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...
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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...
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...
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...
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....
Seeds in the Dark
I recently read an article in the Guardian (1 March 2025) by neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan. She writes of a startling rise in medical diagnoses of...
Owning our Gold
I’ve heard the phrase ‘the world’s going to hell in a handcart’ a few times recently. I understand why - there are things that worry many of us: the...
Hush the Noise!
Is it true that in contemporary world, emotionality is ramped up and heightened? In order to be heard it appears that we need to simply shout louder...
Buried Cries
“I am a human being. Nothing human can be alien to me” (Maya Angelou quoting Terentius Afer, an African enslaved by the Romans in 150 BC). Chapter...
Trauma and Time
Christmas is about a moment in time. Trauma can skew time. When something cuts across our path, changing us on the inside, it can feel as though...
From Tianamen to trauma therapist: a life-changing story
In June 1989, at the age of 27, I found myself caught up in a momentous event in world history. The previous year, as a young teacher, I had gone to...
Being proximate: when a hug is too much
There is a young boy, aged 11, called Pete, who loses his beloved mother to cancer and his world changes. The ground he walks on longer feels solid...
A glint in the eye: the importance of mirroring
I have always thought that people's eyes matter. Perhaps when we meet another person and look them in the eye we have a sense of whether we are...
Seizing the moment: thoughts about crisis
I noticed in the Wikipedia entry for the English word 'crisis' that its use has grown considerably since the 1950s. This led me to reflect: are we...
The Time for Statutory Regulation is Here
A shorter version of this article was published in The Guardian on 25 October 2024 Rachel Hall’s argument in The Guardian of 19th October 2024 is...
Stop and Look Inside! Thoughts on addiction
Aged 80 this year, Canadian physician Gabor Maté was recently speaking about the notion of being ‘Young Again’ with Kirsty Young on BBC Radio 4. I...
What we most need: thoughts on chronic illness
Many of us remember Miranda Hart, the comedian extraordinaire who rose to prominence with Call the Midwife, winning comedy awards and four BAFTA...
Sing when your voice has been silenced
I recently read an article about an ex-offender musician who volunteered to play for an absent chapel pianist during 18 weeks in prison. He wrote:...
Terry Waite and the power of poetry
I had no personal contact with Terry Waite until April, 2024. Up until then, he was someone who I knew had been held captive in Beirut before being...
Green spaces for trauma
In the UK the warmth is seemingly elusive but longer days and activities does tend to mean we are outside more. How can being outside help us when...