Internalized homophobia

Internalized homophobia (or queer, bi, and transphobia) is a phenomenon that effects LGBTQ people in varying degrees. Internalized homophobia is ‘internalizing’ of negative messages from the environment around us (media, politicians, family members, schools, religious figures) and turning this negativity towards ourselves. It is what happens when negative voices that start outside ourselves are absorbed …

Why learning to be a better friend to your self might be the best thing you can do for your mental health…

This article originally appeared in GNI magazine May edition, link below: https://issuu.com/lambpromotions/docs/gni_mag_51_print Mental Health week, which runs from 9-15th May each year, is an opportunity to reflect as a society on how to increase good mental health and wellbeing and look at some of the things that contribute to poor mental health in our population. …

Belonging.

“When I get to be myself I belong, if I have to be like you I fit in”. Belonging and connection are themes that are often appear in counselling. It sometimes feels that most often at heart of what clients bring to counselling are feelings of not belonging and not connecting. This can be with …

Hell Yeah Self-Care; a zine by Dr Meg-John Barker

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence it is self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare”-Audre Lorde I am a big fan of the work of Dr Meg-John Barker. One of the things that they do really well, that I love, is taking abstract or difficult to understand academic concepts on philosophy, psychology and …

Anxiety; sometimes it’s hard be to be a human (and how counselling can help).

“You may come to counselling believing that something is wrong with you when you are experiencing anxiety. However anxiety is as much a social issue as a personal one. We live in a world full of pressures and obligations. So if you come to therapy with high anxiety, the first step is to help you …

Mental health in Northern Ireland; thinking about the context of our lives.

My aim in counselling is to understand my client as fully as I can. Understanding goes hand in hand with empathy. The better I can understand a clients life, experience and perspectives, the better I can imagine what life might be like for them. For me, part of that work is understanding the context in …

Languishing…maybe one of the most relatable moods of this last year?

“The absence of wellbeing..languishing is the vast, meh-coloured desert between flourishing and depression, a general condition of non-thriving” You know you are languishing if you experience burnout, you feel numb, it’s hard to focus and your mojo has disappeared. And most important, it is a rational reaction to a very irrational year. What to do …

On Connection

“We are empathic beings who feel for each other. Our very success as a species is rooted in our ability to be aware of each other’s needs, to notice each other’s pain and to experience deeply felt physiological and emotional empathy.”― Kae Tempest, On Connection I recently read the beautiful book “On Connection” by poet, performer, …

The New Hotness

I have just passed a 2nd birthday in Lockdown. Looking back at the first couple of posts written at the beginning of this whole thing last year, I certainly did not anticipate that we would still be in some variety of lockdown a year on. But here we are, with things hopefully due to change …

A counsellor in lockdown.

We are now over two months into lockdown. Throughout this time I have continued working with clients (through the agency I work for as a co-cultural counsellor), moving my practice to video or phone sessions, which are working well. My work with clients during this time has in many ways mirrored my own thinking and …