Ongoing loneliness tends to produce a sense of lost meaning. We need to feel life is meaningful, and deep relationships are a – perhaps the – vital way many people create and enjoy meaning in their lives. We all have a need for human contact, to give and receive attention. And, like any need, its […]
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If you are a therapist or coach of any persuasion; counsellor, psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, life coach, bodyworker, in fact anyone who works in the helping professions, you will glean valuable, actionable ideas, tips and techniques from Clear Thinking, my free therapy techniques newsletter.
In it you'll find a wide range of topics including solution focused therapy approaches, cognitive-behavioural therapy techniques, ideas from DBT, hypnotherapy, counselling and even the occasional philosophical piece. I've been treating people with psychotherapy for more than 30 years and I've drawn what I find useful from many fields. I hope you find it helps you in your practice too, whatever flavour of helper you are.
3 Vital Reasons to Use Hypnosis in Psychotherapy
Whenever anyone asks me why I use hypnosis in psychotherapy, I feel like a swimmer being asked why he feels the need to get into water to swim. There’s a variety of positive reasons to introduce clinical hypnosis into your practice.
Helping the Adult Parentified Child
Having to be mature beyond our years early on isn’t always harmful. Sometimes it may help form wonderfully adjusted, productive, even happy human beings. But what about the disadvantages of an early life with little or no carefree play, overburdened with emotional and practical responsibility?
How to Help Your Clients Cultivate Wellbeing in Everyday Life
Mental wellbeing is, of course, the primary focus of concern for people prone to depression and anxiety. But ultimately it’s vital for all of us. Here are just a few ideas for cultivating wellbeing day to day, to help us feel more able to cope and, dare I say it, even enjoy life in these […]
Research Roundup 15
We don’t always get the complete picture from a part. And yet we’re spoon-fed or even hosed down with ‘factoids’ in a constant flood of information. In this occasional series I look at five recent research studies and suggest what I feel they may mean to the bigger picture of being human.
How to Help Your Client Through a Divorce
Just like marriage itself, the experience of divorce can be radically different for different people. Some ex-spouses continue to torment or try to control, and financial worries can feel overwhelming. But these three principles will hold good for anyone going through divorce.
3 Ways to Deal With a Narcissistic Client
Just as the psychopath doesn’t tend to seek help to overcome their psychopathy, narcissists tend to be quite happy to be who they are. But if narcissism is, as the research suggests, on the increase, then by the law of averages you shouldn’t be surprised to find yourself sitting across from a narcissistic client, or […]
How to Identify and Remove Unconscious Blocks
The past is never really gone in some ways, at least not all of it. It lingers on, influencing our decisions and reactions. Faulty pattern matching can produce what may seem to be baffling responses within us. With this in mind, whenever we’re confounded by a client’s emotional responses, we can do what I did […]
How Brainwashing Works (and is Working on You)
We are, many of us, prone to shame, guilt, and the need to please others and fit in. These needs were exploited by the Chinese Communists, and they continue to be exploited today. An online climate of fear, guilt harnessing, revenge, collective shaming, and enforced grovelling apologies produces super fertile ground for brainwashing.
How to Help Your Client Deal with Unkind Critics
Being on the receiving end of someone’s negative carping is demoralizing and downright depressing. Here I want to address how we can help clients become more resilient in the face of negative criticism.
