Category: Social Issues

Family Estrangement, Social Issues

Surviving Estrangement: Are you trapped inside the family narrative?

I was reading the book ‘Happiness by design’ by behavioural scientist Paul Dolan and one concept he discovered was the idea of narrative traps…which is when our happiness is determined by societal expectations, such as the car, the big house, the high salary, the perfect body, etc. and we spend our lives as slaves to this narrative by working crazy hours and becoming as far … Continue reading Surviving Estrangement: Are you trapped inside the family narrative?

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Family Estrangement, Social Issues

Estrangement and Starting your own Family

This is a video I wanted to do last year but never got around to it and now’s as good a time as ever. So myself and my wife were at a prenatal course last year and there was a big group of couple’s, round 40 people, all ready to be first time parents. We were broken into smaller groups of 5 couples where we … Continue reading Estrangement and Starting your own Family

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Intuition
Family Estrangement, Social Issues

Estrangement, Uncertainty and Decision-Making: Intuition Vs Impulse

At the best of times, an estrangement involves a constant process of managing uncertainties but naturally, with what is happening right now, a crisis state is being triggered in many people as they feel an added pressure to respond/react but at the same time they are unsure of what exactly to do. In my last video on Estrangement and the impact of the Corona virus, I … Continue reading Estrangement, Uncertainty and Decision-Making: Intuition Vs Impulse

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Family Estrangement, Social Issues, Toxic Family

Living with Family Estrangement: Do you discuss the estrangement publicly?

Discussing an estrangement is a very personal decision…some choose to talk publicly about it and others chose to keep it private and closed.  Personally, I rarely talk about my own estrangement publicly as that’s my choice and my right to privacy and to set clear boundaries. And it might be the same anyone else reading this and I completely understand why someone would choose to … Continue reading Living with Family Estrangement: Do you discuss the estrangement publicly?

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Family Estrangement, Social Issues

Family Estrangement: Is it possible to reconcile?

Something that has come up a few times the last few weeks in my client work is the topic of reconciliations, especially unexpected ones. Some of my clients are finding themselves in an unusual position where a reconciliation might be on the cards or they are keen to try. The video below explores reconciliations: if they are possible, how they are possible and what makes an enduring … Continue reading Family Estrangement: Is it possible to reconcile?

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Anxiety, Self Esteem, Social Issues

Living in FEAR

One aspect of personal growth is re-reflecting on lessons learned and area’s of our lives where we had moments of clarity but got pulled back into our unique version of “normal”.

From expert to beginner, I think this is true of everyone, no matter where we are on the path of development and is an important reminder to never take knowledge or awareness for granted.

And I had to remind myself of this recently.
Continue reading “Living in FEAR”

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Personal Development, Social Issues

Armchair experts: Is it time to stop advising and start honoring?

“Do you think I should be on anti-depressants?” a client recently asked.

I was a little taken back as we had worked for months and the therapy was focused on problems with the clients boyfriend. She had given no indication that she might be suffering with Depression and seemed to be making positive changes in her life.

“Why do you ask?” I said.

“Because my mam thinks I should”.

“Based on what?”

“I dunno, maybe because she thinks I’m unhappy”.
Continue reading “Armchair experts: Is it time to stop advising and start honoring?”

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Self Esteem, Social Issues, Toxic Family

Co-Dependent, Interdependent, or Independent: Which one are you?

A question I get asked often is what is the difference between Co-Dependence, Interdependence and Independence.

From a social perspective and by virtue of the fact that we are part of the “system” (such as the need to pay bills and work for boss man/woman), we are all co-dependent in some capacity. To survive in the current economy/environment, we need to depend on institutions and individuals to ensure we can meet our own needs and get on with living.
Continue reading “Co-Dependent, Interdependent, or Independent: Which one are you?”

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Self Esteem, Social Issues

The Art Of Saying No: Boundaries And Difficult People

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have difficult people in their lives.

Now we all have our moments of humanity where stress takes over and we act in ways we regret later.

And then there are some who seem to thrive on setting unrealistic expectations, raising voices and/or using passive aggressive remarks to engage with their outer world…essentially “normalizing” unhealthy behavior and dragging others into their own psychological reality.
Continue reading “The Art Of Saying No: Boundaries And Difficult People”

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