Category Archives: article

Online Counselling over Zoom

article, online counselling

“I’ve been having therapy over Zoom for a month and it’s completely changed my perspective”

This article gives a flavour of how counselling remotely might work for you and those you care about.

Since the Covid-19 crisis started, I’ve been trained in ways of providing online counselling to maintain social distancing. As a result, I have developed a way of delivering therapy to adults, young people and children using video conferencing, such as Zoom. 

I have found that I can still provide effective opportunities for talking therapies and creative approaches to counselling.

Being cooped-up together can lead to an intensifying of difficulties in family life, so I’m pleased that I can also continue to offer support for family issues, for instance, providing space for exploring and strengthening the parent-child bond. 

Please contact me for support.

Police Mental Health Support

police mindfulness mental health
This is a very welcome development for our overstretched and overstressed police officers. Click the image to read the Guardian article.

Mindfulness is a very popular practise for mental health and wellbeing. While some people might be suspicious of its roots in organised religion, it actually has a very strong, clinical evidence-base. A great place to start is the Headspace app or website which teaches you the basics for free.

Mindfulness is excellent for maintaining wellbeing but counselling is sometimes required to achieve a reasonable level of wellbeing in the first place. I am a counsellor approved by the Police Firearms Officers Association and have supported some officers sponsored through their welfare programme. I also live and work less than a mile from Hampshire Constabulary’s Basingstoke Police Investigation Centre. 

If you are in any of the uniformed public services and need support, not just about your duties but domestically as well, please call Joy for a free, initial appointment.

 

Stress affects our physical bodies

Stress affects our physical bodies

Stress affects our physical bodies, though most of us don’t realise just how much. I came across this excellent article examining this link and explaining it in everyday language. What is your body trying to tell you? Counselling is a great way of exploring life and relationships so that you can reduce the stress in your life. Contact Joy for a free initial consultation.

Domestic Abuse Storyline in the Archers

Rob & Helen from the Archers - domestic abuse

The Archers: What effect has the Rob and Helen domestic abuse story had?

Source: BBC The Archers: What effect has the Rob and Helen story had?

This Archer’s story has been timed and sensitively crafted to fit in with new legislation on controlling or coercive behaviour which came into effect in December 2015. Many news organisations have been reporting on the story’s significance, particularly recently when it reached a climax as desperate Helen sought to escape from her abusive husband Rob.

The powerful dynamics of relationships like these are often secret. Stigma, shame, fear and loyalty hold people like Helen in a powerful vice. And it’s not just women and it’s not just heterosexual relationships.

If all this feels painfully familiar ask yourself: “Who am I in this scenario? The victim, the perpetrator, the child of an abusive relationship, the friend or relative of someone struggling?” Sometimes we even have more than one role. As sufferers of abuse, we can then go onto abuse others.

With courage, your second question could be: “How am I going to break this vicious cycle?”
See the support agencies listed in the BBC article and contact Joy to get support with making sense of what is happening in your life and how you can find a way to safe and healthy relationships.

Happy Mothers’ Day?

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Everyone talks of “Father issues” but how was Mothers’ Day for you this year? For some mothers, it can be a wonderful time of being appreciated ‘for once’, or there can be disappointment that there isn’t the connection there that you would long for with your offspring. Alternatively, it can be an incredibly sad time, if you’ve lost a child or not been able to have children. At times like this, the flowers the rest of the world are buying and receiving are just excruciating reminders. Continue reading Happy Mothers’ Day? →

Depression: Nobody understands, nobody can help

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If you or a loved one are feeling isolated, misunderstood and guilty at your inability to find any hope or pick yourself up, you may find some comfort from Tayana Simons’ recent Huffington Post blog “11 Truths Sufferers of Depression Will Understand (and Others Should Too)“. Continue reading Depression: Nobody understands, nobody can help →