Therapists Talking Therapy

When does this thing called ‘convalescence’ begin and is it different from ‘recovery’? Recently I’ve been introduced to the concept of convalescence and introduced to it in a very personal way. As a therapist I perhaps should be prepared for developing cancer. Well, I was and I wasn’t! This is my story which I hope helps you tell yours or helps you to understand someone else's.

  I’ve been asked to talk about how to begin psychotherapy.   How to prepare for that first session. So here are my seven tips to starting psychotherapy. Well, first of all congratulations on wanting to start psychotherapy.   It’s a big step and yet many people never make it to talk with a therapist and so continue to live with what’s familiar however uncomfortable that might be.   It’s important...

Written by Robert Burns in 1788 Auld Lang Syne has been used by many as a way to remind people to remember.  It translates as: “old long since” and in English that means something like to “times gone by.” At this time of year when the decorations, the cards and the tree  get put away, I can now understand that the song is a means of connecting us with the positive and happy people and ti...

My professional organisation, the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy - UKCP for short, has been running a podcast call 'My Psychotherapy Career'.  In this podcast series members of the UKCP talk about how they became a psychotherapist and various other questions about working in their particular field. I took part in this podcast in the summer of 2022 talking particularly about my work...

In this Podcast I review another podcast I presented in 2010 when I came to the realisation that I was at an age my father never reached.  I outlived my father. We all live our lives in relation to other's and perhaps it's our parents who give us the most important reflections and guidance as to who we are.  When one or other parent dies we have the chance to reflect on our own lives, who we have...

In this episode I'm joined again by Ike Odina .   Questions, questions, questions: How can we define what we do in our role? How objective can we be and should we be? Can we stay connected to a client and remain 'objective'?  Where does 'the truth' fit in to our willingness to accept and understand?  We talk over these issues and offer some of our insights gained from our knowledge...

Welcome to Series 2 It's January 2022 and I thought I'd begin this new series attempting to answer the question about my journey to working as a psychotherapist. In this episode I reflect on a some personal experiences and events in my life that to a greater or lesser extent focused me or directed me to working as a psychotherapist.  I've chosen to illustrate my journey with a recording of a...

In this Podcast we talk about how we move from one idea or way of being to another.  That change can be cultural, environmental and personal - a beginning and an end to our story.  How do we identify changes within us in our felt experience and then return to them as memories?  Why do we do what we do as individuals or communities? We think about being supported by transitions defin...

In this Podcast we look back at our previous work.   Rather like in therapy we take stock of what has happened both in our therapy with our clients and in the wider world and how we have made sense of where we have come. This is the first Podcast that we have filmed.   You can see us making this podcast now on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/JOqYMfyEOMc

In this Podcast we begin by exploring some the history of telecommunications and those parts that have directly led to the internet and social media as we experience them today.  We talk about how we manage our communications, the successes and the pitfalls of this new way of interacting.  Along the way we reveal what works and what doesn't as well what we like and don't like.  We o...

In this podcast we explore how we develop our roles as we engage with those around us.  We explore how our past can influence how we present ourselves and those around us, how do we know ourselves?  We think about the differences between behaviours and identities.  In this way is there anything that isn't 'relational' - everything is in relation to everything else?  How do we c...

This podcast was recorded on November 20th 2020.   It was this day that Prime Minster Johnson supported his Home Secretary against accusations that she bullied her staff.  This generated thoughts and ideas for us about; the Ministerial Code and its implementation, how do we define bullying, when have we been bullied and even perhaps how we might have bullied others. We explore how our cl...

In this podcast we cast ourselves onto the high seas of debate about how our profession is regulated and how people, patients and clients, make sense of what it is that we actually do.  We skirt around which style of therapy might be better than another and discuss more about meaning of  the words that we use and the interventions that we might choose. We hope to bring some clarity and p...

In this podcast we look at bringing the topic of loneliness into therapy.  We talk about the effect of sharing and revealing issues and how secrets might hold a key to the experience of loneliness.  We talk about the fear of something 'sinister' that might lurk in the background of ur loneliness and how having the conversation we believed we couldn't have releases this fear and maybe eve...

In this podcast we explore what is meant by - 'boundaries'.  How do we identify and interpret them?  In the therapeutic context what happens  when they are challenged or violated?   Some boundaries are outside the context of therapy and yet still influence and even control the therapeutic content and process and yet others are out of conscious awareness and only make themselves...

In this podcast, we are joined by Ike Odina and together we attempt to tackle race, culture and our professional practice.   Ike brings his experience of being a British Citizen of Nigerian descent in a Euro-centric profession. We address a few stereotypical perceptions as well as the effects of history on current social norms and values.  We look at our institutional, organisa...

In this episode we talk about; our reactions to the Government Alert Levels ; how as therapists we are responding to change, how we structure our work in this new world, our sense of trust 'authorities' and in the information that we are presented with and how we feel and act around the wearing of masks.  Finally we reflect on the both the speed and the quality of information that feels as th...

In this podcast we talk about politics, being political and the concerns of being seen as 'Party Political'.   How should therapists engage with the world of politics and how do we bring our skills of assessment and observation to the issues of the day; Black Lives Matter, the Coronavirus Pandemic and even (say it quietly) Brexit? You can read the UKCP's statement on Racial Injustice here: ht...

In this Podcast we talk about the endings of therapy.  The decision or recognition that therapy has come to an end can be uncomfortable for client and therapist alike.  To prepare for this possible discomfort there needs to be an acceptance from the start, or somewhere close to it, that the relationship is a time-limited one.   We explore both the preparation and the conclusion on t...

This is our first podcast and so we introduce ourselves and talk widely about our histories and philosophies of psychotherapy.  We both work in different ways and yet there is much that we have in common.  Over the coming episodes no doubt we'll settle down and cover specific issues and topics.  In the meantime do join us on our journey of discovery and exploration, argument and cha...