Blog

When supporting neurodivergent clients, increasing numbers of practitioners are looking to bridge a gap left by many counselling and therapy trainings. Ruth Williams, a psychotherapist specialising in neurodivergence, including autism and ADHD, has seen both the damage done by ill-informed therapy and the transformative power of attuned, informed, flexible practice. She shares some of the reasons therapists seek specialist supervision in the area of neurodiversity – including the experiences of neurodivergent supervisees.

One of our fundamental tasks as therapists involves establishing and maintaining boundaries. Whether we are offering therapy by video, phone, instant messaging or email, the online space brings with it fresh boundary considerations and complications. Sarah Worley-James, a counsellor and author specialising in online therapy, supervision and training, identifies some common boundary pushes and suggests how we might preempt these in contracting or work with them in-session.

When it comes to bodily difference, how many therapists – both in and outside our client work – may be acting as unconscious agents of an assumed ‘normal’? Marking the publication of his landmark book Different Bodies: Deconstructing Normality, leading body psychotherapist Nick Totton calls on fellow practitioners to question our assumptions about what is an ‘ordinary’ body, from skin colour and gender to neurological makeup and bodily capacities, and reminds us that justice is indivisible.

Advances in neuroscience mean most general therapists understand the importance of working with the body, especially at the intersection of addiction and trauma. But how many of us lack confidence when inviting clients to safely connect with their embodied experience? Ahead of a PESI UK training in Autumn 2023, Jan Winhall introduces her Felt Sense Polyvagal Model – a foundational framework based on ‘Six Fs’ that integrates insights from Gendlin and Porges, and uses playful imagery to help clients track their own autonomic nervous systems.

Clients with addiction issues too often feel cast adrift from general therapy. What can non-specialist psychotherapists do to better support such individuals? Cece Sykes is an IFS senior trainer and consultant specialising in recovery from trauma and addiction. Ahead of a PESI UK training in Autumn 2023, she explains how a parts-based perspective on addictive processes can offer empowerment and hope to both clients and therapists – and outlines an understanding of the addictive cycle as a battle between inner teams of protectors rather than a self-destructive pathology.

Dr Kathrin Stauffer on working with early emotional neglect, from common presentations and pitfalls to the role of creative resourcing and countertransferential responses – and the vital importance of scaling down the challenge. Part 4 in our new PESI UK Blog series, Free Clinical Conversations: An Hour With an Expert.

Arielle Schwartz shares essential insights and mind-body skills for helping clients with complex trauma, from navigating symptomatic overwhelm and phobic avoidance to understanding self-blame, shame and shutdown. Part 3 in our new PESI UK Blog series, Free Clinical Conversations: An Hour With an Expert.

The school year is drawing to a close amid reports of rising pupil absences and warnings of a ‘national crisis in education’. But what is being done to understand and address the psychological aspects of persistent absenteeism, including unmet additional needs? Suzy Rowland, CBT practitioner, autism / ADHD specialist trainer and founder of the happyinschool project, reflects on the difficult emotional dynamics around what is still unhelpfully termed ‘school refusal’ – and shares some suggestions for improving communication between school, families and children.

Pat Ogden on the impact of trauma on protective responses, tracking truncated action in the tiniest of movements, and how we can work through the body to both process the past and resource for the present. Part 2 in our new PESI UK Blog series, Free Clinical Conversations: An Hour With an Expert.

Janina Fisher, world-renowned trauma and attachment specialist, on the gendered stigma of BPD diagnoses – and how a trauma-informed reframing can liberate our female clients. Part 1 in our new PESI UK Blog series, Free Clinical Conversations: An Hour With an Expert.