Many people view a new year as a clean slate: a chance to start afresh, including emotionally. For some this includes healing from past hurts which may have kept the person from moving forward in life. If a client comes to you with forgiveness on her mind — and, perhaps, whether she should or should not forgive someone for something — what are the issues that are likely to be bound up ... »
Any activities, attitudes, or beliefs which perpetuate myths about domestic violence are dangerous. They encourage social acceptance of the problem, which engenders apathy, but even more insidiously, they lead women and the minority of men being abused to justify, minimise, or deny the violence which is occurring to them. When they do that, they are prevented from acknowledging that they are in a ... »
If your client was suffering from trauma, which approach would you choose to help them? In this post we explore eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, or EMDR. »
In recent years, many disaster response experts and mental health researchers have switched their focus from looking exclusively at at-risk populations in the aftermath of an emergency to asking, “What are the protective factors?” “What situations, experiences, or personal traits help people to come through a traumatic incident with greater resilience?” First, let’s c... »
Most of us would have heard the saying, “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” While the optimist in us will hope this saying holds true, it now seems there is some more veracity to this claim. Since the 1990s, there has been huge interest in the question of whether, after a trauma, we must succumb to post-traumatic stress, or whether we are able to instead experience post-tra... »
Disasters and mass disruptive events can be extremely unpredictable and chaotic. Even though that is a valid characterisation of catastrophe, disaster experts have discerned a general pattern or cycle of phases that a community and the individuals in it go through from the time of impact of a disaster to establishing a newly reconstructed life. »
The World Health Organization estimates that about million people die by suicide each year (World Health Organization, 2004). Understanding what drives people to take their own life is not easy for those who are not enmeshed in intolerable pain themselves; thus, myths and misconceptions tend to proliferate about this very final act. It is important to de-bunk these, however, if we would extend gen... »
Have you ever wondered what it takes to survive, or even better, to thrive? Clearly, this might be a life-or-death skill!?In this video, Richard Hill talks about how you can enhance resilience: in yourself, your friends and loved ones, or – if you are a mental health helper – in your clients. »
Mental Health Academy – the largest provider of continuing professional development (CPD) education for the mental health industry in Australia – have just released a comprehensive program focusing on Psychological First Aid in disaster relief settings or situations of narrower-scale adversity. »
Publisher: Cape Catley Ltd ISBN: 978-1-877340-22-2 Publication: September 2009 Rob Hewitt was drawn from the water after 75 hours at sea. His skin had begun to separate from his body, his mind was barely holding on – but he survived. People said it was like a miracle. How did he do it, how did he cope? In her book “Back from the Edge,” Psychosynthesis oriented psychotherapist Meg... »
When we experience a threatening event, our bodies automatically respond in a way that allows us to protect ourselves or escape from the situation. This fight or flight involves an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and breathing rate. All these changes help us to physically deal with danger or leave the situation very quickly if necessary. During a critical or traumatic incid... »
You’ll regularly receive powerful strategies for personal development, tips to improve the growth of your counselling practice, the latest industry news, and much more.
