

Life imitates art, as the expression goes, however art is first and foremost an expression of the collective experience (the collective unconscious), and so as long as our collective experience is dominated by the horror of the pandemic and war and other existential threats, then I think it likely that horror, as a genre of art, will continue to be made and consumed at a higher rate as a way of us coping with our anxiety.

 

Mark Vahrmeyer, UKCP Registered, BHP Co-founder is an integrative psychotherapist with a wide range of clinical experience from both the public and private sectors. He currently sees both individuals and couples, primarily for ongoing psychotherapy.  Mark is available at the Lewes and Brighton & Hove Practices.

 

Further reading by Mark Vahrmeyer

Can couples counselling fix a relationship?

How to get a mental health diagnosis

What is psychotherapy?

How to improve mental health

How do I find the right psychotherapist?

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On Living as Becoming (Part One)

Who would have known a recent visit to Alexandria Park in Hastings and a guided tree walk would inspire this work in progress. The Park happens to have a very diverse and nationally significant tree collection planted by Robert Manock in 1882, and subsequent others.

Much of what was conveyed was fascinating but left my memory swiftly. What struck a chord was information about the nature of the Eucalyptus tree: apparently they happen to be self-sacrificing so that their native youngsters can grow in well fertilised soil. In essence, they make themselves as flammable as possible so that when they inevitably burn, in the wild fires of their typical homelands, they burn bright and leave lots of fertilising ash. 

This in turn allows and nourishes the younger generations (not yet born) to flourish.

It reminded me once more of the ambiguity of life forces, and the significance of that which is greater than perhaps our own insistence and sense of volition. Something the sea often teaches me and touches in me: the understanding that we are both significantly connected yet open and vulnerable, we are in movement, incongruent and impermanent. Yet far from inconsequential.  We all have the potential to be far-reaching and changed in every encounter, even if we don’t see, feel or act on it. In fact, understanding our potential and capacity to act, even in the face of great limitations, could be the very thing that liberates and transforms suffering.

Understanding and identifying the vitality of often ambiguous intensities and affects within existence, when encountering both our freedom and limitations, may support us to act. Perhaps there is great importance in feeling into and investigating our suffering, anxiety and despair. To sometimes move beyond self preservation and safety into discomfort and uncertainty. To perhaps question the idea the self is an identity, an image or an object that needs to be fixed or made safe and certain and move into courage, generosity and open curiosity, with less need for any exchange. Perhaps, when we can face it, to surrender to life’s limitations, crises and drawbacks and let them move us. Transformation is perhaps in the very falling.

Returning, again and again, to the writings of Frederick Nietzsche and Soren Kierkegaard (the latter discussed in more depth in later blogs), and those subsequent great minds who have tackled their ideas, we find discussions and real experiences that highlight commitment to facing and investigating the passions, the intense (affects) forces within experience, and their commitment to act without the need for eminence and self preservation. Nietzsche said,

“Physiologists should think before postulating the drive of self-preservation as the cardinal drive in an organic being. A living thing seeks above all to vent its strength – life as such is will to power; self preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent consequences of it”. (Nietzsche, F. 1886/1978, Beyond Good and Evil. p. 26)

Within the quote we find Nietzsche referring to ‘strength – life as such is will to power’. The interpretation here is not that strength is the opposite of weakness but strength as potential, potency, vitality, a force/forces of energy.

Nietzsche inspires us to look again, across a multiplicity of forces. To widen our stance and help us see there is so much more to the forces of life than self preservation. More will be discussed in part two.

 

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Susanna, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

 

Susanna Petitpierre, BACP Registered, is an experienced psychotherapeutic counsellor, providing long and short term counselling. Her approach is primarily grounded in existential therapy and she works with individuals.  Susanna is available at our Brighton and Hove Practice.

 

Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre –

Some thoughts on becoming (part two)

Some thoughts on becoming (part one)

What is the Menopause? (part one)

Some existential musings from the sea

Nietzsche and the body

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Is Happiness the Opposite of Depression?

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 happier?

What is depression?

Depression is a word that has become part of daily vernacular.  People often will use it to describe feelings of prolonged sadness as in ‘I have felt really depressed lately’; people will use it to describe feelings that are actually grief and it also it is also a medical diagnosis for which medication is prescribed.

In my view as an analytically informed psychotherapist, depression is a state of inner ‘deadness’.  It is heavy and dulls down life so that very little seems to have any meaning at all.  In this sense it therefore would seem to be the opposite state of happiness, however, this is too shallow and reductionist an interpretation and limits further thinking around questions of meaning and purpose.

Is psychotherapy about making me happy?

Happiness is an enjoyable feeling but it is just that – a feeling – and feelings are fleeting in that they come and go.  The key to this sentence is that feelings ‘come and go’, or at least, they should.

Psychotherapy is about many things but not least about learning to listen to our feelings and then to think about those feelings.  Neither thinking nor feeling can, on their own, guide us through life.

If we rely solely on our feelings as our navigation system, then we are prone to be reactive and can confuse feeling states that belong in the past, with events occurring in the present.

Conversely, to rely solely on thinking renders us unable to access our inner world and unable to understand the inner worlds, and thus the experience, of others; we become in essence like a version of Star Trek’s Dr. Spock.

Psychotherapy is not about making people happy – in fact, the process of going through open-ended therapy is one that can be immensely difficult and at times painful.  So why do it?  Because it is only through grieving what we have either lost or never had, and then learning to navigate by listening to our emotional world – our deepest desires and wants – that we can start to lead a fulfilling life.  Fulfilled lives should include moments of happiness (I hope many) but most importantly they bring meaning and purpose, which is far more valuable than some fantasy notion of perpetual happiness.

Why depression and anxiety are two sides of the same coin

I stated earlier that many patients/clients present for therapy with symptoms of anxiety and or depression – why is this?  On the face of it depression – a state of deadness, and anxiety – a state of agitation, seem very far removed from each other.  However, both originate from the same cause: the inability of feel alive in the world.

Feeling alive in the world is arguably what a successful outcome of psychotherapy should be – again, not to be confused with being happy.  Feeling alive is being able to feel and to navigate those feelings and make sense of them as signals telling us something important.  Navigating ‘in the world’ is the next step, which is taking those signals, understanding them and converting them into action in the world as it is presented to us.

People who cannot really feel and are too fearful or limited to bring their desires into the world and into their relationships, become stuck and will likely oscillate between depression and anxiety.

Is there an opposite to depression?

I hope that it is now clear that the opposite of depression is aliveness and that aliveness is defined by being in touch with both our inner world, the world of feeling and emotion, and our outer world, finding a sense of purpose and meaning in our community based on what we desire.

‘In our dreams we can have our eggs cooked exactly how we want them.’

Anna Freud, Sigmund Freud’s daughter, and an enormously influential psychoanalyst in her own right, used the above expression to talk about the maturity and courage it takes to take a desire or fantasy (the idea of a plate of eggs) and risk turning that into reality.  Anna’s point was that once we turn a desire into reality it will not be as we expected and so we must tolerate that – ie. once we cook we eggs we have imagined, they will always turn out slightly differently to how we imagined.  They may exceed expectations, they may disappoint, but however they turn out, they will differ to our idea of them.  And so it is with all of our desires: we bring them into the world and we learn to accept that once we set them free in reality we will, to some extent, lose control of them.  However, coming back to Anna Freud, she would argue that a plate a of real eggs is always superior to a fantasy as at least we can actually eat them!

Being in the world, and thus feeling alive, is about breaking eggs and finding satisfaction in the outcome even if it differs from what we expected. This is the opposite of depression.

 

Mark Vahrmeyer, UKCP Registered, BHP Co-founder is an integrative psychotherapist with a wide range of clinical experience from both the public and private sectors. He currently sees both individuals and couples, primarily for ongoing psychotherapy.  Mark is available at the Lewes and Brighton & Hove Practices.

 

Further reading by Mark Vahrmeyer

Are People with Mental Health Problems Violent?

The limitations of online therapy

Pornography and the Online Safety Bill

Does the sex of my counsellor or psychotherapist matter?

How much time should I devote to self care?

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Loneliness and CBT

People feel lonely for a wide range of reasons. Loneliness can be linked to mental health difficulties such as depression, anxiety, social anxiety, perfectionism, low self esteem or eating disorders. It can also be linked to autism, loss, difficulties disclosing, early adulthood, elderly. This is not an exhaustive list but illustrates how many factors can be linked to the problem of loneliness.

Loneliness is the perceived discrepancy between what we want and what we’ve got, a mismatch between actual and desired social situation, a lack of meaningful relationships. Social isolation doesn’t have to equal loneliness. We can be alone without feeling lonely.

Triggers to feeling lonely can be internal psychological factors, such as attitudes to participating in social interaction / having a negative interpersonal appraisal, e.g. other people don’t like me; or external factors, such as bereavement or living far away from friends and family. These factors evoke an emotional response such as anxiety or sadness
and can lead to counter productive behaviour such as avoidance and a decrease in valued social contact or unhelpful cognitive processes in the social domain, e.g. self focused attention or hypervigilance to rejection. This then impacts on our perception and our interpretation of our relationships / social situations and can inadvertently become a
perpetuating cycle of loneliness.

Social media also has a big impact on loneliness, particularly in early adulthood. People share and post what they want us to see and we can end up comparing ourselves to others. The pandemic too has had an impact on loneliness. Spending less time with friends and family, self isolating and shielding are all contributory factors to feeling lonely. If we struggle with technology this too may play a part.

So how do we change things? In CBT we look at four domains: the individual, their relationships, social relations and the community. In terms of strategies behavioural activation is key with a focus on increasing the amount of social interaction, social contact and social networks. We can explore values and once we have identified these set goals to
help meet where the person wants to be in their values. We can introduce and identify unhelpful thought patterns and beliefs, and learn techniques to restructure these. We can learn strategies to reduce rumination and use behavioural experiments to make changes and gather information, e.g. finding out what happens if you do disclose and share with others. Additionally whilst engaging in behavioural activation we can practise exposure
whilst reducing safety behaviours.

Everyone is different and because loneliness can be for many different reasons there is no one size fits all. Other strategies may also be used, such as social skills and communication training, mindfulness, mapping social opportunities, emotional awareness and psycho-education.

To address loneliness in older adults Age UK and the befriending service, such as Silverline, can be a great resource. Age UK offer all sorts such as social activities, lunch clubs, IT Training, transport, day centres. Younger adults may benefit from Meet Up groups, Young Minds or The Mix.

Reaching out, connecting with others and using the supports that are available to us are fundamental in combatting loneliness. Remember we all feel lonely at times in our lives.

 

Rebecca Mead is an accredited, registered and experienced Psychotherapist offering Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) to individuals adults.  Rebecca is available at our Brighton and Hove Practice.

 

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Rebecca Mead, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

 

Further reading by Rebecca Mead –

Is that a fact or an opinion? 

As we come out of lockdown, will a number of us be feeling socially anxious?

New Year’s Resolutions

Making Changes

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Demystifying Mental Health Issues

In the last few years there has been increased awareness of mental health issues in the media, way before the pandemic hit. Mental health professionals are seeing a growing mental health epidemic which has become significantly worse due to the human and financial cost of Covid-19, prolonged lockdowns, and a general shift in how people live, work and study. Nowadays, most of us know someone with a mental health issue or have experienced it ourselves.

Mental Health Issues are Human Issues 

The language used in the mainstream media to describe mental health does not adequately portray the issues people present with in therapy.  Terms such as trauma, anxiety and depression are often overused and do not describe their full meaning. Most of us experience fear, grief, sadness, and fluctuation in emotions. Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, most of us have been through a challenging life event(s) or loss(es) with significant emotional and psychological impact.

Anxiety and Depression – An Emotional Accumulation 

I often hear people say that they or someone else “suffers with” anxiety or depression, or “has a mental health issue”. My first thought is: what does this mean? Though these terms have been fed to us through both clinicians and the media, I believe there are much better ways of describing someone’s experience in a less diagnostic, medical and all-encompassing way. 

Although some of us may say “I feel anxious” or “I feel depressed”, anxiety and depression are not actual feelings but a cluster or accumulation of many things. Feelings and emotions when undealt with (supressed) and poorly understood, can result in what we currently describe as depression or anxiety. 

For instance, a prolonged period of low mood which we call depression can ensue as a response to anything from prolonged grief to suppressed anger, feelings of powerlessness and helplessness, just to name a few. Depression can range from low mood to intense depressive episodes, depending on cause and other psychological and biological factors. 

A prolonged or chronic state of high alert resulting in unpleasant feelings of fear or dread which we call anxiety, often manifests when we are responding internally to a certain situation that we perceive as a threat of some description, either actual or imagined. Like depression, anxiety symptoms range from generalised anxiety to panic disorder, depending on the level of accumulation of emotions, life circumstances, personal resilience, previous trauma, etc. 

Finally, our mood is also impacted by environmental and physiological factors such as sleep, hormones, mood altering substances such as caffeine, alcohol and drugs (illegal or prescribed), exercise, fresh air and sunshine, screen time, etc.

The Role of Psychotherapy

Is to help people make sense of why they feel the way they do. To understand what is behind the symptoms that people label as anxiety or depression because they do not know what they are experiencing and why. Uncovering the ‘why’ is a big part of the process of getting better – the more we know why, the more we know ourselves.

Elsewhere on this website we list the issues that people commonly seek therapy for. Anyone who comes to therapy seeking help with a particular issue or issues, also brings with them a rich context and personal history. Making links between symptoms and experience (past and present) is an essential part of understanding, accepting and therefore overcoming some of the barriers we face in feeling mentally well and more at ease with ourselves. 

 

Sam Jahara is a UKCP Registered Psychotherapist and Clinical Supervisor and Executive Coach. She works with individuals in Hove and  Lewes.

 

Further reading by Sam Jahara

Women and Anger

Why all therapists and mental health professionals need therapy now more than ever

Fear and hope in the time of Covid – part 2

The Pandemic and the Emerging Mental Health Epidemic

What shapes us?

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Thinking about the menopause in energetic terms

I often have women clients who are going through the peri-menopause or who are post-menopause and I am curious about how I might better support them therapeutically. I want to share some thoughts from a recent talk by Joanna Groves where she invited us to think about the peri- and post-menopause in more practical and energetic terms. The menopause is defined by 12 months without menstruation; on average this happens at 51 years old. The peri-menopause, the period when the sex hormones are reducing, can start from the late thirties to mid-forties and the symptoms can last for 4 or more years after the menopause.

Groves asked us to pay attention to the pressure of trying to maintain ‘normal’ life during a time of physiological and psychological change and to take seriously the stress this places on women’s physical and mental health. She outlines the physiological and psychological changes that occur during the peri-and post-menopause. There are common physiological symptoms including heart palpitations, sweating, sleep problems and fatigue, these are often accompanied by other changes such as food intolerances and sensitivity to alcohol. Along with anxiety and depression there are other psychological symptoms such as memory and concentration problems, confusion and a loss of confidence and self-esteem. The pressure to maintain work, family responsibilities and a relationship and manage everyday crises can become overwhelming, like trying to stop a burst pipe with a teacup and one hand tied behind your back.

The ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response is caused by Cortisol, the stress hormone. Cortisol is produced and managed by the adrenal glands and is a survival response, an alarm reaction to threat or danger. In contemporary life we’re not at risk from predators but we need cortisol to help us deal with an emergency or carry on under pressure. Cortisol helps us keep going partly by repressing non-essential functions such as digestion and the immune and reproductive systems. When the crisis is over or the pressure reduces cortisol levels drop and the body returns to equilibrium. But what if the pressure is continuous and we are in constant crisis? Eventually the adrenals become exhausted and we become energetically depleted, this can result in anxiety, depression, headaches, difficulties sleeping, digestive problems and burn out.

If all that wasn’t enough to contend with. Groves suggests that during the peri-and post-menopause as our emotional resilience reduces; we no longer have the energy to keep difficult emotional experiences supressed. Buried feelings of grief, loss and shame can re-emerge and memories of trauma can resurface. Long established relationships are examined and sometimes break up. What felt safe and secure no longer feels so and this can feel like a kind of madness.

Groves’ advice is to acknowledge that this time is a process of transition that will eventually lead to a new stage of life, a kind of post-menopausal rebirth with renewed energy. She highlights ways to reduce stress and conserve resources during this transition.

One key message from Groves is that ‘energy follows attention’ i.e. what we focus on consumes or generates energy. She invites us to reflect on this through several different aspects:

  • The importance of getting enough rest and sleep, this might mean delegating some responsibilities, reducing working hours and includes sensory rest such as time without a phone.
  • The physical benefits of movement and keeping mobile through activities like walking, stretching, swimming and gardening; movement creates energy.
  • Gut health and nutrition are two aspects that may need adapting, for example reducing the consumption of sugar and alcohol.
  • Relationships and friendships, it helps to prioritise friendships that sustain and nourish and to limit those that are draining. Family and romantic relationships can come under scrutiny and may be revived or changed irrevocably.
  • Finally Groves emphasises (self) compassion, this might include physical and/or holistic treatments, new creative experiences, practices such as meditation and psychotherapeutic support.

At the same time as outlining these practical approaches, Groves acknowledges that in a culture driven by productivity and achievement attempts to cut down responsibilities and become less productive may feel like ‘weakness’ or ‘failure’. Women in my practice have asked – if I can’t do what I used to do what am I good for – and said – I feel worthless like there is no place for me.

On a more positive note Groves identifies a paradigm shift around the menopause. It is not just women that go through this transition but those who accompany them, friends, colleagues, parents and especially partners and children. Hopefully by welcoming a wider range of experiences including accounts from transgender women we might develop ways to support and improve life transitions for us all. Meanwhile, as therapists we can offer a conversation to help understand and contextualise what is happening to those who find themselves at the centre of this particular life transition.

 

Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy is a collective of experienced psychotherapists, psychologists and counsellors working with a range of client groups, including fellow therapists and health professionals. If you would like more information, or an informal discussion please get in touch. Online therapy is available.

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Thinking about Dyslexia Differently

“The word itself – dyslexia – is ironically very hard for dyslexic people to spell correctly”
Eddie Izzard

Up to one in five people are influenced by dyslexia, including me and Eddie Izzard. Our differing genetic differences inform our ability to process and learn information – however, we can also simplify difficult problems, explain them with clarity, and see multiple perspectives making distant and unusual connections that others might not notice.
Some describe it as thinking outside the box – but it’s more than that – we are curious people, who notice numerous other boxes that need to be urgently investigated!

We are now learning to celebrate the positives of not being neurotypical, so let’s share this information with our children and young people who have received a dyslexia diagnosis or may have undiagnosed traits.

These children and young people sometimes present with mental health issues including anxiety and low mood; on closer investigation they also report struggling academically and unsupported dyslexia is sometimes there in the background making life difficult for the child.

Made by Dyslexia is an organisation whose mission is to help teachers spot, support and empower every dyslexic child and to help the world value dyslexic thinkers. Together with their Join the Dots campaign to help organisations and work places harness dyslexic thinking – their recent report ‘The Dyslexic Dynamic: Why Dyslexia Can Help Meet Today’s Talent Challenges’ is available on their website.  Made by Dyslexia is proving to be a powerful advocate for the dyslexic advantage.

Dyslexic thinking can be highly desired in the work place – we know that many entrepreneurs are dyslexic and creative industries are awash with us. And now GCHQ reports that its official dyslexic people make great spies!

Further reading includes The Dyslexic Advantage. Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain by Dr Brock L Eide and Fernette F Eide, published in 2011 this book describes the dyslexia processing style as a gift. It helps us understand the power of our own dyslexia or that of our children.

Dyslexie, is a typeface designed in 2008 for those influenced by dyslexia. By ignoring basic typography rules Dyslexie letters have heavier bottoms, longer sticks and different shapes.  The centre of gravity is shifted in the design so the letters sit it nicely and snuggly on the page so helping the readability of words.

So welcome to thinking about dyslexia differently – it can be both a pleasure and a pain to live with but life would be less interesting without it.

 

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Sharon, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

Sharon Spindler is an experienced Systemic Family Therapist with twelve years experience within the NHS and private practice.  Sharon is available at the Brighton & Hove Practice.

 

Further reading by Sharon Spindler –

A Primary Task

A desire to change

Covid-19 – talking with children in uncertain times

Family Therapy for Beginners

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When it comes to parenting, are you a builder or a gardener?

What a job it is to raise a child! So full of difficulty, so many moving parts in the process, so much resourcefulness and energy required. Then, just when the parent takes breath to admire their creation, off goes the young adult – at times with barely a backward glance. The parents are left behind wondering where those years have gone and trying desperately to remember what life was like before children.

But what about the process of raising a child? The very fact that there are piles of self-help books on an entirely natural process – after all, our species have been doing it for millennia – is enough in itself to make us pause and reflect. How has parenting just got so complicated and how can thinking about builders and gardeners make us reflect on our parenting style?

One of the factors that makes parenting so difficult is the way parents see themselves in the role. As society puts increasing value on the care and wellbeing of children, so the pressure is on parents to do a better job in raising them – to be accountable. Of course, much of this will be driven by the interests of the child – but there is also self interest involved. After all, that child will be a part of the parent, representing what the parent represents. Homer Simpson captured this idea of children replicating the values system of their parents in his usual comic fashion when he said that what he really liked about having children is ‘you can make them grow up to hate all the things you hate!’ Homer saw his children as extensions of himself, carrying within him some model of what he thought his grown-up child should look like – and seeing his job as making sure the way they see the world corresponds with the way he sees it. We might class his parenting style as project based – like a builder, following a set of plans to some fixed outcome.

Others might be comfortable in their role as parent without such a plan, perhaps allowing the child more freedom to find their own way. Rather than building, they might see their job as nurturing and hence we might class their parenting style as gardening. Whilst most of us will fall somewhere on a continuum between the extremes of these two approaches, thinking about them offers us the chance to re-assess what is going on for us, and for our children, in the process.

Builders

Parents who think in ‘building’ terms, might also be seen as project-focussed parents. They will often carry in their heads some template or plan as to what their child is to become. Self-help guides might be more like manuals in their minds. They will busy themselves with gathering the resources to realise that project. Ballet lessons, music lessons, sports sessions – all might be part of that plan. Of course, education will be crucial: the right school, the right approach and right attitude to progress. The aim will be to achieve the right outcome.

It can be extremely frustrating for these project-focussed parents when things do not go according to the plan. It is not unusual for there to be an amount of conflict, either with the child or with the support around them. Talk to any school head and they will have countless stories of this sort of difficulty.

The intention is a good one: to give the child the very best chance to achieve a particular – often aspirational – goal. The difficulty is that the model of the child-as-adult that is carried in the head of the parent may not be the one that the child carries for themself. It is a situation that can lead to anxiety in both camps. For the parents, they have to come to terms with the reality that they may not be able to determine outcome, and they may have to deal with disappointment and a sense of loss, as their children follow a path that was never in their (the parents’) plan. For the child, whom at some stage at least will have wanted to please their parents, they, too, will have to deal with difficult emotions that may involve a sense of having failed in some way. Not surprisingly, low mood and anxiety can be the result.

Gardeners

It would be unfair to say that gardener-parents have no plans for their children, but it is not quite as prescribed as it is in the case of builder-parents. Rather than a fixed plan and a fixed route to a clear end goal, gardeners look to provide the right context or culture for the child to develop – just as a literal gardener would provide the right soil for their plants. The parent sees their role as nurturer – providing the care that is required for their offspring to grow. There may still be ballet lessons, music lessons and extra sports classes, but these are not so much to build towards a pre-conceived plan – more to encourage and find the ‘soil’ that is going to best suit the child, whom, the parents hope, will learn to put down their own roots and gradually begin to nourish themselves.

The neuroscience of nurture and independence

If we consider our species, we will understand the need for parents to want the best for their child – if they did not, there would be many more neglected children and infant mortality would put at risk the propagation of the species. Likewise, it makes considerable evolutionary sense for children to want to please their parents – the people who are going to nourish them through to the point where they can provide for themselves and, once again, continue to propagate the species. These two neurobiological drives can often work in harmony for the infant years of the child, but the onset of adolescence is likely to cause some disruption. The child now is looking to become independent, whereas the parents might still be wanting (or needing) to follow the plan.

Difficult Feelings

Wherever we sit on this spectrum of parental styles, we are unlikely to escape having to deal with difficult moments in the raising of our children. What can sometimes help us is to recognise and separate what belongs to us and what belongs to the child. When we feel disappointed because our child does not seem to be matching the plans for them that we have in our own mind as parents, then the difficult feelings that arise within us will constitute a real challenge. Our own fantasies – ideas we carry about what might and might not be – can sometimes leave us bereft and never more so than in dealings with our children. We need to keep those feelings with us and avoid any temptation to visit them on our children. It is hardly their fault that they do not always carry the same fantasies as we do. We want our children to be independent, but sometimes that can be a very difficult place to get to unless we let go, not just of the child, but of all the plans we carry for them. Then, despite the very difficult feelings of loss, our children’s leaving us with barely a backward glance might just be a mark of a job well done.

 

Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy is a collective of experienced psychotherapists, psychologists and counsellors working with a range of client groups, including fellow therapists and health professionals. If you would like more information, or an informal discussion please get in touch. Online therapy is available.

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Women and Anger

Women have a lot to be angry about. Aside from how our current political and social landscape still disadvantages women, all women inherit a long lasting legacy of the oppression and suffrage of their close female ancestors. This legacy is still intensely felt in society today, and the emotional and psychological impact still visible in most aspects of women’s lives and choices.

One area that visits my consulting room repeatedly is the difficulty most women have with expressing anger. It can be argued that many men suffer from the same problem, given how anger is frowned upon in our society generally. However, I would like to focus on the particular challenges that women have with anger.

Social expectations of how women should behave, and the qualities attributed to femininity and consequently to a women’s attractiveness is still very much alive. Being agreeable, polite, friendly, helpful, caring, kind, etc. When I was a small child, every time I got angry my mother used to say “what is this ugly face?” In short, don’t ever be angry, anger isn’t pretty and we don’t want to see it.

Angry women are still seen as hysteric and unstable. Anger in women is still blamed on hormones. To the point where it can be hard for many of us to distinguish what is a justifiable emotion and what is “just hormones”. In my opinion, everything is justifiable, because hormones interact with real life situations, therefore very little to do with our emotional landscape can be attributed to hormones alone.

Many women seem to feel the need to apologise for who they are and therefore for how they feel. The problem with this is that our emotions are vital in navigating our inner world and validating our responses to external and internal events. Continually apologising our emotions away leads to erasing vital aspects of who we are. The consequence is usually anxiety and/or depression (the doctor will prescribe a pill, but never ask whether you are not feeling your feelings).

I see women break down in tears in favour of expressing anger. Not that tears are bad. Tears are important – if crying isn’t a more acceptable substitute for something else. A collapse in tears will more likely invite sympathy, even if it feels shameful. Anger can leave others startled and unable to respond – usually you won’t get much sympathy. Of course, other people have the opposite problem – it’s much harder for them to cry than to be angry. I’m not sure which is the hardest to overcome.

Some of the fears linked to expressing anger come from not wanting to displease, alienate and frighten others. Avoidance of direct conflict is endemic. Usually the fear isn’t linked to how others will respond, but of what will be unleashed within. We feel afraid of letting out all that has been tightly kept within. I have often heard women express a fear of going mad, of not being able to “put the lid back on”, of losing control, of becoming permanently angry. All negative attributes historically associated with women.

The main cause of ongoing psychological suffering is not being able to feel and express one’s emotions, and not the other way around. Whether it is grief, disgust, shame, anger or anything that you have been told not to feel. Psychotherapy aims to help you get in touch with your feelings and express them without feeling overwhelmed by them. This can take time and patience. Getting acquainted with our emotional landscape is what makes us feel alive. Being able to express that to others in helpful ways is what makes us feel connected, to ourselves and others.

Anger when expressed in healthy ways can be refreshing, helps us set boundaries and say ‘no’ to what causes us harm. Others may not like it, but part of being brave enough to say what must be said, is trusting that others will not only survive it, but that what they feel and think isn’t your responsibility but theirs.

Sam Jahara is a UKCP Registered Psychotherapist and clinical Supervisor. She works with individuals in Hove and Lewes.

Further reading by Sam Jahara

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Space: The Final Frontier of Manic Defence

As a boy I was fascinated by space travel. I remember being glued to the television set with awe as the Space Shuttle blasted off into space back in the early 80s – I was born after the epic Apollo programme came to an end and was just the right age to appreciate the engineering accomplishments in launching the Shuttle, without having fully lost my sense of wonder and amazement at the idea of man (and woman) going into space.

In recent years and months it seems a new type of space race has emerged – one that for me lacks much of the romance of the Apollo and even the Shuttle programme and instead halls of something very different indeed. I am referring to the race which seems to be be the vanity project of three of the richest (one middle-aged, and two bordering on elderly) men – Bezos, Branson and Musk.

What drives them?

Well, I am a good psychotherapist but cannot mind read. Nonetheless, there is some commonality between the three which I shall cover further on in this piece. What we can easily derive is that what drives these men has very little in common with the values and ideologies behind the original space race between The United States and The former Soviet Union.

The original space race was about many things but none more so than an affirmation of superiority over the other. Superiority in the space race meant, symbolically, superiority as a culture. Why does this matter? Culture, it can be argued from an existential perspective, is fundamentally religious in nature in that it provides us all with a mechanism be become ‘heroic’ and belong. Culture, whether the so called ‘primitive cultures’ of the world through to the now globally dominant Western culture all have three things in common : a story of how we got here, rules on how to behave whilst we are here and lastly, and perhaps most importantly, a story of what happens after we die. This is ostensibly why ever war ever fought is a war of one culture against another or, put more purely, one religion against another whether Christianity versus Islam or Communism versus Capitalism (or Freedom, as the Americans like to call it).

Bezos, Branson and Musk all share the reality that they have immense and almost infinite wealth. However, whilst this wealth is currently propelling them towards space like modern day space cowboys (a reference to Bezos’ cowboy hat attire after his space trip), they share something even more concrete than their wealth and it is something they share with the rest of us: no matter how wealthy, they are hurtling towards their own finitude (death) just like the rest of us and this renders them anxious.

Existential anxiety

Existentialists have long argued that to feel anxious is to be human; that our very being is defined by a knowing anxiety as we are, as far as we can discern, the only species on the planet who has such a profound awareness of our being that we also know we are going to die. This is unbearable for us and so we invent ways in which to stave off death anxiety – back to the raison d’être of culture.

Bezos, Branson and Musk all live on the same planet as the rest of us mere (financial) mortals – a planet that is reaching its limits on almost every level: we are fast running out of space, clean air, clean water and temperature ranges that provide liveable conditions for us and our animal cousins.

However, to engage with this is deeply anxiety provoking, not just for billionaires but for all of us and to contemplate the planet’s finitude is to be reminded of our own finitude.

A flight from death

Imagine how much good could be done with the combined wealth of these three individuals on this planet: third world debt could be resolved, huge investment created in renewables, diseases eradicated and so on. However to do this it would mean living within the constraints of reality – within the context of finitude. It would mean that each of these men would have to accept that despite their billions, they are mere mortals who are going to die.

Manic defence

A manic defence is a process (unconscious) that humans employ to distract themselves from uncomfortable truths, thoughts and feelings. It is, if you wish, the polar opposite of depression, where one is consumed by negative thoughts and feelings and nothing possible can be accessed.

It is a normal developmental process for infants to pass from a state of denial and splitting to the depressive position whereby reality, with all its disappointments, can be tolerated – not the same as clinical depression.

Whilst the latest wave of space travel is couched as progressive and future orientated by each of these billionaires, in reality what seems to be emerging is simply an expensive and highly polluting contest from see whom has the biggest ego (or other appendage if one is to reference the phallic shape of Bezos’ rocket ship). And what are they offering the world? The ‘opportunity’ for others who are wealthy, but slightly less so, to invest in this egotistical immortality project by becoming ‘space tourists’.

The little boy in me dreamt of space and the idea of being a space tourist. I now am firmly (and uncomfortably) rooted in the reality in accepting my own finitude and that of the planet we all share. Perhaps if the three protagonists in question had spent just a little of their fortune on a curiosity in exploring their inner ‘space’, they would be more able to tolerate actual reality themselves and rather than resorting to mania to defend against existential angst, find culturally heroic ways of making a difference and leaving their mark.

 

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Mark Vahrmeyer, please contact him here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

 

Mark Vahrmeyer, UKCP Registered, BHP Co-founder is an integrative psychotherapist with a wide range of clinical experience from both the public and private sectors. He currently sees both individuals and couples, primarily for ongoing psychotherapy.  Mark is available at the Lewes and Brighton & Hove Practices.

 

Further reading by Mark Vahrmeyer

Do Psychotherapists Need to Love Their Clients?

Unexpressed emotions will never die

What is the purpose of intimate relationships?

Why ‘Cancel Culture’ is about the inability to tolerate difference

The Phenomenon of ‘Manifesting – The Law of Attraction’ and the inability to tolerate reality

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Why there’s nothing as infuriating as Anger Management

As psychotherapists, we have often been asked to provide anger management. Whilst we know some people need to control their anger to prevent destructive effects on themselves and their relationships, what was then called anger management mainly consisted of breathing and cognitive techniques to control their anger. Although this worked for a lot of people, most left without really touching the surface of their issues. For most people, once a certain point of their anger has been reached, rational thought has gone out of the window.

How Psychotherapy Can Help with Anger Issues

Psychotherapists take a different approach to anger management, where they seek to understand the reason for the anger and attempt to address the problem at the root rather than simply how to control the symptoms. They also help people realise their triggers and work to understand where they came from.

The root of anger is different for each person; therefore, therapy can look different for everyone. During therapy, therapists will work with the client to explore the purpose and meaning of their anger helping them feel understood.

Anger can stem from a range of past experiences and can be triggered by completely different situations depending on the person. One person may feel angry when they feel threatened, powerless, and for many other reasons.

Anger and Depression

Anger is usually part of a complex set of internal feelings and conflicts. It can come out in bursts unexpectedly or can be repressed which causes feelings of guilt and self-criticism. Anger usually stems from feelings of rejection or loss, and is often directed inwards which can be a cause of depression.

The feeling of rejection can come from a range of situations, from abusive childhoods to parents suffering from depression themselves which can lead to the child feeling hurt and rejected. These past experiences can lead to painful feelings of self-loathing, unwantedness and internal or external anger.

Anger, when directed towards a person who is a child, family member or partner can also lead to ambivalence (conflicted feelings of love and hate) which can lead to anxiety or powerful guilt. These feelings can be split off and directed elsewhere which avoids hurting the loved one. Psychotherapy provides a safe and non-judgmental space to express these feelings which ease the need to act them out.

Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy is a collective of experienced psychotherapists, psychologists and counsellors working with a range of client groups, including fellow therapists and health professionals. If you would like more information, or an informal discussion please get in touch. Online therapy is available.

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Is that a fact or an opinion?

Now we are all starting to go out more and socialise again, I wanted to acknowledge how we can all experience anxious or self critical thoughts.

I have noticed, when meeting up with various girlfriends recently, how we’ve all shared thoughts of feeling slightly anxious about how others are perceiving us. Due to the various lockdowns over the last year and a half, we’ve been working from home, not exercising as much and possibly eating and drinking more, and for some of us, this has resulted in a slight change in appearance. Perhaps we’ve put on weight, are not as toned as we once were or are not looking so primped and preened as we used to. Various friends have shared some form of self criticism about their appearance. One friend referred to this as her ‘lockdown arse’. Another friend said she couldn’t possibly come out socially until she’d had her hair done and lost a few pounds. It occurred to me how we can all be self conscious and bothered by what others are thinking of us when we’ve not seen them for a while.

It’s normal.

We worry about what we think we should look like and worry that our friends will make judgements or look at us in a negative light if we are not the same shape/size as we were when they last saw us. Our internal dialogues are often talking to us in a critical way. We forget that we are acceptable to our friends however we are because it’s our friendship that is valued. Others want to see us for who we are and because we’re their friend not for what we look like.

If it wasn’t appearance that was being fretted about it was not having anything to say. Again because of lockdown and not being able to do much, friends would worry about not having anything to talk about, being dull and boring and having nothing interesting to say. Forgetting that we have all been in the same boat.

When these worry or self critical thoughts creep in they can have a profound effect on how we are feeling. They can make us feel anxious, low and even depressed. Our thoughts are very influential over our emotions and our behaviours. They can prevent us from doing what we’d really like to do. Thoughts not only affect our moods and behaviours but can affect our self esteem and our self worth. Yet when you unpick thoughts they are often not facts, they are our opinions. Thoughts can feel believable, real and true, yet really they are just a string of words. Our thoughts can be quite bullying, they can tell us that we’re not good enough, that we should be this or that, they come thick and fast and once you get on the negative spiral it can be quite difficult to get off. They are instantaneous and we often don’t question them. Our thoughts are our internal dialogue and can be very harsh and self critical. We wouldn’t talk to others as we do ourselves. So why is that ok?

When I’m aware I’m starting to get into worry thoughts about what others might think I find it quite useful to ask myself is that a fact or an opinion? Often I’m making an assumption or mind reading. If this is the case it can be helpful to ask yourself if there’s another way of looking at this? What would my best friend say to me in this scenario? Or what advice would I give to someone else? And would this matter in 6 months time? These sorts of questions can help us to gain an alternative perspective, to a more balanced way of thinking, that is kinder and more realistic.

These questions are some of the prompts on a CBT technique called a STOPP record.*

So the next time you are worrying about going out with your friends because you may look a little different or not have much to say try challenging those thoughts, ask yourself is that a fact or an opinion? Remind yourself that we can all have unhelpful thoughts at times, its normal.

(* The STOPP record technique can be found here: https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/STOPP5.pdf)

 

Rebecca Mead is an accredited, registered and experienced Psychotherapist offering Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) to individuals adults.  Rebecca is available at our Brighton and Hove Practice.

 

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Rebecca Mead, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

 

Further ready by Rebecca Mead –

As we come out of lockdown, will a number of us be feeling socially anxious?

New Year’s Resolutions

Making Changes

Social Connections

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Football, psychotherapy and engaging with male clients

I recently read that an English professional football team has a resident psychotherapist. Whilst the connection between clinical psychology and sporting outcomes is well established, having a team psychotherapist is something new. The therapist explained that they’re there to support the players, coaches and a team of staff through the emotional highs and lows of the professional game. Scoring goals isn’t the sole focus of the role, but it’s hoped that a happy and supported team will be more likely to score.

I read this not from a football supporter’s perspective, but from that of a therapist who is always mindful of how we engage with clients, especially men. There is no secret that men are less likely than women to engage with psychological services. Men are also more likely to hold gender based beliefs as to why they shouldn’t be sensitive to their own mental health.

The football team therapist spoke of how the engagement with players was less formal that traditional psychotherapy and could be anything from a few minutes chat to a longer session. It seems that being understanding and sensitive to the schedules of the players and being flexible around this, worked best for all parties.

Debating changing styles of therapy is a whole other discussion but it does make me question how greater engagement with men might be based on challenging concepts of masculinity whilst not taking men out of their own understood gender roles. In effect to reframe masculinity in a way that still feels masculine.

As a trainee therapist being in your own therapy is a requirement. The experience of being a client is something that shapes how we are as practitioners. The understanding of what it’s like to explore your own mind and how you can gain a deeper understanding of yourself can feel like a huge luxury. It can also feel like the most anxiety inducing and impossible task when you feel your own vulnerability in the face of another. As a trainee male practitioner this was the moment when I began to understand that I held many gendered views of what men did and didn’t do and how could I shift my perceptions without losing my own sense of my gender.

As therapists we are well aware of the challenges when clients begin to explore and think about their feelings. Knowing how that can feel for us we can empathise and think with them. When this is seen through a series of deeply held beliefs around gendered roles it can feel impossible. Here a myriad of gendered terms about ‘men not crying’ and being a ‘strong, silent type’ spring to mind. Is it any wonder that men can struggle to acknowledge, let alone engage with thoughts about mental health when there is so much messaging that it isn’t ‘masculine’?

Reading about a football club with a psychotherapist felt very positive. It wasn’t only an interesting article, but it very gently reminds us that attitudes towards men’s mental health, are changing. If the knowledge that a football team are supported and as a result successful by being sensitive to their own mental health it sends a subtle, yet positive, message. This can only be a good thing for helping men to think that being aware of their own mental health is not challenging their sense of their own masculinity, it is merely offering a different perspective.

David Work is a BACP registered psychotherapist working with adults, offering long term individual psychotherapy. He works with individuals in Hove and Lewes.

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with David , please contact him here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

 

Further reading by David Work –

When Home and Work merge

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