We ALL know separation is one of the most painful experiences you can go through in this life and this stuff of ‘being human’. But sometimes we don’t understand how badly it hurts until we’re IN it. Breakups are physical, emotional, mental, spiritual. Divorce is a relentless battle with someone else, yourself AND the state… Continue Reading
Lolly’s backstory reveals disturbing insights about mental illness (can we get back in the time machine please?)
The earth-shattering Season 4 finale of ‘Orange is the new Black’ left us with little room to think (or feel) about anything else. So it’s taken some time to be able to reflect back on other revealing backstories of the inmates at Litchfield’s prison. There will not be any spoilers here about the finale (c’mon… Continue Reading
Do I have a Mental Illness? What ‘Borderline Personality Disorder’ actually feels like
Borderline Personality Disorder: what it really feels like from the voice of lived experience… I’m wary of diagnosis. Not because it’s not useful to understand more about what’s going on with you when things really aren’t right, but because often diagnoses are: Wrong Pathologising Used by professionals to make decisions about a person’s behaviour rather… Continue Reading
“No Hands Required”: A true story of emotional abuse
*Guest post* No Hands Required ‘That Look’ I know that look. It’s the jealous look. Dark brown eyes, filled with rage, glaring at me as if they are about to pierce me with a knife. It makes my heart pound, my chest tighten, and it feels like a huge cement slab is slowly crushing my… Continue Reading
An Open Letter to the Friends and Family of Trauma Survivors
When I first wrote this, I used the word ‘they’ to represent survivors of trauma. Because it’s absolutely not my story as a counsellor, it’s the collective stories of those I have supported and walked alongside, couched in ideas from counsellors (and activists) Michael White, Vikki Reynolds, and Judith Herman. I am not the survivor, they… Continue Reading
Trauma Survival Skills and How You Already Have Them
Trauma ‘survivor skills’ and ‘how you already have them’ are not words we often see together. We are all-too-often led to believe we need to do more and be more in order to be resilient. And yet, all of us already have survival skills. Rachel’s Purple Room Rachel came to see me when she was… Continue Reading
