Counselling, Psychotherapy, Mental Health & Happiness Blog.

What is a Good Man Anyway?

6/12/2015

I had the following post originally published as a featured article on The Good Men Project, on 3-12-15

What is a good man anyway?

I told my young sons the other day that I was going to write an article for the Good Men Project. My eldest, who is eight years old asked me "what is a good man anyway Dad?” Suspecting that this could be one of those moments where what you say to your kids can have a lasting effect, I thought about the question for a moment before I sat down with the three of them and gave them this answer.

1 Comment

New Mental Health Podcast

22/11/2015

1 Comment

I’ve not done an update type post before, so this is a first for me. I am writing this post to let you know about one of my current projects. It’s a mental health podcast and I plan on launching it at the end of January.

I recently ran a survey and got a lot of great feedback about different ways that I can help people, and about the different issues that people want help with. I had thought about doing a podcast before, but this feedback confirmed for me that there is a need for it. If it can provide value for people then I’m very happy to do it.

1 Comment

Anxiety Self Help with Mindfulness

15/11/2015

0 Comments

In this post I will share with you what I do in my work to help people who are suffering with anxiety, and show you what you can do to help yourself if anxiety is ever an issue for you.

We all experience anxiety in life, but to varying degrees. It can present as stress and worry, or it can show up as debilitating panic and fear.

Working with anxiety in therapy is a two fold process. On the one hand we want to spend time uncovering the thought patterns and belief systems that produce, or add fuel to anxiety. We do this so that we can begin to rewrite the scripts that we use internally, which can move us away from anxiety and towards what we actually want.

0 Comments

Using Dream Journals to Discover what Your Dreams Mean

13/11/2015

0 Comments

In this post I'm going to talk a little bit about dreams and developing dream recall. Dreams are fascinating, and they can provide us with so much information that can help us in many ways. For a dream to be useful however, we first have to remember it.

That's where dream journaling comes in. An adult will typically dream several times every night, with our most active dreaming done during the REM (rapid eye movement) stages of the sleep cycle. Our most active dreaming is done during REM sleep, but how many of these dreams can you remember when you wake up in the morning?

0 Comments

Choice Theory in a Nutshell

19/8/2015

4 Comments

As an integrative psychotherapist, my work varies all the time, and I adapt the therapy to suit the needs of the individual client. Very often however, I find that I will use Choice Theory / Reality Therapy as part of the work I do with many clients.

The reason I use it so often is the fact that it is effective and the understanding of it empowers clients to make more effective choices in their lives. And no matter how bad things may seem, we always have choice.

4 Comments

Thoughts on Being Busy

27/7/2015

0 Comments

My practice is going from strength to strength and I’ve never been as busy as I am these days. Now, I am very grateful that things are going well, but it has got me thinking about the nature of busy.

It is one thing being busy in a productive way, but it’s another thing altogether being a busy fool.

Being busy has been glorified in our culture today. People assume that being busy means you are doing well and that the opposite is also true. It has become almost a badge of honour to be busy. The busier you are, the better you are perceived to be doing.

0 Comments

3 Sure-fire Ways to Feel Better Now

3/7/2015

0 Comments

Cry:

Crying releases cortisol (a by-product of adrenalin) and other toxins from the body. It allows us to shed some of the emotional burden we are carrying. How often have you cried and felt better for doing so? It’s a natural process that we can deny ourselves needlessly. Give yourself permission to cry whenever you need to.

Sweat:

Sweating also releases cortisol and other toxins from our system. Working up a sweat through vigorous exercise also gets our bodies to release endorphins, our all natural feel good medicine. Depending on the type of exercise, it can take your mind off what ails you, or even help you work through whatever you are struggling with.

0 Comments

Leaving Cert Tips From a Therapist

13/3/2015

0 Comments

Recently I have been working with some young people ahead of their Leaving Certificate exams.

While every person is different, there are some things I can share here that we have been working on that may be helpful to others facing their upcoming exams. If you are someone who is taking the Leaving, or you know someone who is, then you might benefit from the following tips from the therapy room.

0 Comments

Depression vs Vitality

12/2/2015

1 Comment

Andrew Solomon said in his wonderful and eloquent TED talk on depression, that “The opposite of depression is not happiness. It is Vitality”

Many sufferers of depression will resonate with this statement. Often one of the worst things about depression is the complete lack of energy and zeal. I believe that this is the reason why many interventions or attempts at lifting depression, personally or professionally, are unsuccessful.

It doesn’t matter how well designed or insightful the intervention may be. It doesn’t matter how many times it has worked in the past, or for others. If we cannot muster the energy to try it, then it will never work.

1 Comment

10 Ways to Capture Your Creativity

27/3/2014

0 Comments

A common myth exists that says that you are either creative or you are not. The truth is however, that creativity is not something that you can have. Creativity is more like a well that anyone can draw from. A subtle wave of imagination that can be tuned into if we but know how to listen. Certainly some people seem to be more skilled at tuning into this resource than others, but it is a skill that anyone can learn.

We all get flashes of creativity from time to time. We all hear those whispers inside. The trick is to capture the creativity as it arises. And, just like an exercised muscle, the more often we do this, the stronger our ability to do it becomes. Here are my top 10 tips for tuning into that creative force, and capturing some of it for yourself.

0 Comments

<<Previous

Forward>>

RSS Feed

Like what you read here? Subscribe to the newsletter to receive more great FREE content from David straight to your email inbox

GET THE NEWSLETTER HERE

Featured on:

Author

I am a psychotherapist, trainer, coach and meditation teacher, working with people face to face in Dublin, Ireland, and worldwide via Skype. I blog about mental health, happiness, personal growth & development, spirituality, and other things that interest me.

Disclaimer

The author(s) of this blog express thoughts and opinions based on personal and professional experience. Please note that as there is no established professional relationship between author and reader, that this blog does not constitute therapy or professional advise and should not be taken as such.

What is a Good Man Anyway?

New Mental Health Podcast

Anxiety Self Help with Mindfulness

Using Dream Journals to Discover what Your Dreams Mean

Choice Theory in a Nutshell

Thoughts on Being Busy

3 Sure-fire Ways to Feel Better Now

Leaving Cert Tips From a Therapist

Depression vs Vitality

10 Ways to Capture Your Creativity

Featured on:

Author

Disclaimer

Categories

Archives

privacy policy

terms of use