Contemplating counselling or psychotherapy sessions? 25 February 2024 by admin - Why therapy? People come along to therapy for many reasons – and I use the term to cover both counselling (generally understood to be focussed on various issues) and psychotherapy (exploring the mind and tends to be longer term). Many therapists would use these terms interchangeably, however. Usually people seek therapy because life isn’t working for them as well as it might. A succession of failed or abusive relationships, perhaps. An addiction or habit that’s hard to kick. Or overwhelming… Read more
I can’t sleep 16 October 2023 by admin - There are a number of common issues that counsellors hear from clients, and one is that they can’t sleep. Sometimes the reason for that won’t be anything psychological. There might be too much noise and disturbance. There might be a baby waking up. There might be physical pain in the musculature, the digestive system or the reproductive system. But other times, it’s stress and anxiety keeping us awake. Some people report being able to fall asleep fairly easily but then… Read more
ADHD – do I have it and does it matter? 9 December 2022 by admin - What is ADHD? From time to time, a mental health condition seems to come to the forfront of our attention, and in recent years it's Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disprder - or ADHD. I don't mean to sound like I am trivialising diagnoses, but what we have seen is a condition normally associated with restless, impulsive, children extrapolating itself into adults. Have adults changed in recent years? I don't believe so. What has happened is that there is more awareness of… Read more
Procrastination 27 May 2021 by admin - We recognise it Many of us are familiar with the urge to procrastinate, even when we know it's unwise to do so. Why do we do this? First, let's think about the process. We know there is a task to be done and a deadline for its completion. We even might say to ourselves that we will do the task at a certain time, like getting up early the following morning to do it. But when tomorrow morning comes we… Read more
Why are boundaries important? 28 April 2021 by admin - The subject of boundaries frequently arises in counselling. Sometimes it's a person't own experiences of being at the receiving end of another person's lack of boundaries. What we would generally call abuse. Sometimes it's the reverse. That a person might feel their life is overly restrictive to the extent that even the boundaries around timing and payment for counselling feels challenging for them. It's not always clear what a boundary is. Yes, there are social conventions that mean we don't… Read more
Memories that leave us anxious and the easing of lockdown 25 August 2020 by admin - Like many people, I used lockdown as an opportunity to learn something. In my case, two things. Namely jazz music theory and philosophy/psychology from a yoga perspective. Although the former had its own challenges, and meant my attempting to play the piano again, not having had lessons for over 40 years, it was the latter that was more relevant to my work as a counsellor. My teacher of choice has been Sadhguru, and his book Inner Engineering. (Which I downloaded… Read more
Five things I have learned from offering online counselling 4 May 2020 by admin - Not better, not worse, just different This is what I said at the start of the lockdown in a communication to existing clients and new enquiries. While counselling for many means a human face to face experience, perhaps to overcome interpersonal issues or to benefit from being with a human that cares, video or audio calls may or may not have the same meaning. Indeed I did not go into counselling with the aim of staring at a screen either.… Read more
Adrian Tupper Counselling – Coronavirus update 23/3/20 23 March 2020 by admin - I have now stopped face to face counselling and supervision sessions. This wasn’t the choice I wanted to make, but with 23 Eyre Place now cancelling appointments, and my not seeing clients at 61a Mayfield Road, I believe it’s the right thing to do. If any client would prefer to suspend their counselling then please let me know (so there is space available for when they recommence). The requirement for 48 hours’ notice this week falls away, as all sessions… Read more
Adrian Tupper Counselling – Coronavirus Statement update 18/3/20 19 March 2020 by admin - Below is my position in response to the Coronavirus situation. I will continue to offer counselling and supervision sessions at both my practices (23 Eyre Place and 61a Mayfield Road). However this is an evolving situation, and please read on. At 23 Eyre Place, entry requires pressing a buzzer and/or opening a door to the waiting area. While Eyre Place Osteopathic practice endeavours to keep these contact points clean and disinfected, clients might feel safer still if they wear gloves… Read more
Rejection: The ups and downs of daily life 26 June 2019 by admin - Sometimes a single piece of news can significantly change our mood Recently, having felt confident for some time, one of my clients unexpectedly cancelled our next and all subsequent sessions. I thought the single session we had went well so was a little surprised. And then within a few days, I received three more such cancellations. What was going on? Is there something about my counselling I'm not seeing? Am I actually incompetent and have just been lucky so far… Read more