Insights & reflections
This is a space where I share writings on mental health, therapy and the many experiences that shape our lives. Some posts may explore common challenges like burnout or grief, while others reflect on ideas from narrative therapy and the stories we live by. My hope is that these reflections offer you moments of recognition, encouragement and perhaps a new perspective to carry with you.
What is Narrative Therapy?
Narrative therapy is a respectful, non-blaming approach to counselling, which centres people as the experts in their own lives.
Grief touching us
Sadness is with us. A young boy in Bendigo, Central Victoria, died yesterday, hit by a truck while walking to school.
Antidotes to violence: Nurturing our young men into being strong.
We need fathers as helpers, nurturing our young men into adulthood. What do you wish for your young man? What do you want him to learn from you?
The absence of belonging and being history-less
What first inspired me to write this journal entry was a fellow counsellor’s offer of a Brave Belonging Circle for skilled migrants in Australia.
Speaking of suicide, ‘way out’ or ‘die’ thoughts
Bloom is an animated story about how the power of human connection can light us up when we feel stuck in the dark. I put it here to remember what we as humans may yearn for when ‘way out’ thoughts come around
Burning out: Haunted by the pressure of time
In his musings about free will and time, writer Oliver Burkeman advises that we should give up trying to reach a phase of life that’s problem-free.
Trauma: ‘But look at how far you have come’.
The papering over of hardship, perceiving people as doing just fine and ignoring pain, can feel invalidating and minimising.