Julia Crane

counselling services

01934 257037
enquiries@counsellingwestonsupermare.co.uk

Abusive relationships: Trauma bonding

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Ever wondered why you’ve stayed in a relationship you know is bad for you? Or why it’s hard to shake off an abusive ex-partner months or even years after you’ve broken up? 

Bonding is a biological and emotional process that makes people more important to each other over time. Bonding is cumulative and grows with spending time together, living together, eating together, making love together, having children together, and being together during stress or difficulty. Experiencing extreme situations and feelings together tends to bond people in a special way, which may be healthy or unhealthy.

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NHS reliance on CBT fails up 84-87% of patients

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According to a new major report, “Commissioning Effective Talking Therapies”, published by the Centre for Social Justice, the NHS is failing people with emotional difficulties by relying on too narrow a range of psychological therapies. The existing approach favours the disproportionate use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), whilst invalidating the wide range of other successful therapies available, wasting millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money in the process.

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Postnatal depression in men?

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This morning I had the misfortune of stumbling upon an article in the Guardian, entitled “Postnatally depressed dads? – Give me a break”. The purpose of the article, written by Barbara Ellen, was, I think, to criticise the use of the term “PND” to describe the symptoms some men experience after the birth of a child. However, she was also particularly dismissive of men who experience depression postnatally, using terms such as “Pissed off, knackered and yearning to be carefree again” and “exhausting narcissists”  and “men incapable of hiding their sulky self-absorption”.

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Are you affected by trauma?

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What is trauma?

Trauma is a word that is frequently used, but what does it actually mean? Trauma is commonly understood as the experiencing or witnessing of an event that is life-threatening or dangerous or otherwise overwhelming. It usually involves a feeling of helplessness. Many people serving in the military experience trauma, as do individuals who survive a natural disaster, serious accident, or personal attack. Traumatic stress can also be caused by ongoing stress caused by, for example, living in an abusive relationship or struggling with a life-threatening illness. [Read more…]

Difficulties expressing or managing anger?

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Anger is an emotion common to all of us as human beings, whether we recognise it in ourselves or not. The way we express anger (or don’t), is largely shaped by our past life experiences. You may have been punished for expressing anger when you were a child, or you may have witnessed your parents’ anger when it was out of control and frightening or when it manifested in other ways, such as through stoney silence. [Read more…]

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