by Josephine Hughes | Jul 17, 2018
“School’s Out for Summer” is a great rallying cry on social media in July. I notice my Facebook feed has a definite trend at this time of year. For the first week of the school holidays there are general celebrations that school is out and there’s no need to get up...
by Josephine Hughes | Jun 29, 2018
Vicissitudes is an interesting word to roll the tongue and lips around. It is a word I’ve been learning to use recently. The Cambridge English Dictionary defines it as follows: changes that happen at different times during the life or development of someone or...
by Josephine Hughes | Jun 19, 2018
When I was working with new parents, a midwife related a story of visiting a mother who had recently had a baby. The extended family were all there celebrating. During the course of the visit she asked the new Dad how he was – he became upset and told her she was...
by Josephine Hughes | Jun 12, 2018
As a counsellor one of the things I witness is the hurt that people have suffered when they have difficult relationships in their past. The days celebrating fathers or mothers can be very hard for them. Even where there has been a close, loving, relationship with a...
by Josephine Hughes | May 17, 2018
I was walking the dog this morning and heard a mother shouting at her teenage son. It made me remember what a stressful time of year this is for families of young people who are embarking on their exams. Sometimes parents think it would be easier for them to sit the...
by Josephine Hughes | May 10, 2018
In her book “Feel the fear and do it anyway” Susan Jeffers asks herself the convoluted question: “What am I not doing in my life that I could be doing that I am blaming him for not doing?“ She was talking about moments of anger with her husband and making the point...
by Josephine Hughes | May 3, 2018
In The Universe Has Your Back, Gabby Bernstein asks us to imagine that we’re watching a horror film in a cinema. We know that the main character is about to walk into a life-threatening situation and we want to scream “don’t do it!”. Our lives can be like that. Time...
by Josephine Hughes | Mar 28, 2018
I took a trip down Memory Lane today and walked past the house where I’d been a young Mum. It is easy to romanticise memories of those days and think about the fun but sometimes I also feel regrets about the times when I was stressed and cross with the children. How...
by Josephine Hughes | Mar 21, 2018
This week in my video I wanted to address how people can remain optimistic even in the face of adversity. With the help of my ever cheerful partner, I’d managed to reframe a broken glass as a stroke of luck (I didn’t break the more precious water jug). However, how...
by Josephine Hughes | Mar 16, 2018
Sometimes I make life hard for myself. As a counsellor I put myself under pressure to have all the answers. I expect myself to have life all sorted. I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you to know that I don’t! So, like everyone else, I can have days where it...
