Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. EMDR Trauma Therapy. Clinical Hypnotherapy. Buddhist Psychology.

I have been asked many times if using mindfulness practice (MP) is effective from a neuroscience standpoint. There is alot of research which shows that ... MP increases our ability to have understanding in relation to being hurt by someone and as a result, helps resolve it through compassion and empathy for that person's actions. MP enables us to reduce the physiological impact on our body when stressed and as a result, feel calmer quicker. MP helps generate higher levels

As humans we are often so caught up in our own thinking that what we are 'doing' is not conscious and as a result we can be clumsy in speech and action. When we come to our 'doing' from an intention to use loving-kindness for ourselves and others then we can't go far wrong as we are then using right speech, right action and right thinking. So ... please remember ... it is not the 'doing' that is important. It is more about how we make people FEEL when we are 'doing' that is m

Within our western culture, we are taught that the only way to achieve 'happiness' is to alter the environment in some way, buy something new, change someone else's view to align with our own ... make everything fit with our own wishes. This strategy is flawed! All this does is continue the cycle of expectation and suffering, disappointment, frustration, longing and desire. The way we actually experience Life is through the states of Mind, feelings and emotions that we are

Yes there will always be shadows, just as there is always the potential for light. Fear, greed and resentment will always remain a part of the psychology of our society, just as Mother Nature will always find a way to sustain growth of new life. We can choose to live a more balanced, patient and considered life. We can choose to act wisely. We can choose to respond even in the trickiest of times, rather than merely react in a reckless way. When we observe the serene beauty an

If we can pause and recognise the true reality of what we are feeling or the non-reality of the story we are creating in our Mind, we can step away from denial. Denial undermines our ability to be free from suffering. Denying we are working too hard or not hard enough. Denying we are ill. Denying we are spending too much time on our phone or spending too much money. If we deny our own dissatisfaction, pain, anger and frustration we continue to suffer. In the same way if we de

What does it mean to 'be present' ? I believe it is more than just physically being here. We have all experienced where someone we love is battling with something. They might be with us physically but in their Mind they are away somewhere else distracted and troubled. We see this sadly a great deal with Parents and their children. If we can truly be present, we have clarity in that moment. We know what to say and do, when not to speak or act. We can tap into our wisdom and th

Our Brain creates memory through the connection of emotional experience with events. We are at risk of attaching to those memories. This creates a trap and in the future moment when we experience something similar, our Mind and Brain and Body 'remember' the previous emotional experience and colour the moment in the present. We place an expectation on the present moment experience and then usually become disappointed as the experience never meets the expectation. If the event

Every day we can experience moments where we might smile at something or someone, notice something beautiful, laugh at something or with someone, feel calmness in ourselves, feel grateful for our life ... every day we can also experience frustration, irritation, sadness, fear and confusion with something or someone ... so ... I have a question ... When we are fortunate enough to feel the joy of life, to smile, laugh, feel relaxed and calm, is all the annoyance, anger, an

In Buddhist psychology, speech arises from the state of the mind. When driven by habit energies, fear, or reactivity, our words can create suffering in ourselves and others. When grounded in mindfulness and compassion, speech becomes an expression of wisdom that nurtures trust, connection, and inner peace. Neuroscience supports this understanding: mindful awareness strengthens the brain's capacity for emotional regulation while reducing automatic, threat-based responses, allo

When we take care of our Body, we positively influence our Mind. Moving gently, walking, sitting in good posture and consciously breathing creates calmness which translates into a sense of calm in our Mind. In the same way when we take care of our Mind and the thoughts and images created, this prevents negativity impacting on our body. Taking care of our Mind means not reacting directly to the negative thinking, slowing down and observing what our Mind is creating. Without ou

Sometimes we get caught up in our own view and can become rigid or indignant. Our judgement becomes clouded then we can't see the truth of the situation. We can only see our version of that truth. Taking a few moments to breathe in and out before speaking or acting is often enough to prevent us reacting or jumping in. Does it even matter? In that moment whether we are right or wrong ... is it actually more helpful to let go of that need to score a point. So ... forget being '

Have you noticed how we spend our days and evenings filling our heads with stuff? Information, thoughts, ideas, projects and plans ... we convince ourselves we are super busy. We don't have time to stop because we have so much to do and no one else can do it for us. Especially at work ... We need to create a habit every day of stopping. We need to give ourselves 'permission' to rest. Maybe just for 15 or 30mins... with a cup of tea. What you will then probably notice is a tir

Dwelling peacefully in the present moment means we have to let go of two aspects of us. The first is that everything will be fine 'when this happens'. The second is that everything will be awful 'when this happens'. As humans we go through our lives attaching to hopes and fears about our future, comparing everything we are currently experiencing with everything we have previously experienced and what 'think' will happen in the future. That will never end well and as a result

Because of our nature as humans to build stories in our Mind that are negative we often show our Ugly face to our family, friends and colleagues. We react to events and the resulting consequences create varying degrees of suffering and then out pops the Ugly Face! We can choose to respond instead. We can choose to show up kindly. We can choose to show our beautiful face. Which face would you rather see from your partner, family and friends? Show them your beautiful face ...

Every day we all create a narrative around being 'too busy'. As a result we convince ourselves to do more than one thing at once, or end up doing nothing at all! We check our emails whilst eating or we plan our day whilst driving. We even replay events whilst supposedly being with family and friends. We seem to be always moving on to the next thing before finishing what we are doing. We can get so overwhelmed we enter a loop of procrastination and achieve very little and then

Every day we all waste so much time ... either scrolling through the internet on our devices or daydreaming and what-if'ng about the future and getting caught up in irritation about past events and conversations. This day is a gift. We have another opportunity to fully experience and engage with Life. To laugh, cry, and everything in between. Pay close attention to what is happening right now. Notice when you start to get caught up or distracted and bring yourself back to wh

Working with grief and bereavement on a regular basis people often ask about what happens once we die. Asking questions about where do we go and what happens to our soul. Since the beginning of religion these questions have been asked and many people have tried to answer. Personally, I don't have a definitive answer. However, what I am a great deal clearer about and definitely more confident with is the topic of how we can be whilst we are alive. So maybe rather than being s

Stop chasing the 'knowing' ... Just 'see'. Stop 'trying to get there' ... Just be 'curious'. The 'not doing' or 'not striving' is seen in society as being lazy or not being successful. Just 'wait' ... not for the next solution or silver bullet ... not for the next trendy trick that will make you happy. Wait for the anxiety to slow and diminish without grabbing at it or pushing it away. Just observing it. There is so much ram-jam packed into our Life which is incredible. S

All of us are addicted. Addictions can take many forms: alcohol, drugs, pornography, sex, work, phone, eating, shopping, exercise ... even our negative thinking is addictive... Often so painful, so dark, that we do everything to run away from them ... But by doing so, we create more suffering, for us and for others. The power of healing lies inside each of us. When we learn to be present for our deep emotions, to embrace and transform them, we can liberate ourselves from repe

As humans, we think our 'suffering' comes from external factors and the solutions also come from outside of us... someone behaves in a clumsy way that irritates us, something happens at work or even on the way to work which results in us feeling hard-done-by. We then 'want' that person to apologise, that work decision to be changed or for the traffic to disappear. However as we explore in psychotherapy and Buddhist psychology, we have very little influence over external facto