Clients can, and often do, present for counselling in a mildly, or even highly anxious state and counsellors frequently use ‘grounding techniques’ for the alleviation of both acute and chronic anxiety. Here, we explore the techniques seen as most effective from an evidence-based point of view but additionally consider the thoughts of counsellors in practice […]
Counselling Therapies
An Introduction to Expressive Therapies
Expressive therapies involve the use of various creative arts techniques to facilitate the counselling process. While there are a range of different modalities encompassed under the umbrella of expressive therapies, in a nutshell, expressive therapies are those that use creative expression as a therapeutic device. Activities such as drawing, painting, sculpture, music, writing, creative movement, […]
- October 13, 2022
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- Counselling Theory & Process, Counselling Therapies, Uncategorized
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Working with Angst in Counselling
What do you say to a client whose presenting issue is deep angst over the question of relationship? Whether the person is in a primary relationship and deeply unhappy, questioning whether to stay or to go, or the person longs for that primary relationship in order to feel happy and fulfilled, the issue is a […]
- January 29, 2019
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- Counselling Therapies, Relationship & Families
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Helping Clients Handle Rejection
There are no two ways about it: rejection is a universal experience and we will all face it multiple times over the course of our lives. But it still hurts! So what might it be helpful to keep in mind when you face that poor client that has been rejected (perhaps again)? This article offers […]
- April 9, 2018
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- Counselling Therapies, Loss & Grief, Relationship & Families
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Mindfulness Practice: Problems and Solutions
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 […]
- July 7, 2014
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- Counselling Therapies, Spirituality & Religion, Wellness
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Theoretical Principles of Narrative Therapy
A narrative approach to counselling examines the stories people have constructed to define their lives and identities. Using narrative techniques, the counsellor assists the client in modifying narratives (stories) that are unhelpful or ineffective. If, for example, I have a dominant narrative that says that I am simply no good at cooking, it is likely […]
- February 22, 2010
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- Counselling Therapies
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Focus on Solutions
Solution focused therapies are founded on the rationale that there are exceptions to every problem and through examining these exceptions and having a clear vision of a preferred future, client and counsellor, together, can generate ides for solutions. Solution focused therapists are competency and future focused. They highlight and utilise client strengths to enable a […]
- October 20, 2009
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- Counselling Therapies
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CBT: Applications and Challenges
Cognitive approaches have been applied as means of treatment across a variety of presenting concerns and psychological conditions. Cognitive approaches emphasise the role of thought in the development and maintenance of unhelpful or distressing patterns of emotion or behaviour. Beck* originally applied his cognitive approach to the treatment of depression. Cognitive therapy has also been […]
- October 13, 2009
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- Counselling Therapies
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