General Relationship Issues Q. My partner and I always argue. Does that mean we don’t have a good relationship and that we should break up? A common belief is that a good relationship is a relationship without arguments, a relationship where both partners always agree. However, a relationship always exists between two different people, peopleRead more
General Loss and Grief Issues Q. What is meant by the words Loss and Grief? People usually use these words when talking about issues involving death and dying. However, we all experience losses every day eg when we go to work, we lose the chance to relax at home. Sometimes we can feel some griefRead more
General Life Threatening Illnesses Issues Q. How can we possibly manage to cope with a diagnosis of a life-threatening illness? Such a diagnosis is overwhelming! A person (and their carer) is flooded with feelings and thoughts of panic, loss-of-control, fear, guilt, anxiety, anger etc. etc. What can lie beyond that whirlpool of responses? A clueRead more
General Issues for Family and Friends Q. What do parents generally discuss in their counselling sessions? Parents come because they are concerned about their children’s behaviours. They come for help because they can’t: – stop their children doing certain things (eg using alcohol or other drugs, staying at home and being a couch potato, seeingRead more
General Addictions and Compulsions Issues Q: What is an addiction? An addiction usually involves a substance that we have some sort of physical dependency on. We talk about being addicted to coffee, cigarettes, chocolate, alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, heroin etc. We regularly use the substance because of our belief that it improves the way we feel physicallyRead more
Family Violence Q. What is my definition of family violence? I have often heard many stories involving family violence in my work. There are many different forms of violence apart from the stereotype of an angry male hitting a defenceless female. I also know about situations in which parents have been abused by their childrenRead more
General Anxiety Issues Q: Why do some people feel anxious? Anxiety is a normal feeling. It is something that everyone feels during various times in their lives. We are all designed to feel anxious in response to situations that we see as being threatening in some way. These may be – External situations – events,Read more
General Anger & Depression Issues Q. Why is anger such a bad emotion? During our lives, many of us have learnt that there are good emotions and bad emotions. Some of us learn that feeling happy is good, while feeling anger is bad. Why is anger supposed to be bad? Well, think of all theRead more
