From time to time, most of us struggle with anxiety. Unexpected and unwanted things happen, and we can become very challenged in making sense of this interruption into the daily pattern of life. Surprising events churn up feelings that we may find very confronting, and anxiety can act as a kind of ‘psychological static’ that masks […]
Clare Simmonds
Demystifying therapy
Whilst there has been much more talk about mental health in the media in the last few years, telling others that one ‘goes to a therapist’ tends to be something that we shy away from, as if there is something embarrassing about needing the help of another to make sense of our struggles. It seems […]
Book review ‘When Breath Becomes Air’ by Paul Kalanithi
The title of this review could be ‘Why we all need to read more books about death’. This is because a book like Paul Kalanithi’s reflective journey, following a diagnosis of incurable lung cancer, is a poignant reminder that when we lose sight of our mortality, we can also too easily lose sight of what […]
Transitions in parenting
Whatever the stage of parenting one is at, there is a plethora of (often conflicting) advice out there about how best to go about it. The maxim goes that we write about what troubles us: if this is the case, then clearly parenting is something that bothers a lot of us. Becoming responsible for a […]
Are we all addicted to something?
Addiction is a word that causes great fear—to be addicted indicates a compulsive need or drive towards something that promises good feelings but actually, over time as a habitual pattern develops, causes the addicted person great harm. In the past, addiction tended to be viewed as a moral weakness, experienced by some people in society: […]
Shadow and creativity
There is no light without shadow and no psychic wholeness without imperfection. To round itself out, life calls not for perfection but for completeness; and for this the “thorn in the flesh” is needed, the suffering of defects without which there is no progress and no ascent. (C.G Jung, Collected Works, Volume 12, para 208). […]
A review of “One! Hundred! Demons!” by Lynda Barry
The English-speaking world has been a bit slow on the uptake regarding graphic novels. If you go into a bookshop in France, on the other hand, you will find a huge variety of graphic novels and comics in multiple genres, for all ages. The selection in the UK is getting much better, although I still […]
Why we all need to walk on the wild side
Most of us have had the experience of getting outside into the natural environment—whether that is into the garden, to the local park or to the woods—and feeling a lot better as a result. The benefit of spending time in the outdoors is something that many people have commented on over the ages. John Muir, […]
A Review of ‘The Antidote’ by Oliver Burkeman
As a student, I once babysat for a local couple. I recall the experience as bemusing, for almost every available surface in the small house was covered with sticky notes on which were written rousing motivational slogans. It felt rather spooky walking about the house, and encountering endless exhortations. I still recall the one on […]
Fleeing from boredom
The unpleasant feeling we get when bored, of being in some kind of empty space where time stretches endlessly forwards, is captured well in Charles Simic’s poem: TO BOREDOM By Charles Simic I’m the child of your rainy Sundays. I watched time crawl Over the ceiling Like a wounded fly. A day would last forever, […]