Blog

From shame, blame and guilt to the stress of official proceedings and the loneliness of disenfranchised grief, individuals bereaved through a drug- or alcohol-related death may require specific support in counselling. In the second of two blogs, Peter Cartwright, counsellor, author and specialist in substance-related bereavements, shows how his five-part framework can help us meet these too often neglected needs.

What specific support is needed by individuals who have lost someone through a drug- or alcohol-related death? In the first of two blog posts, Peter Cartwright, counsellor, author and specialist in substance-related bereavements, shares a framework for working with the complex grief experiences of this sadly ever-growing client group.

As the coronavirus crisis disrupts clients’ usual routines and attachments, how do we assess for problematic drinking, and support clients to find alternative sources of safety and security? To mark Alcohol Awareness Week, addiction specialist Stefan Walters shares some helpful questions for exploring clients’ relationships with alcohol during the pandemic.

The focus of World Mental Health Day this year is suicide prevention. But when it comes to the accepted mainstream practice of risk assessment tools, are tick boxes and questionnaires getting in the way of potent therapeutic discourse? Dr Andrew Reeves, who has written extensively about working relationally with risk, calls for therapists to be brave, step forward, and really meet clients in their suicidal place.

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.

The Suicide Crisis Centre in Gloucestershire has attracted international attention for its approach to helping clients survive. Joy Hibbins, who set up the charity following her own experience of suicidal crisis, shares her insights into what factors make the difference between life and death – and why an attitude of clinical distance may run counter to what is needed.

Terrifying dreams are common among clients with dissociative identity disorder, condemning all their internal parts to long, sleepless nights. But to which part do the nightmares belong, and why might this be important to ascertain? In the final part of her series on energy therapy for DID, therapist and author Gill Frost describes how she worked with one client’s eight-year-old alter to free her from her night terrors – and allow each of the client’s parts to sleep in peace.

Secondary trauma, relationship injury, ambiguous loss… the impact on partners following a suicidal crisis can be devastating, and yet their experiences are often overlooked. Dr. Francis McGivern, author of a recent book aiming to fill this clinical and societal silence, shares insights from his research and suggests some ways in which therapists might support partners in the wake of suicide attempts, from shadow feelings to post-traumatic growth.

As we get to know our client’s internal families, we may uncover different relationships and encounter very early parts. In the penultimate blog in her series on energy therapy for dissociative identity disorder, Gill Frost, author of The Girls Within, shares how she worked to heal a distressed baby part – by enlisting the help of another alter whose internal role was to take care of this very traumatised infant.

Whether our subject is the slow process of therapy, the nature of dissociation or the relationship between parts and the Self, metaphors can be particularly helpful when communicating with trauma survivors. Schema therapist and founder of Heal Your Trauma, Dan Roberts, shares some of his favourite metaphors that serve to both psychoeducate and relationally engage clients with trauma histories.