Couples Counselling Practice
Ageing and Relationships: Couples Therapy Later in Life
Many of us spend decades working hard, raising families, and planning for the future, with the hope that retirement will bring a sense of ease and enjoyment. But what often emerges at this stage is a deeper recognition that we still want, and deserve, genuine connection and fulfilment.
Feeling Lonely in a Relationship: Understand & Overcome Emotional Disconnection
During the recent Loneliness Awareness Week, I reflected on how some clients experience loneliness, even in committed relationships. It is something many people find surprising, even confusing. We may have preconceived ideas of what loneliness is. Some consider it an issue that only affects the elderly or bereaved. However, the truth is that loneliness can […]
Can Couples Counselling Help Us Navigate Grief?
Grief is one of the most deeply personal experiences we can go through, and it touches every part of our lives, including our closest relationships. Grief can affect communication, intimacy, and the ability to be emotionally present for one another. Many couples ask, "Can couples counselling help us navigate grief?" especially when they feel lost […]
How to Improve a Relationship: Your Wider Community Matters
I've been reading about the Mental Health Foundation's Mental Health Awareness Week coming up in May. This year's theme is Community. It made me reflect on something I often discuss with the couples I work with at my North London practice, in my role as a relationship counsellor. Many couples focus on their private dynamic […]
Caring for an Elderly Parent and Protecting Your Marriage
As our life spans extend, more families find themselves caring for children and elderly parents simultaneously. In the U.K., we are not accustomed to having elderly parents live with us, which often happens in other cultures. So, we are generally unprepared for this stage and the impact it can have on our relationships. This article […]
What Happens in Couples Counselling? The Role of Laughter
Globally, we are going through some challenging times; it often feels that there isn’t much space for joy and laughter. These external pressures can heavily impact our relationships, so it’s more important than ever for our mental health and well-being to focus more on laughter and how it can help us. As a relationship therapist […]
What is an Attachment Injury, and How Can Couples Overcome It?
As we are well into January, my counselling sessions with clients at my West Hampstead clinic and online are in full swing. I often see patterns emerge as couples have taken time for reflection over the Christmas and New Year break. This year, there is some emphasis on past hurts and attachment injuries. But what […]
Do we need relationship counselling?
As a relationship counsellor practising in North-West London, I know that this is the time of year when many couples ask themselves and each other, “Do we need relationship counselling?” During the festive season, we spend more extended periods with family and partners, which often highlights any relationship struggles that may be developing. The New […]
Can Couples Forgive Each Other?
Reflecting on the Service of Remembrance for the men and women who gave their lives in the line of duty made me reflect on forgiveness and reconciliation. In any close relationship, there will be occasions when the behaviour of the other hurts one or both partners. But it's essential to explore what happens in these […]
How important is friendship in relationships?
How important is friendship in relationships? This question frequently arises in counselling sessions, and a recent social occasion caused me to reflect on it further. I attended a birthday celebration for a dear friend. It was a gathering of old and new friends from far and wide. What struck me was the fantastic close bond […]
Keeping the feel-good factor in our relationships
September to me often feels like January. It’s the start of real change as summer holidays fade into the background, darker evenings are creeping in and its back to work and our old routines. As we start to make these adjustments, perhaps this is also the time to reflect on our relationship with our partners […]
New Website and Olympic Values!
I’m very excited to welcome you to my recently launched updated website. To coincide with this, I ‘m going to be posting more regular blogs mainly based on issues that often show up between couples in my consulting room. Added to this will be shorter blogs on any topic that grabs my attention, or I […]
How do partners navigate mental illness in their relationship?
Last week’s Mental Health Awareness Week (13-19 May) theme was Movement. Simply making time every day last week to step outside in daylight and increase my steps made a significant change to how I felt and managed my stress. Working as a couples ‘therapist for over 25 years I am acutely aware just how many more of […]
Do you have a passive aggressive partner
In couples therapy sessions, focus is often taken up with hearing and seeing aggression and anger being played out. Passive aggression on the other hand is harder to identify often staying under the radar just bubbling away. Passive aggressive behaviour is defined as “behaviour that is seemingly innocuous, accidental or neutral but that indirectly displays […]
Do continual arguments badly affect your relationship?
In recent days the world has been horrified to witness how the age long history of conflict in the Middle East has now turned to full blown war. Families are being torn apart as the conflict escalates. In no way is this a comparison, but over the years I have worked with so many couples […]