The client, Gary, called to make his first appointment and said he was persuaded by “a mate” to attend counselling to control his anger. In short Gary was a perpetrator of physical abuse against his intimate female partner, Julie, who is 22 years of age. The couple have no children but his partner has recently expressed a desire to have a child with him. »
Jim had come to counselling to seek help with dealing with the sale of his late mother’s estate. He was experiencing a lot of anger with the issue and also with his brother, Frank, who was joint inheritor. Frank was facing bankruptcy and needed the proceeds of the sale of the family home to save his business. »
Grief is a complex and individual process. There are a number of well documented stages to the grief process such as numbness, guilt, despair, panic and acceptance to name a few. The order in which these stages are experienced and the intensity and duration of each stage will be different for each individual. »
“Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency.” (Natalie Goldberg) »
Tina presented to counselling due to her partner recommending it. Tina agreed with him that she had been feeling low in mood and distant from her partner over the last six months, and she agreed that it was time for her to try and do something about it. »
“When Mozart was composing at the end of the eighteenth century, the city of Vienna was so quiet that fire alarms could be given verbally, by a shouting watchman mounted on top of St. Stefan’s Cathedral. In twentieth-century society, the noise level is such that it keeps knocking our bodies out of tune and out of their natural rhythms. This ever-increasing assault of sound upon our ear... »
Maggie is a 35 year old woman who came for counselling six months after the break up of her nine year marriage to Michael, the father of her two children, Josh aged 6 and Joseph aged 12 months. Currently both children are in Maggie’s sole care. Maggie has been referred to counselling by her General Practitioner whom she has been seeing for a number of minor physical ailments and early signs ... »
“It is better to intervene than remediate” Preventing stress is the best remedy to reduce the effects of stress in daily life, and its potential (and negative) consequences. There are three broad areas which comprise many strategies of stress prevention, particularly in the workplace. Such areas involve making decisions, avoiding procrastination and delegation. »
This case history details a significant time in the life of the Smith-Curtis* family. This family did not come to counselling voluntarily, but were referred by the Department of Families after substantiated allegations of abuse and neglect of their two children. »
How do we cope with stress? There are literally thousands of books, articles and websites that cover stress and stress management. However, the ancient and natural ways are probably still the best ways towards peace and serenity. The old adage, ‘prevention is better than cure’ is certainly true for stress management. Here are some tips on how to end your daily batter with stress: »
Steve and Jan have come to counselling regarding their 5 year old daughter, Kim who screams when she doesn’t get her own way. She is starting school next year and her parents are concerned with how she is going to fit in and what will happen if she doesn’t get her own way. »
Earlier in this series we’ve defined several types of stress which originate from similarly related events or stressors. Likewise, there are varied overlapping stages which constitute what we call stress. In a nutshell, the stages of stress denote the responses to the various stressful events an individual may undergo, and the accumulative effect of such responses. For this purpose, we&rsquo... »
[NB All names have been changed] Beatrice is a 40-year-old married mother of four children; she married young and over time she and her husband separated on three occasions. Her husband previously subjected her to both psychological and physical abuse. As a child she lost her mother to suicide leaving her to be raised by her father. Unable to raise his daughters and work at the same time, Beatrice... »
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