Blog

How is the summer manifesting in your consulting room? What internal responses should psychotherapists be vigilant about when temperatures are high? Professor Trevor Harley, author of The Psychology of Weather, suggests a complex forecast

In the fifth part of his blog series, psychosexual therapist Dr Thaddeus Birchard discusses the particular principles and problems of addiction to internet pornography, from ‘supernormal stimuli’ and the role of mirror neurons, to the two ways in which pornography addiction tends to escalate

Body-oriented approaches used to be seen as the whacky fringe. Now, many therapeutic approaches are taking somatic processes seriously. But, suggests Michael Soth, there is a vast difference between ‘having’ a body and ‘being’ a body, between ‘using’ our bodies and ‘inhabiting’ them. To work effectively with the body, he argues, we must be mindful of the conflicted relationship between psyche and soma, and of the external relational dynamics between client and therapist.

How can we differentiate between traumatic and non-traumatic experiences, and what about our client’s own understanding of what trauma means? In her second monthly blog on trauma and neuroscience, Tracy Jarvis, trauma specialist and Director of Psychotherapy Excellence, shares some helpful insights on what to look out for in clinical practice.

What is the relationship between shame and sex addiction? In the fourth part of his blog series on this still stigma-ridden issue, psychosexual therapist Dr Thaddeus Birchard reflects on the nature and impact of shame, and shares the insight of a friend from a recovery programme: ‘Shame is to addiction what oxygen is to the fire’.

Why does anxiety hold such a powerful grip on our clients? Because, argues clinical psychologist David Carbonell, Ph.D, anxiety tricks us in to responding to it as a danger when it is actually a discomfort. Ahead of a special London workshop on 21st September 2019, the anxiety specialist explains why ‘anxiety disorders’ are better understood and worked with as ‘disorders of excessive self-protection’.

What is non-normative sexual behaviour, and how should we work with it? In the third part of his blog series, psychosexual therapist Dr Thaddeus Birchard discusses paraphilia, including the role of societal constructs and importance of ethical considerations

Suicide will be a national topic of conversation today, as the Samaritans conducts its annual The Big Listen campaign. While therapists well understand the transformative power of listening, expressions of suicidality can challenge our capacity to accept and sit with a client’s feelings. And, as counselling lecturer Jamie Smith reminds us, therapists aren’t immune to societal misconceptions about suicide – or the pressures of our own motivations

What are the advantages, and disadvantages, of using goal setting with clients? Are goals energising and empowering – or can they be dehumanising, and distract us from deeper needs? The answer lies with the individual, as Professor Mick Cooper talks us through the good, the bad, and the better of goal-oriented practice

Psychosexual therapist Dr Thaddeus Birchard founded the first UK centre for sex addiction treatment, and pioneered training for therapists working with compulsive sexual behaviour. In the second part of his blog series on this still stigma-ridden issue, he outlines his treatment programme for sex addiction, and emphasises the importance of ‘restoring the self