Tag: therapy-works
Are we ever free? The experience of fear and the embracing of responsibility in our work towards freedom
Freedom is complex. Are we ever free? Do we want to actually be? And how do we even know we are? This article explores how true freedom is not about escaping fear and responsibility, but about embracing them The struggle to be free is the struggle to exist. We’re driven to free ourselves from our…
Overview of Internal Family Systems
in IFSInternal Family Systems (IFS) is a therapeutic approach founded and developed by Richard Schwartz based upon a mix of influences from humanistic and psychodynamic counselling, family system therapy, systems thinking and spirituality. The below is based on No Bad Parts and Internal Family Systems Therapy. —- The main premise of Internal Family Systems is that…
How School-Based Counselling Helps
I worked with Mick Cooper to design a poster to promote his latest piece of research. It shows the ways in which school based humanistic counselling helps young people. I found interesting that “advice” was an important process of change – if you read the paper you will also find out what aspects of the…
Having vs being as modes of existence
in HumanisticErich Fromm was a humanist philosopher and psychoanalyst associated with critical theory. He blended the analysis of social and psychological factors to explore different philosophies of living. In To Have or To Be?, he examines two broad perspectives on life. — He explored how spiritual and cultural traditions have intertwined with structures of power to…
Games people play: A classified list of Eric Berne’s games in Transactional Analysis
This article brings together two frameworks from Transactional Analysis: “Games” from Eric Berne (Games people play) and “The Drama Triangle” from Stephen Karpman. – Our thoughts and behaviours are often guided by unconscious scripts we’re following – whether it takes us a minute to realise, or years. Uncovering those scripts – and in the process…
What type of psychotherapy orientation is best for what?
This article is based on the Mick Cooper’s “Essential Research Findings in Counselling and Psychotherapy, Facts are Friendly” book compiling studies of effectiveness in counselling and psychotherapy. It is a great reference book and I am leaving most data behind (so that you buy the book, which is fantastic). What therapy is most effective for…
An informal study of Psychotherapeutic orientations
I worked with Psychotherapeutic author Mick Cooper to do an informal study of psychotherapeutic orientations in the UK. Psychotherapy is complex. When someone decides that they would like / need some therapy, they may or may not have some ideas of the type of therapist they need. Some people may consider their particular known issue,…
Karen Horney’s theory of personality
The below is taken from Neurosis and Growth (Karen Horney, 1951), as well as summaries and commentaries from here and here and occassionaly my own reflections along the way. – Karen Horney was an amazing woman. She immensely respected Freud but challenged much of psychoanalytical orthodoxy. She provided a theoretical framework of mental illness that…
Guide to counselling skills
Counselling skills are a cluster of learned and practised abilities that therapists use with clients to achieve the goals of therapy. Developing these skills involves a combination of knowledge, practice, reflection and feedback. Listening Listening is a core counselling skill – it’s also frustratingly hard. Growing up we’re told to control the narrative and dominate…
The regulation of ego states within ourselves
“Everyone carries their parents inside…also a little boy/girl” Eric Berne Ego states – as conceptualised by Eric Berne – are psychological realities or modes of being that emerge within us, depending on the situation and our own tendencies. In this article, I will discuss intrapsychic processes. For a more detailed overview of ego estates and…
