Although only recently embraced by Western psychology, mindfulness practices and techniques have been part of many Eastern philosophies, such as Buddhism, Taoism, Tai Chi, Hinduism, and most martial arts, for thousands of years. The various definitions of it revolve around bringing non-judgmental consciousness to the present experience, so it can be considered the art of […]

Counselling Therapies
Play Therapy Activities to Develop Social Skills
Social skills include the ways in which the child relates to others in order to make friends, get their needs met, be assertive, employ boundaries and cooperate. In order to develop social skills effectively, it is important that the child understands and experiences different behaviors and their consequences. To achieve this in play therapy, a […]
- June 27, 2014
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- Children & Adolescents, Counselling Therapies, Creativity in Counselling
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Book Review: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Wellness and Recovery
Bein, A. (2014). Dialectical behaviour therapy for wellness and recovery. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) is a form of cognitive behaviour therapy. Developed by psychologist Marsha M. Linehan in the late 1980s, the approach emphasises the psychosocial elements of treatment. Dialectical behavior therapy for wellness and recovery by Andrew Bein presents […]
- May 14, 2014
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- Book Reviews, Counselling Therapies, Diagnosis & Treatment
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How Does Your Will Work?
Have you ever had a counselling or psychotherapy client who did not seem to show much, if any, sense of guiding and directing their own life? Or one who, despite apparent heroic efforts, was stuck in some significant way, unable to move forward? What about those fairly intact clients who come with an agonising loss […]
- February 28, 2014
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- Counselling Therapies, Spirituality & Religion, Videos
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Book Review: Acceptance and Mindfulness Treatments for Children and Adolescents
Greco, L.A., and Hayes, S.C. (2008). Acceptance and Mindfulness Treatments for Children and Adolescents. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications. Acceptance and mindfulness based treatments are identified within the field of third-generation behaviour therapies. These approaches seek to move beyond traditional behavioural and cognitive concepts to acknowledge contextual aspects. Acceptance and Mindfulness Treatments for Children and […]
- December 25, 2013
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- Book Reviews, Children & Adolescents, Counselling Therapies
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A Brief Comparison of Psychologies
What is it about a counselling or psychotherapy process that makes people change? In other words: what are the mechanisms of therapy? What does the paradigm supporting a given school of psychology assume about the nature of human beings and therefore how they can change? What are the main concepts of a given psychology and […]
- December 17, 2013
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- Counselling Therapies, Videos
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ACT: Definitions, Goals and Underlying Philosophy
Acceptance and commitment therapy (usually pronounced as the word “act” rather than the initials “A-C-T”) is a form of clinical behavioural analysis developed in 1986 by psychologists Steven Hayes, Kelly Wilson, and Kirk Strosahl. Originally called comprehensive distancing, it gets its current name from one of its core messages: the injunction to accept what is […]
- October 11, 2013
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- Counselling Therapies, Stress Management
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Professor Windy Dryden on REBT
Professor Windy Dryden, author of nearly 200 books, discusses how his journey through the world of psychology led to his enthusiastic adoption of the precepts and practice of REBT. REBT is one of the most thoroughly researched and widely used therapeutic approaches in the UK today, and has also been called ‘applied philosophy’ for its […]
- June 28, 2013
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- Counselling Theory & Process, Counselling Therapies, Videos
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Origins of Psychosynthesis
Developed by Italian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli, Psychosynthesis is an approach to psychology which studies a person as both a personality and a soul. In this article we explore the origins of Psychosynthesis. Assagioli, like Carl Jung, was trained in Freudian methods of Psychoanalysis, but by the time he wrote his doctoral thesis in 1910, Assagioli […]
- June 6, 2013
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- Counselling Theory & Process, Counselling Therapies, Spirituality & Religion
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Psychosocial Treatments for Schizophrenia
Successful treatment of schizophrenia depends on a regimen of both drug and psychosocial support therapies. While antipsychotic medication can help control the symptoms of psychosis associated with schizophrenia, it cannot help the person find and maintain a job, establish effective social relationships, increase their coping skills, or teach them to communicate well with others. Poverty, […]
- November 28, 2011
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- Clinical Mental Health, Counselling Therapies, Diagnosis & Treatment
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Play Therapy Activities to Engage Children
In play therapy, children are encouraged to express, through play, all the things they may have difficulty saying or contextualising into words. As a consequence of this primary focus, play therapy has expanded to include most of the expressive art forms including drawing, painting, sculpturing, music, dance, drama, movement, poetry, and storytelling. So while the […]
- July 18, 2011
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- Children & Adolescents, Counselling Therapies, Creativity in Counselling
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Developing Social Skills with Play Therapy
Social skills include the ways in which the child relates to others in order to make friends, get their needs met, be assertive, employ boundaries and cooperate. In order to develop social skills effectively, it is important that the child understands and experiences different behaviours and their consequences. To achieve this in play therapy, a […]
- September 30, 2010
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- 6952
- Children & Adolescents, Counselling Therapies, Creativity in Counselling
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Book Review: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Anxiety Disorders
Eifert, Georg H. Ph. D., and Forsyth, John P. Ph. D. 2005. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications Inc. There are literally hundreds of publications available, both to the counselling practitioner and lay person regarding the understanding and treatment of anxiety. Many focus on behavioural and cognitive behavioural approaches to assist in dealing with anxiety, ‘Acceptance […]
- September 17, 2010
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- Book Reviews, Clinical Mental Health, Counselling Therapies, Diagnosis & Treatment
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Happiness, Positive Psychology and Wellbeing
The concept of happiness is the corner stone of the assumptions of positive psychology. Happiness is characterised by the experience of more frequent positive affective states than negative ones as well as a perception that one is progressing toward important life goals (Tkach & Lyubomirsky, 2006). Identifying factors that contribute to happiness has proven to […]
- August 30, 2010
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- Counselling Therapies, Wellness
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Treatment Steps in Behaviour Therapy
Behaviour therapy/counselling is used to help “clients acquire new coping skills, improve communication, or learn to break maladaptive habits and overcome self-defeating emotional conflicts” (Corsini & Wedding, 2000). The behavioural therapist/counsellor focuses on interpreting the client’s behaviour, emphasising a collaborative and positive relationship with the client and values the use of objectivity to assess and […]
- July 5, 2010
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- Counselling Theory & Process, Counselling Therapies
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