Couples Counselling Practice
Articulating the Importance of our Closest Relationships
Celebrating Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year this weekend was a very different experience this year. Covid 19 prevented many people attending synagogue services and participating in the familiar customs. The rule of six made it difficult for families to celebrate all together and partake in festive meals. This period is the start of the […]
The Effect of Lockdown on the Client and the Therapist
Who would have thought that at the beginning of March when lockdown started and we were all in a state of shock, that three months later we would all still be coming to terms with this global pandemic and its unknown implications for the future. Rarely before, in over 20 years working as a therapist, […]
Are your parents too intrusive in your relationship?
Are your parents too intrusive in your relationship? In my consulting room I am often not just sitting with a couple who are experiencing difficulties in their relationship, but with a couple who metaphorically bring their parents with them to every session and spend more time talking about their relationship with them than about […]
How to make 2020 a better year for our couple relationship
Already into the third week of the New Year, how many of us are still going strong with our new year’s resolutions to do dry January or Veganuary, to do more exercise and eat less sugar? How many of us have found the novelty has worn off all too easily and returned to our old […]
Mothers and Daughters
Following my previous blog 'Is it Gutsy to stay in a marriage after Infidelity' (please click here to read it) which discusses the book co-written by Hilary and Chelsea Clinton 'The Book of Gutsy Women', I recently attended a packed Royal Festival Hall watching Mary Beard in conversation with Hilary and Chelsea Clinton about their […]
Is it Gutsy to stay in a marriage after infidelity
Hilary Clinton was speaking to ABC’s Good Morning America this week to promote a book she wrote with her daughter Chelsea 'The Book of Gutsy Women. ' When asked “what was the gutsiest thing Hilary had ever done” she replied “politically running for President and personally making the decision to stay in my marriage with […]
Couples Emotional Attachment to Money
In a recent couples counselling session, a client disclosed to her husband that she was in a lot of debt but had been too afraid to share this with him. This came as a complete shock to him and he questioned what sort of marriage they had if his partner didn’t feel able to share […]
Mind the Age Gap
Getting back into work after the summer break is always a varied and an interesting time. Some couples feel the break has been far too long and can’t wait to resume their weekly sessions. Other couples feel the summer break has been good for their relationship and decide to end their sessions. It is often […]
Stress and the Couple
Two news items caught my attention this week: how stress impacts relationships and whether there is a stress gender divide. 1. The first is new research released for National Stress Awareness Day on 1 November 201. It shows that many more women than men are feeling stressed and anxious. Data showed that: · more than […]
Navigating Change in a Couple when the children leave home
The summer holidays are over and the kids are back at school. Many parents up and down the country are bracing themselves for the inevitable when in the next few weeks their children will be leaving home for university. Adjusting to children leaving home, whether its your first child or your youngest child for some […]
What happens to couples when the children leave home
Watching the mesmerising and compelling performance of Gina Mckee in Florian Zeller’s production of 'The Mother' at the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn last week left me questioning long after the final curtain. Gina Mckee plays the role of a mother floundering between reality and hostility as her family starts to fall apart and move away […]
Is giving up on marriage easier than working on it? – 2017
Over the past week I was lucky to attend two very different events that I found very interesting and which shared a common thread – the importance of resilience and survival. The first was a strictly orthodox Jewish wedding where Rabbis from every sect and from all over the world were in attendance. One of […]
Difficulties with Commitment in your Relationship – 2017
January was a month where we were bombarded in the press about the need to make new year resolutions, make changes to our work life balance, loose weight and go to the gym more, eat less sugar and more complex carbohydrates. In my counselling room recently, I have been aware of how many couples hope […]
The Importance of Father’s Day 2017
After the election chaos, the atrocities of the London bombings and yesterday's fire disaster in Grenfell Tower, Fathers Day on Sunday comes as a welcome relief. A celebration first observed in Washington in 1910 to honour fathers and father figures, step fathers, grandfathers and fathers in law. Many families go to great efforts to make […]
Why don’t couples come to counselling?
Husband: “Look. Can you hear yourself? Can you? Do you have any idea what a terrible person you have become? All you give out is this endless negativity, a refusal to see any kind of light and joy, even when it's staring you in the face and a desperate need to squash any sign of […]