20 Ways to Break Free from Trauma

‘An important and insightful contribution to the mental health literary landscape.’ – Alastair Campbell

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Interview with Adam Ball on Radio Oxford

13 June 2025

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Human Signposts

The Samaritans, Britain's first crisis hotline, was founded in 1953 ‘to befriend the despairing and suicidal’. If, like me, you visit the tiny crypt of this church where it all began - St Stephen’s Walbrook in the City of London - you can still see the telephone where...
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Why and how do we remember?

Perhaps you remember the moment you heard about a significant international or national event. When I heard about John Lennon being shot in New York in 1980, I was an undergraduate having coffee in the student common room. I heard about the terrorist attack on the...
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Mind over Mountains: the Power of Nature

I recently had the privilege of giving a workshop for Mind over Mountains, an award-winning charity that began in 2020 as an organisation offering professional mental wellbeing support through walking in nature. Trauma - when we are overwhelmed - so often needs to be...
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Sad Book and the Power of Dance

Michael Rosen’s Sad Book, a novel written after the death of his son Eddie, has been adapted by the 201 theatre company and was performed at the end of March at the Mill Arts Centre in Banbury. Banbury Therapy Centre were invited to be Compassionate Listeners for...
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A Gentle Approach to Anxiety

On 29 March, I attended the book launch of fellow Jessica-Kingsley-published author, Dr Martin Brunet. His book, Your Worry Makes Sense, was introduced in conversation at Guildford Baptist Church by the banks of the River Wey. We can surely all resonate with anxiety...
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Mind the Gap! Women and Homelessness

Frightened jumping This way that way Only knowing my fragmented terrified Beyond twitchy self I Bump off edges Jarring jangled Ricocheting At the mercy of life At the mercy of me My pinball self Let me rest I long for a kinder way When we walk past Big Issue sellers...
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Young Men Need Intensive Care!

A respected psychiatrist, working in a project with traumatised young people, tells them ‘Your vulnerability is your power'.  But these young folk are so locked into their defensive patterns of behaviour, hiding behind an array of tricky behaviours such as aggression...
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The Wellbeing Show with Noel McDermott

26 March 2025

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Eldership conference: the gifts of ageing

A café-style conference was held at the Quaker Meeting House in Oxford on Saturday 15 March 2025, with thirty participants from around the country. I was privileged to be one of seven speakers, all of us experienced psychotherapists of different modalities, cultures...
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Bereavement and Loss

What is bereavement?

Sometimes our experiences break our hearts. A deep loss can separate us from the person we were and from connecting with the world as we used to.

How we experience our loss will be as varied as we are. We may feel sad, empty or depressed. We may lost interest in life, as if it has lost its meaning and point. Our bodies can feel heavy, like we are being pressed down or not wanting to move.

We might feel like we are going through life on autopilot. Our loss may also have brought other life stresses in its wake, so just carrying on feels like we are on survival mode.

Sometimes a present bereavement can be interwoven with another past loss and it can be important to try to give so our grief can also take some time to fully understand.

 

How I can help

It can be helpful to weigh the losses we have suffered with another person who is skilled to help us with them. It is my privilege to accompany another person on such a journey.

In time, though not bringing the loved one back, finding the means to express pain can bring solace and healing. Unlocking the secrets of our hearts with a trusted other to witness and understand us can help us find a greater fullness of life.

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