New Video

Hi All

Been working on a new video to give you more of an idea about me - I've popped it on my website and on You Tube.  My husband's son worked really hard doing this for me and I'm really pleased with it.

View it here http://youtu.be/1f6xS5zNaxc

Action for Happiness

I've been meaning to mention this organisation for a while now - and their latest email to me reminded me to pop something on this Blog - their website is www.actionforhappiness.org - it's great and really looks at the meaning of happiness and how we can bring it into our lives and the lives of others - have a look!

Oh dear

Just noticed how long it's been since I last posted on here!

My excuse is that I've been extremely busy and I have been attending training on EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization Reprogramming!

Sounds complicated doesn't it?  But trust me, it's not - it's very different to counselling but there's lots of research that proves it works and is an alternative way for clients to address their issues.  There's more about it on my website.

I've also managed to secure some group supervision - I was warned that it can be difficult to find a supervisor but I think the timing of my seeking one coincided well with who was setting it up so that's all great.

So just a quick bulletin and more from me soon .. and hopefully sooner than 4 months time again!

Affairs within Relationships

Well, this was the title of a one day workshop I attended last Saturday in London booked through Psychotherapy UK.

It was a great day and really informative.  The schedule included time to watch a couple of film clips and then discuss them afterwards- a film called "The End of the Affair"  - book by Graham Greene, and the other film called "Damage" with Jeremy Irons amongst others.  Both clips were very powerful and helped to understand the underlying motives.

Affairs are very common and are a particularly difficult experience for couples to survive, although some couples do.  Online affairs have become more common too and this was also something we also covered during the day.

EMDR

Hi All,

I completed my training to provide EMDR so have added details to my website at www.integrativecounselling.co.uk so have a look and let me know if anything is unclear. 

I am currently taking referrals for people who have experienced trauma arising from a single event rather than multiple experiences.

EMDR is a great treatment  with loads of research to back up its effectiveness - it's a pretty simple process too.

New Book and Course

Hi All

I haven't posted a blog for quite a while so nice to be back!

Just to say that I am halfway through a book by Scott Peck called "The Road Less Travelled" and recommend it both for clients and counsellors.

I am due to start my course on EMDR (eye movement desensitisation reprogramming) next week so that should be interesting and something alternative I can be offering to clients.

Depression

There is an informative article on Yahoo this week - link is: http://uk.health.lifestyle.yahoo.net/Be-aware-of-the-signs-of-depression.htm.

The NHS do provide cognitive-behavioural therapy short-term or, if you would like private therapy giving less of a time constraint, you can contact me as I have also use this regularly in my work with clients.

Fabrice Muamba

Thankfully, it seems now that Mr Muamba is well on his way to recovery thanks to all the support he had.

Fabrice Muamba

I was shocked to hear about Fabrice Muamba, a well known footballer, collapsing from a heart attack last Saturday whilst playing a match and is now critically ill in hospital.  It is so difficult to comprehend it happening to a man at that level of fitness and that age.  It is so shocking.  My best wishes and my hope are with Mr Muamba and his family.  It is an uncertain time.

Mother's Day

Continuing the theme of significant dates - Mother's Day is approaching.   This will mean different things to different people.  If mum is alive and you have a good relationship with her, it may be a positive acknowledgement of your appreciation of her.  If mum is dead but you had a good relationship with her, it may bring about feelings of warmth for her but also sadness about her not being with you now.  I think that in bereavement, the first year encompassing these significant dates can be particularly difficult but people do seem to find a way to deal with them.

If you have never met your mum, this date may not even hold any significance for you.  If it does, it may be that it reminds you of the empty gap in your life or your quest of searching for her.

If your relationship with your mum is either distant or conflicting, you may have mixed feelings about Mother's Day and perhaps feel a pressure to acknowledge her in a positive way when actually you may not feel like doing so.

There is probably a lot more I could write about mothers but perhaps that may be more suited to a proper article.  

As always, any comments to add to the discussion are welcome!

Anna

Vampire woman

Maria Jose Cristerna - a Mexican woman who turned herself into a vampire look-a-like after suffering years of domestic violence - read a little bit about her on the http://www.yahoo.co.uk/ home page.  Would be interesting to read your views?

International Womens Day

An interesting article on Yahoo Lifestyle about Clare Francis whose husband committed suicide - http://www.uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/.

Men and suicide seems to have been in the media even more in the last few months - perhaps because of well-known people deciding to take their own lives.

In the above mentioned article the man concerned experienced a number of years with depression before he took his own life.  I am sure whether he sought professional help but some men can find it difficult to ask for help, seeing it as a sign of weakness and choose to either "down their sorrows" in alcohol or other addictions.  This does not need to happen.  Everybody has emotions and running away from them will only mean they build up inside and then hit you at some unexpected time.  People can become stronger by, what I call, meeting their emotions and not being afraid of them.

Once we stop avoiding, there is hope for change.

Valentine's Day

It is hard to get away from the fact that it was Valentine’s Day yesterday.  This day can evoke different responses in everybody – some may genuinely embrace it, some may feel obliged to embrace it and some may try to ignore it. 

It can be a day that brings pleasure in being the giver or receiver of something that says you are loved or shows you have the capacity to love another.  It can also be a day when painful emotions may arise, particularly if somebody has experienced a recent separation in their relationship or a bereavement in the past– Valentine’s Day can be an unwanted reminder that that person is no longer with them.   

For people who are not in a relationship, Valentine’s Day can be just insignificant or a day where people feel “less than” because they are not in a relationship.

It can be a day of expectation that will either be met with joy or not met with the disappointment that follows.  It can be a day of hope and sharing.

Airbrushing

In relation to my website article, I was interested to read the article on Yahoo yesterday regarding Rachel Weisz in the banned L'oreal advertisement "Should Airbrushing be Banned?". This is the kind of unrealistic images which some people try to attain.

Anna

Self-esteem and Society

Hi All,

This is my first ever blog so welcome!

I have just updated my "Let's Talk About" page of my website with a new article on self-esteem and society - hope you enjoy it. 

Any comments will be welcome.

Anna Keen