by Josephine Hughes | Dec 13, 2017
When I’m worrying about something it can be very difficult to think about anything else. My mind keeps coming back to whatever it is, and if I dare to relax for any time, I experience a sinking feeling as soon as I remember. If I’m worrying most of my mental energy...
by Josephine Hughes | Dec 7, 2017
Do you ever dread that question: “what are you doing for Christmas?” Sometimes it’s a hard question to answer when you’re aware of expectations around Christmas. It “should” be a happy time. It “should” be family time. It “should” be fun. For many people Christmas...
by Josephine Hughes | Nov 30, 2017
Carl Rogers, one of the founding fathers of modern counselling, said: “the curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then change happens” Many of us struggle to accept ourselves as we are. We think we should be different. We often think we should be...
by Josephine Hughes | Nov 22, 2017
Last weekend was a busy one for me. We celebrated two family birthdays and entertained the extended family. One of the gifts of children is the recurring joy of birthdays but it is also a time that marks the passing of the years. To notice how quickly a quarter of...
by Josephine Hughes | Nov 15, 2017
“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them”. Thomas Merton In our parenting one of the most difficult things is to let our...
by Josephine Hughes | Nov 7, 2017
Like any young child I eagerly awaited the arrival of my birthday and the attendant party. This was the era when birthday parties were held at home and long suffering mothers organised party games and birthday teas. After my older brother’s seventh birthday when the...
by josephineAdmin | Nov 1, 2017
Have you ever been in that situation where you’ve made a mistake and you can’t stop thinking about it? You replay it in your mind and there is a hot or cold sweaty feeling between your shoulder blades and your stomach churns. You wonder what you could possibly do to...
by josephineAdmin | Oct 25, 2017
Many years ago when I was embarking on training to be an antenatal teacher, I studied a module about listening skills. I read Pete Sanders’ book First Steps in Counselling and came across an explanation of learning that I have used ever since. It is the four stage...
by josephineAdmin | Oct 18, 2017
Monday morning blues. I think we all know the feeling, especially now that autumn is well under way – waking up to darkness, the press of the week weighing us down, the thought that our weekend freedom is lost, an internal “to-do” list perhaps accompanied by a vague,...
by josephineAdmin | Jun 6, 2017
After much wrangling we finally got the site up and running.
