“So, come on in. Lie down on the couch and close your eyes. Think back to when you were 5. What were you doing? How do you feel?” Is that really what happens in therapy? Well not really! I think this perception started with Freud because that’s what he would do with his patients. But […]
What it’s really like to see a therapist.
You know how you’re watching a show and there’s a scene with a psychologist “therapising” his client, who is laying on a couch, or maybe calling his therapist in the middle of the night and screaming at him? Ok, so I’m pretty much describing Louis Litt from one of my favourite shows, Suits. But, no. […]
Confused by all the different options? How to find the right therapist for you.
So, you’ve considered whether you should explore therapy and decided to give it a try. Where do you start? For me, I wasn’t very familiar with the differences between counsellors, therapists, psychologists, is there a difference in the 1st place? Do they have to have certain qualifications? Should I go for subsidised options or do […]
Should I go for therapy?
It took me a really long time to take the 1st step towards therapy. I had spent the bulk of my life self-therapising and depending on the sagely comfort of my hubby and good friends. I wasn’t just getting by, I was thriving. Well, so it seemed. Successful at work, awesome social life, amazing travels… […]
No More Burying Feelings – Siblings of the Mentally Ill child.
After over 35 years of being a schizophrenic’s sister, I am only now realising what it means to be a schizophrenic’s sister. The full impact of this wasn’t even something I discovered by way of therapy. It hit me like a lightning all by myself, one fine day. Yes, my therapist knew I was the […]
Survivor Guilt – Siblings of the Special Needs / Mentally Ill child
I could never understand why I would often say I feel “guilty” when talking about my family situation. Well-meaning and practical people would respond by saying “you have done nothing wrong, you shouldn’t feel guilty.” Which I consciously agree with. And yet, the feeling creeps in, now and then. In my mind, there is an […]
The Invisible Child – Siblings of the Special Needs / Mentally Ill child
When there is a special needs or mentally-ill child in the family, the impact on the well sibling is often not seen or understood. It is brushed aside with the focus being centred on the affected child and its parents / caregivers instead. “As a child I tried desperately not to have a problem because […]
When being selfish is good.
Think of yourself first. That’s the message I am getting from my therapy sessions. And as the paranoid giraffe in my head reminds me to tell you not to misunderstand my statement, I feel compelled to explain myself first before I get accused of being… selfish. (And in doing so, undermining the point of my […]
How Dare You Call Me Non-Essential?!
Let’s talk about video calls, therapy and… NON-ESSENTIAL services. But first, let me just say that I guess it took a pandemic for me to discover just how much I enjoy connecting with friends via video calls. I wrote previously about how I like the isolation, and I had many telling me that they too […]
The Lovely Isolation
One of my happiest memories is of the Nordic wilderness of Abisko, a place so remote, even my Swedish friends wondered why I was heading there. It was in 2014 when I turned 40, and to mark the occasion, I wanted to challenge myself. I had always thought I hated the cold, so why not […]