Blog

The coronavirus pandemic has both exacerbated, and drawn attention to, a problem of social isolation. Roz Shafran, Professor of Translational Psychology at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, has been conducting research into psychological approaches to tackling loneliness. Here, she suggests six ways we can help clients who are lonely – and argues for more communication between therapists and community groups that foster social connection.

How can we help avoidant clients to drop their defences and allow deep emotions to emerge? In her sixth blog about working with highly defended clients, Attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist Linda Cundy discusses the centrality of affect regulation and mourning in this work, taking in the role of countertransference, self-compassion and humour, Fairbairn’s ‘moral defence’ and Stern’s ‘moments of meeting’.

The countertransference can be an essential tool when working with clients whose experiences of early trauma have led to Dissociative Identity Disorder. Rémy Aquarone, Director of the Pottergate Centre for Dissociation and Trauma, explains how sharing our psychic responses to client material serves the development of an inquisitive and proactive dialogue – helping clients with DID work towards an integrated self.

Grow as a trauma therapist by learning direct from leading woman pioneers in trauma work, with PESI UK’s Women, Trauma and Mental Health Master Series Conference – taking place online 5-6 November 2020.

We cannot simply think our way out of our innate, physiological stress and trauma responses. Ahead of three events for PESI UK this Autumn, Dr Arielle Schwartz explains the difference in presentation between parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system states, and sets out her mind-body rationale for working with complex PTSD, including exercises to promote somatic awareness and a flexible approach to protective behaviours.

How can we apply an understanding of attachment styles to working with suicidal ideation? Gülcan Sutton Purser, an attachment-based relational psychotherapist and trauma specialist, sets out the characteristics of disorganised and anxious attachments, explains the link between suicidal ideation and loss, and illuminates the internal world of clients for whom death has become the apparent ‘secure base’.

To mark World Mental Health Day this year, make use of our treasure trove of gratis resources for mental health practitioners, from watch-again webcasts of major conferences to informal clinical conversations with some of the more leading names in psychotherapy and counselling – free to everyone, everywhere.

Who and what might we encounter when a carer comes for counselling? In the final part of her myth-busting series about the value and diversity of counselling people with a dementia, Danuta Lipinska calls our attention to the unique experiences of clients who are caregiving, and explains why we must move away from the limiting language of ‘loved ones’.

How does trauma impact women? How can we support them to recover and to thrive? Learn from the leading female voices in trauma therapy as PESI UK announces a live and online Women, Trauma and Mental Health Master Series Conference. Subtitled ‘Empowering Women with the Skills and Insight to Thrive’, the two-day event will bring together pioneering women in the field of trauma work, including Pat Ogden, Janina Fisher, Kathy Steele, Judith Herman and Babette Rothschild, sharing clinical insights from neuroscience and attachment research to resilience training and body work.

Therapists may not be alert to the challenges and barriers that can come with dyslexia – or the creative power. To mark Dyslexia Awareness Week, Pennie Aston, founder of a dyslexia aware counselling service, explains how societal attitudes can impact a dyslexic client’s sense of self, and shares ways to work with their creative strengths in the consulting room.