Shadow Work in Therapy: The Parts of the Self We Were Not Allowed to Become

Shadow Work in Therapy: The Parts of the Self We Were Not Allowed to Become There are aspects of the self most of us learn, quite early, to present with some polish. The competent part. The thoughtful part. The articulate part. The part that knows how to be acceptable, how to remain composed, how to read the room and adapt....[ read more ]

Reading List: Jung, Kierkegaard, and Winnicott These are some of the writers and texts that have most shaped the way I think about psychotherapy, emotional life, love, selfhood, and the work of becoming more real. I have chosen books and essays that I find especially helpful in therapeutic work, whether one is a clinician, a student, or simply a thoughtful...[ read more ]

Why Therapy Is So Often About Love People do not need to arrive in therapy talking explicitly about love for love to be at the centre of the work. In fact, it is often there most powerfully when it is not named. A person may speak about exhaustion, indecision, resentment, shame, grief, or chronic overthinking. Another may describe conflict in...[ read more ]

Love Is Not Just a Feeling but a Capacity Love is often discussed in contemporary culture in curiously flattened terms. It is treated either as an emotion to be followed, a chemistry to be preserved, or a personal right to be claimed. What is less often said is that love is also a capacity, and not an evenly distributed one....[ read more ]

What Happens in a PTSD or C-PTSD Assessment? People often come for a PTSD or C-PTSD assessment at a point of real uncertainty. They may know that something is wrong, but not be sure exactly what. They may wonder whether what they are experiencing is trauma, anxiety, depression, ADHD, emotional dysregulation, burnout, or some painful mixture of these. They may...[ read more ]

EMDR for Sexual Abuse: Is 6 Sessions Enough? For many survivors of sexual abuse, the effects of trauma do not remain neatly in the past. They may persist in the body, in relationships, in sleep, in sexuality, in trust, and in the nervous system’s sense of danger. A person may know intellectually that the abuse is over, yet still feel...[ read more ]

EMDR for Sexual Abuse: Can It Help? For many survivors of sexual abuse, the effects of trauma do not remain neatly in the past. They may persist in the body, in relationships, in sleep, in sexuality, in trust, and in the nervous system’s sense of danger. A person may know intellectually that the abuse is over, yet still feel flooded,...[ read more ]

What Is the Difference Between PTSD and C-PTSD? People often hear the term PTSD and have at least a rough sense of what it means. The term C-PTSD, or Complex PTSD, is less widely understood, though many people recognise themselves in it almost immediately once they encounter it. This matters, because the difference between PTSD and C-PTSD is not merely...[ read more ]

C-PTSD Treatment: Psychotherapy, EMDR, or Both? When people begin to realise that what they are living with may be Complex PTSD, the question that often follows is not only What is wrong with me? but What kind of help do I actually need? This is a sensible question. It is also a deeply important one, because not all treatments reach...[ read more ]

Do I Need a Clinical Psychologist or Psychiatrist for a CICA Claim? If you are making a CICA claim for PTSD, C-PTSD, depression, anxiety, or another psychological injury after a violent crime, one of the questions you may be asking is this: do I need to see a clinical psychologist, or does it have to be a psychiatrist? The short...[ read more ]