Blog

Panicky exchanges about preferred online platforms have been common among therapists this week. Worrying over details may be a distraction from our primal anxiety in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, says Sarah Van Gogh – who offers some grounding for those experiencing hopelessness and overwhelm as we continue to care for clients through this crisis.

With whole cities and countries now in quarantine, many mothers and children will be spending Mother’s Day apart this Sunday. Meanwhile, parents the world over are beginning to worry about the long-term impact of the pandemic on our children. Psychoanalyst and mother Jane G Goldberg considers the relationship between trauma and transformation, from the meaning our ancestors gave to scars to Freud’s thoughts on birth, and the role of challenges and crises in the forging of identity.

On Friday, UK schools will join others around the world in closing due to the coronavirus crisis. How will family life need to change? Child therapist and Clinical Professor of Psychology Kenneth Barish draws on his conversations with families who are already living through this, to suggest four key ways in which parents can be supported to help children through this time.

The current health crisis means many counsellors are considering taking their practice online for the first time. Therapist Suzie Mosson, a director of Online Training for Counsellors, has some expert advice for practitioners looking to make this move, from reviewing insurance and fees to choosing a webcam programme and re-contracting with your client. Top of her list of guidance? Don’t panic – plan.

Love is fundamental to human lives, cropping up repeatedly in client narratives and consulting room dynamics. But how much do we understand about it? Dr Divine Charura, editor of Love and Therapy, concludes his five-part series on the role of love in life and psychotherapy with some reflections on the importance of facilitating a good ending in therapy.

How might we begin to work with clients with avoidant attachment patterns? In her third blog about working with highly defended clients, Attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist Linda Cundy shares how she has engaged clients who have learned to hide their needs and avoid commitment.

Love is fundamental to human lives, cropping up repeatedly in client narratives and consulting room dynamics. But how much do we understand about it? Dr Divine Charura, editor of Love and Therapy, continues his five-part series on the role of love in life and psychotherapy with a consideration of the power of community and the psychotherapist’s potential to be an agent of social change.

Anxiety and depression are on the rise among PhD students. But therapists working with students aren’t always aware of the very particular pressures clients in this group are under. To mark University Mental Health Day, psychodynamic counsellor Rachel E. Morgan, who works at two university counselling services, shares insights from her practice – and from her own time as a PhD student and postdoctoral researcher.

The term eating disorder is easily defined, with reference to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. But what about disordered eating? To coincide with Eating Disorders Awareness Week, Dr Howard Farkas, a clinical psychologist and author specialising in emotional overeating, makes the case for paying more attention to clients with disordered eating behaviours – and explains how to distinguish this from merely atypical eating.

Helping clients with eating issues means understanding the diet mentality and addressing our own biases regarding body size. To mark the start of Eating Disorders Awareness Week, therapist and author Judith Matz critiques diet culture, explains the importance of attuned or intuitive eating – and urges clinicians to watch out for ‘diets in disguise’.