Welcome to the AIPC Online Article Library. The library includes over 300 articles focusing on counselling, life effectiveness skills and mental health. We invite you to explore our range of articles by clicking the category links above, or using the drop-down menu on your right. To learn more about AIPC, visit www.aipc.net.au

What You Should Consider Before Ending a Relationship

Your phone rings. You grab it to answer but as the caller’s number flashes on the screen, you hesitate. It is someone you’re not sure you want to continue being friends with. Maybe the person has broken promises to you, cancelling get-togethers at the last minute, or perhaps – as entertaining as they can be – this person only seems to care about themselves. Or maybe you met the person when you were in a bad place, needing someone to lean on? Now that your life is back on track, you notice the person continues to play therapist, critic, and advice-giver – even when you don’t want help. Then there are those friends that are always depressed. Of course, you are happy to cheer up a friend at times, but when you come away from each encounter feeling drained, ... »

Traps for the Unwary: Ways Practitioners Build Resistance in Clients

Most practitioners would be shocked to hear it, but without realising it, many build resistance in clients – lowering their capacity to engage – through protocols and habits which communicate something very different to the client than what the practitioner is asking or intends to convey (Rosengren, 2009). In this article, we explore five ways in which practitioners may inadvertently build resistance in clients. »

How to Overcome Anxiety

The CEO of the fast-expanding organisation looked at me, despair seeping through a veneer of confidence. With three growing children, a loving husband, and work at the top of the corporate ladder, her life ticked all the boxes. “I’m coping OK,” she confided, “but I’ve been better.” “Better” was before she came to be afflicted with one of the most common mental conditions in Australia and worldwide: anxiety. »

The Phenomenon of Dissociation

Have you ever seen a movie in which the main character wakes up in a strange hotel room, dressed weirdly, with no idea how she got there, and no relationship to the name she gave hotel staff upon check-in? Such drama is the stuff of Hollywood depictions of dissociative disorders. Dissociative identity disorder (DID), known as multiple personality disorder (MPD) until renamed in the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994), has attracted a lot of attention in the mental health field due to the unusual features of its symptomatology and the various controversies surrounding it. While MPD did not appear as an official disorder until the publication of the DSM -III in 1980 (Coons, 1980), the growing recognition of psychiatric conditions resulting from traumatic influences has come to be... »

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Counselling with Chimps

The Chimp Paradox, authored by Steve Peters (2013), presents a compelling exploration of the Human mind and its intricate workings. Peters, a psychiatrist most renowned for his work in elite sports psychology, introduces readers to a captivating mode...

The Fine Art of Compassion

Imagine this scenario: you are keen to get a particular job and an opportunity for it comes up. You prepare meticulously for the interview, but somehow, it doesn’t go well. The interviewers don’t seem to warm to you, and you know in your heart that y...

Motivational Interviewing for Allied Health Professionals: Unlocking Client Motivation for Lasting Change

“How can I effectively motivate my patients?” This question resonates throughout the healthcare landscape. Whether you’re a physiotherapist guiding patients through rehabilitation exercises or a dietitian encouraging healthier lifestyle choices, elic...

The Fine Art of Compassion

Imagine this scenario: you are keen to get a particular job and an opportunity for it comes up. You prepare meticulously for the interview, but somehow, it doesn’t go well. The interviewers don’t seem to warm to you, and you know in your heart that y...