Abandonment feelings can be some of the most difficult emotions to bear. The sense of isolation, loneliness, hurt, rage and hopelessness that often present with abandonment feelings make the experience even more daunting and excruciating. No wonder so many of us run around trying to avoid acknowledging or experiencing abandonment feelings in their full force. […]
Difficulties Receiving Love In Various Forms
I cant recall how many times I’ve heard friends, relatives and work colleagues ponder whether their partner, parents or children really love them. Love is such a complex topic but essentially we are all looking for it in different parts of our lives and experience different sorts of love with our partners, children, parents, relatives […]
Depression beyond the DSM V
Most people have either experienced depression or know somebody who has. There are two or three subtypes of depression that are well known and represented in the DSM V. They include major depressive disorder, bipolar and dysthymia. However there are two further but less well known types of depression that evolved from psychoanalytic theory, anaclitic […]
Holiday breaks in counselling and psychotherapy
Easter and Passover are around the corner. While families across the world are making plans for reunions and celebrations to honour these important cultural events, for those in therapy it can also involve taking a break from sessions. Therapy holidays are often very difficult to manage and provoke all sorts of issues concerning attachment, abandonment, […]
Erectile dysfunction effecting gay and straight men
It is expected that as we age, there will be changes in our erection function. The Viagra Web site claims that half of all men between the ages of 40 and 70 experience at least occasional erectile dysfunction symptoms. For gay (and straight) men these changes are often anything but acceptable. It’s very usual for […]
Hypnotherapy For Children
Life is a journey of learning. And it is more so in the rapidly unfolding and very intense years of childhood, when most of the knowledge we use as adults is gained. Learning to walk, run, draw, write and count and many other abilities, together with mastering our own feelings and emotions and using them […]
Private Health Rebate Campaign For Counselling & Psychotherapy In Australia
Please digitally sign this petition to support a campaign to private health insurance companies designed to level the playing field for mental health practitioners of various ilk’s, by importantly providing greater rebates and access to people seeking counselling and psychotherapy services. Introduction In September 2012 the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) submitted a […]
Understanding grief and loss
Long before the conception of counselling, for many thousands of years human beings have experienced the feeling of loss. After the passing of a loved one most people experience the feeling of grief and experience the process of mourning. After the loss the most common feeling is sadness. Anger, guilt, anxiety, loneliness, fatigue, helplessness, shock, […]
Eating Disorders & Emotional Invalidation
Eating disorders are complex conditions and most commonly refer to anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). Anorexia typically involves intense fears of weight gain, disturbed menstruation, refusal to maintain normal weight, distorted body shape perception and denial of extremely low weight. Bulimia typically involves periods of uncontrollable binging followed by compensatory behaviour including vomiting, […]
Age differences in major depressive disorder symptoms
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a mood disorder commonly noted by mental health clinicians. The DSM-IV TR diagnosis involves two weeks of either depressed mood or anhedonia and four symptoms concerning altered sleep, appetite, energy, weight and movement and disturbed thoughts involving guilt, worthlessness, indecisiveness and suicide (Butcher, Mineka & Hooley, 2007). Current empirical evidence […]