Blog

It may be mistaken for dissociative experiences, dysmorphia, even psychosis. But clients who are plagued by existential doubts and ‘what ifs?’ may actually be experiencing a lesser-known form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Dr Karen Cassiday, clinical psychologist and specialist in anxiety disorders, sets out the key differentiating features of existential OCD – and describes some of the disturbing ideas and desperate behaviours we may notice in its presence.

Why are some client communities still being referred to as ‘hard to reach’? This framing says much about therapy’s inadequate reckoning with structural oppression, and limited understanding of what access to therapy services – and indeed therapy trainings – really means. Myira Khan, founder of the Muslim Counselling and Psychotherapist Network and author of the forthcoming Working Within Diversity, explains why we must move beyond talk of ‘inclusion’– and shares some key pointers for anti-oppressive practice.

Taking a proactive stance against racism means engaging our minds, bodies and interpersonal selves. How can we develop the capacities we need for this essential and often deeply challenging work? Psychotherapist Eugene Ellis, founder of the Black, African and Asian Therapy Network, author of The Race Conversation and co-editor of the new book Therapy in Colour, outlines three core resources to help therapists stay on – or come to – the path of anti-racist practice.

What is resilience, and where does it come from? For psychoanalyst and professor of clinical psychology Clara Mucci, the answer lies securely with early attachment – while the responsibility must extend to political and social practices. Here, the author of Resilience and Survival discusses the central relevance of affect regulation to any understanding of resilience, and shares some clinical pointers for addressing interpersonal and intergenerational traumatisation.

How can we determine readiness for trauma processing? What skills and capacities need fostering in our traumatised clients before we take the next step? Rebecca Kase, leading EMDR consultant and author of a forthcoming book integrating Polyvagal Theory and EMDR, introduces the Preparation Hierarchy – a simple, neuro-informed framework that can help all therapists to pace, and prepare clients for, deep trauma work.

A link between anxiety and neurodivergence is widely observed and commented upon by mental health professionals – yet often narrowly understood. To mark the start of Mental Health Awareness Week 2023, neurodivergent therapist Angela Kelly asks us to centre an appreciation of the lived experience of being an individual who learns, thinks or processes differently in a world designed for the neuromajority, including the impact of invalidation trauma.

How can therapists contribute to a more open culture around death and dying? As we focus on supporting our clients through their grief, we can at times be in danger of estranging ourselves from our own. To coincide with Dying Matters Awareness Week 2023, which is encouraging conversations about death, dying and grief in the workplace, clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst Anne Adelman shares a very personal experience of loss.

The unfolding climate catastrophe is a space of collective trauma, shared by both client and therapist. What qualities and capacities are required of us to work in the face of, and within, this existential crisis? How might the pandemic have prepared us for this task? Judith Anderson, Jungian Analytical Psychotherapist and Chair of the Climate Psychology Alliance, marks Earth Day 2023 with a call to therapists to carry both fearlessness and fearfulness in our clinical work – and to step beyond its borders in pursuit of systemic change.

When a dream is brought to therapy we may welcome it as a gift. But practitioners can also feel unprepared, put on the spot, puzzled by vastly different theoretical attitudes and unsure where to begin. Mark Blagrove, Professor of Psychology and author of a new book about the science and art of dreaming, outlines a simple yet enlightening technique devised by the psychoanalyst Montague Ullman – one that might help therapists develop confidence and curiosity when encountering clients’ dreams, and increase our empathy too.

Some clients seek out specialist treatment for sex or porn addiction. Others bring their compulsive sexual behaviour into general therapy. Psychotherapist Dr Paula Hall, founder of the UK’s largest sex and porn addiction therapy service, has created a not-for-profit app that clients and non-specialist clinicians can incorporate into their ongoing work as an accessible resource – using CBT, ACT and psychodynamic strategies to address both unwanted behaviours and underlying causes.