The year 2020 has been a unique one.  Covid-19 has changed the way we see and do things, and this includes how we conduct psychotherapy.  

Virtual therapy has become the norm, and in some cases, a necessity. This trend may or may not continue to be the norm moving forward. Technology has afforded us the luxury of conducting virtual psychotherapy with vast improvements in the quality of virtual platforms. 

The advantages of this improved quality ensures that video calling enables the therapist to remain aware of subtle nuances, for example, body language and observable changes in mood. 

I began offering virtual psychotherapy in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.  As clients became accustomed to this way of therapeutic engagement, they began communicating the advantages of virtual therapy. Many said they enjoyed being in the comfort of their homes, and appreciated the time saved not having to travel to the practice. 

Virtual psychotherapy also reduced anxiety resulting from lockdown regulations.  Others expressed appreciation that they could continue psychotherapy whilst away on business. Virtual psychotherapy may not appeal to everyone, but the advantages may outweigh any reservations, given the current global experience that is Covid-19.  In my experience, adults and adolescents respond best to virtual psychotherapy, as opposed to little children requiring play therapy and/or assessment.  I therefore offer this confidential service to adults and adolescents exclusively. 

Contact me and enjoy your therapy from the comfort of your home or office. 

Looking forward to meeting you.

Are you in an online relationship?

Online relationships develop for different reasons. Some couples meet each other on dating sites; others have been together offline but one partner may work abroad for long stretches of time. Regardless of why you find yourself in an online relationship, they are common place in today’s connected world.

Couples in long distance relationships often experience unique challenges relating to communication; as well as having to cope with the physical distance. So much is lost in translation when it comes to dating online, and just like couples who live in the same place, couples in long distance relationships have difficulties that are exacerbated by the realities of their situation, for example, only seeing each other every couple of months, miscommunication, fears of meeting face-to-face, intimacy deficits, and the list goes on.  Some couples feel their difficulties become overwhelming and end up feeling lost, frustrated and misunderstood.

During human interaction and communication we use our senses (sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing) to gain and process information.  When couples communicate online they don’t benefit from non-verbal cues of communication as offline couples do.  Think about what it feels like to hug your partner after a disagreement.  Touch is a physiological need that forms part of human survival.

When considering the five senses we can readily imagine the challenges couples experience when distance is their reality.  Online couples need to develop a way of communicating that compensates to some degree for the lack of physical touch and intimacy.  They may not always know how to do this.

It is not surprising that online therapy has become more popular of late, and engaging in online therapy has similar benefits when compared to face-to-face counselling. Through online counselling, each person’s difficulties are explored, mediated and collaboratively a solution is achieved by strengthening communication to avoid the escalation of further relationship problems.

With the increasing popularity of online counselling in a comfortable space (often where couples live in their respective homes), there is no reason not to enjoy the benefits of confidential and professional couples therapy.

“Communication is the fuel that keeps the fire in your relationship burning, without it, your relationship goes cold” – William Paisley

One reason we meditate is to find some kind of peace, and to protect ourselves from the constant barrage of negative internal and external forces. It does, at the very least, make us more resilient in the face of the constant bombardment we experience in every day life.

We are fed negativity through the media, social media, ourselves, friends and family.  We live in stressful times and it seems fitting that we protect ourselves from the onslaught of politics, human rights violations, cruelty towards animals, poverty, craving, aversion and the human condition in general.

Meditation is a method, a spiritual conduit if you like, to achieve some semblance of inner peace and connectedness with self. A few moments of peace can permeate our day in ways unimaginable, if done soulfully and with conscious effort.

If we meditate purely to escape, we miss the point. We meditate to accept! We meditate to heighten our awareness.

To sit quietly, while beneficial in some ways, does not constitute meditation, as the practice requires a level of conscious determination which makes us vigilant to our aversions and cravings. Meditation, with heightened awareness, leads to an observation of universal truths, aka, impermanence, suffering and egolessness (as taught in Vipassana meditation).

The conscious mind is aware of physical sensations, and we constantly react to craving and aversion. Being aware of these sensations and not responding to them is where the benefits begin.

We are “programmed” to respond to stimuli with little or no true reflection. In a world characterised by instant gratification many have lost the ability or motivation to truly spend time with the self in order to develop our inner resilience.  We rely on the external to make us “whole.” When we are abandoned by the external without inner resilience, we run the risk of imploding.

I am reminded by meditating that I have value simply because I exist.

“To have faith is to trust yourself in the water.  When you swim you don’t grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.” (Alan Watts)

Talk to me about training and support for your personal practice of daily meditation on C: 0726913174