We can broadly define CBT as a combination of cognitive and behavioural therapeutic approaches used to help clients modify limiting, maladaptive thoughts and behaviours, ones that are often inconsistent with consensual reality (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979). The basic premise of CBT is that troublesome emotions are difficult to change directly, so CBT targets emotions by changing the thoughts and behaviours that are contributing to the distressing emotions. »
Right from an early age, we get a clear message from the world around us that being old isn’t so great, at least in Western society. Our mothers worry about getting wrinkles and use day creams, night creams, vitamin creams and highly scientific, or perhaps natural and organic, concoctions to cover up the visible signs of ageing. Our fathers often resist retirement. I remember my Nana once saying to a young garage attendant, “I am not an old woman! I can do that myself!”, as he offered to help her with the fuel pump. She was about 80 years old at the time. »
If you have even a small track record of helping people change, you are familiar with the dynamics regarding change: client presents with problem (often precipitated by a crisis), becomes aware of compelling reasons to adopt a healthier lifestyle or cease harmful behaviours, and then hems and haws, straddling the fence with incomprehensible ambivalence. Persuading the client with logic, browbeating them by outlining dire consequences if behaviour is not immediately changed, pulling rank as “the expert”, or even describing in glowing terms the wonderful life they can have if they adopt the good advice often come – frustratingly and bewilderingly – to nothing. Some of these strategies, in fact, have the opposite effect, building resistance and/or undermining the therapeutic relationship w... »
Interpersonal psychotherapy has been defined as a time-limited, dynamically-informed psychotherapy which aims to alleviate clients’ suffering while improving their interpersonal functioning. It is concerned with the interpersonal context: the relational factors that predispose, precipitate, and perpetuate the client’s distress. It is widely, but not exclusively, used to treat mood disorders. Rather than examine internal cognitions, as the other empirically-based intervention for mood disorders – Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy – does, IPT focuses specifically on interpersonal relationships, with the goal of assisting clients to either improve their relationships or else change their expectations about them. Moreover, IPT helps clients to build up their social supports so that they can manage... »
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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