Posts

Showing posts from September, 2015

How Van Gogh Found His Purpose : Heartfelt Letters to His Brother on How Relationships Refine Us “Does what goes on inside show on the outside? Someone has a great fire in his soul and nobody ever comes to warm themselves at it, and passers-by see nothing but a little smoke at the top of the chimney.”

Image
https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/12/01/van-gogh-purpose-letter/

Responding to disclosures : When some one bares their wounds to you, it can be challenging to know how to respond. Think Prevent have designed a simple guide to enable you to offer a helpful response to a wounded friend.

Image
http://thinkprevent.com/important-numbers-2/responding-to-disclosures-of-violence/

House Trap : fear of being judged as less than. Mairead Ashcroft 28/9/15

Image
I received a phone call this morning that I always dread getting. No I have no deadly disease, my family are all safe and sound and no natural disasters are predicted near me in the near future. My anxiety levels are sitting at about 7 out of 10. What can be so frightening you might ask? Next Tuesday, one week from tomorrow, we are having a house inspection in the unit that we rent.  I am going to take this opportunity to to examine why a house inspection is such a big deal for me. Firstly I will tell you that I keep a very tidy home. I am a minimalist in my choice of decor, I never go to bed with a dirty kitchen and I clean the house top to toe once a week. The house doesn't get very messy any more anyway. We once had 7 kids and 2 adults all living together and the house was always lived in but pretty tidy then too. I had outdoorsy kids so that made the house work easier. Also I'm not a big fan of ironing so instead of letting it pile up, I just don't do it unless abs

23 Things I Wish People Understood About PTSD. I have recently been suffering from a severe relapse of P.T.S.D. symptoms due to the aftermath of the court case against my childhood sexual abuser 2 months ago. The topics raised in this article run true to my experience.

Image
http://www.new-synapse.com/aps/wordpress/?p=1290

The Most Astounding Fact - Neil deGrasse Tyson

Image

Art Therapy Free Article Collection

Image
http://explore.tandfonline.com/page/beh/art-therapy-2015

Beautiful Medicine - An interactive exhibit highlighting nature's role in the history of medicine. For millions of years, nature has equipped plants and other living organisms with their very own survival kits which science is investigating and learning from.

Image
http://beautifulmedicine.com/#0

The decline of play in preschoolers — and the rise in sensory issues "If children were given ample opportunities to play outdoors every day with peers, there would be no need for specialized exercises or meditation techniques for the youngest of our society. They would simply develop these skills through play."

Image
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/09/01/the-decline-of-play-in-preschoolers-and-the-rise-in-sensory-issues/

David Eagleman: Can we create new senses for humans? How much of our ecosystem can humans sense and are humans restricted to our current Umwelt.(the German scientific term for surrounding world)

Image

The Stigma of Addiction : and the Consequences.The stigma against people with addictions is so deeply rooted that it continues even in the face of the scientific evidence that addiction is a treatable disease and even when we know people in our families and communities living wonderful lives in long-term recovery.

Image
https://addictiontreatmentaustralia.wordpress.com/2015/09/16/the-stigma-of-addiction-and-the-consequences/

The cost of caring in a therapeutic counselling relationship. Mairead Ashcroft 14/9/15

Image
I have chosen to work a caring profession. Being a counsellor is not a career to take lightly as with it comes responsibility not only for my clients while in session but also for myself. Vicarious trauma can burn a counsellor out and worse, result in poor mental and physical health for the counsellor. I am a "Wounded Healer" a term created by psychologist Carl Jung . He speaks of a person who recognizes internal pain in another because of one's own experiences of their own internal pain. The healer may then feel compelled to connect with that person in order to help that individual discover a way to become free of emotional and psychological pain. The healing journey of the counsellor can offer insights and promote an empathetic, professional, therapeutic relationship but only when the counsellor has journeyed into the abyss of their own painful personal story. When a counsellor avoids the difficulties of being authentic, transparent and is unwilling to face their own

What is Adjustment Disorder? I have recently been diagnosed with Adjustment Disorder on top Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. When I look back over the past 10 months it almost seems a normal response. My husband suffered an accident resulting in permanent disability, my little dog Daisy died, we downsized and moved house due to financial stress, my daughter was hit by a car, fractured her spine and is still recovering, I went through a court case against my childhood sexual abuse perpetrator, which included giving testimony and an impact statement once again triggering past trauma. Adjustment disorder.... go figure!

Image

The Brain in Defense Mode: How Dissociation Helps Us Survive

Image
http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/the-brain-in-defense-mode-how-dissociation-helps-us-survive-0429155