parenting

Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN) is evident in most clients we, at Anglia Counselling Ltd, work with who present themselves for counselling and therapy.

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Another wonderful piece by Tim, our resident guest author. This time we are looking at guilt; something many of us live with or have lived with for years.

I’ve been thinking a lot about guilt.

I don’t mean real guilt; guilt that is the guilt caused by a foul act such as a hurting another person or creature or committing a crime. I mean the guilt that we have had forced upon us by society, by, in prior days, religion, by those who seek to control us.

Guilt makes us secretive, drives us in on ourselves, can cause a multitude of unpleasantness for us and for those around us.

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The second part from her series introducing us to maternal mental health, we welcome back Anne Marie McKinley who is a Midwife and Birth Trauma Specialist. Here, Anne Marie explains how pregnancy is an opportunity to influence the future mental health and wellbeing of baby before birth and shares simple strategies to build resilience and interestingly, how imagination and visualisation can be of benefit.

The influences of external and internal factors on the health of the developing foetus and a growing baby have been widely researched. The belief that investing in psychological support for women who have mental health diagnoses and who report symptoms of depression or anxiety in pregnancy has evolved. Midwives, on booking, are encouraging women to appropriate pathways when symptoms are revealed. The importance of self-regulation, supportive environments, GP input, and psychological care are more prominent now than at any other time in the history of maternity care. [Read more…]

Here, we are continuing the China Doll series by resident guest author, Tim. Need I say more?

Married in 1979 we both wanted to be a good partnership, and we both wanted children. My wife wanted a football team, I was happy with the idea of two, perhaps three. Nature served us up just one, and his arrival needed help at the creation. [Read more…]

Almost 4 years ago, I wrote a piece about the effects of bullying because when I’m meeting and working with those who are psychologically distressed, I found one cause can frequently be attributed to the experience of being bullied in their early years. So, I asked if this is A Lifelong Legacy? especially as I have seen the effects from the ages 11 to over 60.

Sadly, even with all the awareness raised about bullying, this subject is still of great concern. We still see some concerning statistics that 43% of teens report that they have been bullied and that 90% of those who witness cyber bullying ignore it. [Read more…]

Once again, Tim hardly needs an introduction to this series based around the China Doll. He evokes many emotions and continues to enthral us.

I promised myself that the third piece I wrote about China Dolls would be the last. Then, as I sent the last piece to Bob for him to decide about suitability to publish this one crept into my head. The last three had ready made titles. They forced their way into my head and insisted I write them whereas, this one snuck up behind me and whispered into my ear. [Read more…]

This interesting piece was contributed by Jackie Edwards who is a freelance writer. Here, she discusses baby blues, postnatal depression (postpartum depression) and the differences.

If you have recently welcomed a new addition to the family, then you don’t need to be told what a life changing experience it is. In fact, there are not really any words to describe the effect that it has on your physical, mental and emotional state. The subjects of postnatal depression and the baby blues are topics that are often mentioned, but seldom really understood. Here we discuss both conditions and talk about coping strategies such as counselling and accepting assistance to help you adjust to life as a parent. [Read more…]

Resident guest author, Tim, continues on from his last post This China Doll Failed Quality Control and Must be Smashed. Read, digest and take something away.

I could quite possibly make a series about the collection and care of the China Doll. Some people seek out dolls that they deface, somehow, in order to create rejects out of perfection. Or, rather, they create their debased perfection out of true perfection.

If you’ve read This China Doll Failed Quality Control and Must be Smashed, which will open in a new tab for you, and, while not required reading, is a piece I suggest to you, you’ll learn more about me, and you’ll learn more about China Dolls; how parents can be terrifying, how some children (well, me) were afraid of their parents. Since I wasn’t smashed because I refused to show imperfection until I escaped you may have worked out that I am not writing about me this time. [Read more…]

We welcome back Tim, our resident guest author, who continues to enthral us.

That’s what they do in china doll factories – they smash them. Sure, we’ve heard of ‘seconds’ but that’s for plates, cups, saucers, and for the Outlet Store. China dolls are the perfect collectables; imperfection might make one unique, like a misprinted postage stamp, and thus have inherent value above the rest. Collectable china dolls are not ‘run of kiln’ or ROK items. [Read more…]

Guest author, Alice Porter shares some insightful tips to help us recognise the signs of undiagnosed mental health issues in our young ones (sadly, something that I come across within my work as a counsellor). Alice, who is passionate about raising awareness of children’s mental health issues, is a writer for Lorimer Fostering and shares some great tips to help with recognising the ‘signs’. [Read more…]