Posts by swsweb

Suicide was once a criminal offence in the United Kingdom. Calling it “committing suicide” sparks an instant alignment with “committing murder”, and it is a sort of murder: murder of the Self. It’s the angriest act against the Self. Attempted suicide is a violent act of self-destruction. We often associate suicide attempts with desperation, depression, powerlessness and…

Christians around the world are presently marking the period of Lent, the 40 days that started with Ash Wednesday and leads up to the most important period in the Christian calendar, Easter. Lent is the time that followers of Jesus Christ remember his life on earth – his time alone in the wilderness, his self-reflection…

The UK “decoupling” from the EU after a commitment that’s lasted more than 40 years was due to take place on March 29. There was a referendum in 2016 about whether or not to stay in the EU and, by a narrow margin, the British voted to leave.  So, theoretically, that should be that. Except…

For my first-ever blog, I want to say something about the fundamental link between how we behave with food and the effect it has not only on our physical symptoms – ie. weight, digestion and energy – but also on our thoughts, feelings and ways of relating. Personally, I didn’t pay attention to the link…

  There have been a number of desperately sad stories in the news in recent months about children and teenagers killing themselves and questions are now being asked about how much blame can be given to social media for its part in the tragedies. The most recent one concerns a young girl of 14 who…

After more than 25 years of practice as a therapist, it was a surprise to be presented with a condition that I had not only not encountered before, but had not even heard of!  It transpires that Aphantasia, although first observed in 1880 by Francis Galton, was only officially identified and named in 2015, by…

New Year is the traditional time for taking stock of our lives. It’s the time for deciding on where we are looking to go with our lives over the next 12 months.  We may have some big decisions to be considered – and perhaps taken – or we may be looking at others which are seemingly…

An interesting news feature dealing with the issue of post-natal post-traumatic stress disorder recently caught my attention.    I am not at all surprised by its prevalence.  It is important to understand that PTSD does not have to involve experiences of violence, war or car accidents.  It can occur following any event that a person…