This blog looks at the vagus nerve and trauma. My last blog looked at the key role of the vagus nerve on how we think, feel and behave and in particular at Stephen Porge’s Polyvagal Theory. I described how moment by moment, our neural circuits distinguish whether situations or people…
One of the most useful pieces of information that I am able to share with clients is Stephen Porges’s Polyvagal Theory. Explained simply, it is a really powerful way for us to understand and regulate how we feel, moment by moment. This is the fourth in a series of blogs…
Dissociation from events happening in the here and now is an adaptive response to threat and is a form of “freezing”. It can also be described as “zoning out”, or “numbing out”. It is a strategy that is often used when the option of fighting or running (fleeing) is not…
My previous blog looked at how the nervous system states of fight, flight and freeze are involved in how we feel from moment to moment - including strong emotions like anxiety, fear, panic and anger, OCD and phobias, even trauma and PTSD. This blog will focus especially on the freeze…
Most of us have heard of the terms fight, flight and freeze, but exactly how do these states relate to how humans feel? This is the first of a series of blogs about how understanding how our nervous system works can be a powerful step towards managing our feelings and…
We usually imagine an angry person as one who shouts and yells in an aggressive way to get their point across. But there are at least five anger styles or ways of expressing our anger, some of which we may not recognise immediately as anger. A highly recommended read is…
My previous few blogs have looked at the work of Harriet Lerner on anger. Harriet looks particularly at womens' anger. Another highly recommended read is Beating Anger by Mike Fisher, an anger therapist who runs anger management workshops in the UK and who focusses especially on male anger. Mike Fisher…
An image of one my favourite people, Greta Thunberg, demonstrating powerful anger and making world leaders sit up and pay attention. Powerful anger is much discussed in Harriet Lerner’s book The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships which I first came across when…
This is the third in a series of blogs about managing anger looking at “Nice Ladies and Bitches” which is what Harriet Lerner originally wanted to call her book. (Unfortunately her publisher wasn’t too taken with that title!) As I said in my previous blog, I first came across Harriet…
This is the second in a series of blogs about managing anger looking particularly at women and anger. As I said in my previous blog, I first came across Harriet Lerner’s book The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships when a client told…
Everyone gets angry from time to time! In fact, according to research the average person will get angry at least four times a day. This is the first of a series of blogs about managing anger - looking at the work of clinical psychologist Harriet Lerner and also some interesting…
This is my final blog looking at the excellent book by twin sisters Emily and Amelia Nagoski "Burnout: The Secret To Solving The Stress Cycle". I've called this the Hidden Side of Burnout because I was especially impressed by the way that they look at less talked about pieces of…