A piece about working with men and male issues in counselling.

I found this book challenging and insightful, as it questioned some of my assumptions and it didn't follow the structure that I expected. Basically, if you're looking for a clear-cut list of 'diseases' and 'causes', you're not going to find those things here. However, what you'll find is reference to socioeconomic factors, the impact of life experience, and alternative ways of approaching the distress that is so often medicalised today. A good book can often ask questions that make the reader want to learn more, and for me this came in the shape of reference to genetics, and how that field is still developing.

A review of the book 'Guidance for Psychological Therapists - Enabling conversations with clients taking or withdrawing from prescribed psychiatric drugs'

Over the last few years I've read several PCCS books that focus on what is referred to as the 'medicalisation' of distress. This is where the pharmaceutical industry has aligned with modern psychiatry to create a list of diseases that are supposed to help us understand our difficult feelings and experiences.   'Drop the Disorder […]

Yes, that image is from the far inferior version of the cover art for the Rolling Stones' 'Beggars Banquet' LP, and I prefer the 'party invitation' sleeve variant by far, with the bacchanalian colourised image inside, but it's a good song from a great album, and it relates to my thoughts for this post.   […]

There can be an element of pleasure-seeking in different types of problematic behaviour. That can be to do with the pleasure response from eating, using drugs and alcohol, or from collecting things. That last one is part of my own personal experience. Anyway, Dr. Anna Lembke's book gives clear examples of how our brain chemistry […]