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. »
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. »
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... »
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-traumatic growth. The question isn’t new, as all of the world’s major religions have told us about the transformative power of suffering. But the new emphasis is more scientific, so we need to ask: what counts as trauma? What would growth look like? And what do we need to watch out for, post-trauma, to ensure we experience growth? »
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...
Wendy is a 54 year old woman who has two adult children and has been married for twenty-nine years. Her husban...
Jenny has come to counselling due to strong feelings of dissatisfaction with her life. She is 48 years old, un...
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...
If you are supporting a family in transition, you may perceive huge differences between them and the character...
“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 significance of the mental health crisis among autistic individuals cannot be overstated. A 2019 meta-anal...
Grief theories provide a conceptual base for understanding grief and loss as a process involving many common c...
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...
Your fitness tracker reminds you to walk away from your computer every hour to get needed movement – and then ...
95% of us procrastinate (Steel, 2010) – accruing negative consequences – despite having recognised for 500 yea...
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