Blog

By EK Wills There was a death in the family this week: my 10 year old son’s hermit crab. It lasted only a few months so, to us, this is not a big deal. But, to him, it was his first ‘very own’ pet to look after. It was not our first pet death (remember our chickens from last summer?) but it was his big event. He wondered whether he had done something wrong. Had he not fed it enough? Or kept the tank wet or warm enough? There were two of them and only one died. Why was it the

by EK Wills This week was one to test anyone’s patience. And so I was glad to learn about a specific type of therapy that includes skills training on aspects such as distress tolerance and emotion regulation. These are part of a type of therapy called dialectical behavioural therapy or DBT. It was initially developed by Marsha Linehan for people suffering what is labeled borderline personality disorder and, interestingly, she was a sufferer herself. But DBT has now been advoc

By EK Wills I recently discovered that a good friend of mine is suffering circumstances that you only expect to hear about in the news or in families in less fortunate situations. But she and her husband have respectable jobs, own their own home and have 3 children at good schools. She has not experienced physical pain but endures psychological abuse indiscriminately and is fearful in her own home. It began insidiously with her husband working long hours in a stressful job so

The following tips may be a challenge to practice all of them at once. To help make it more effective, try one a day for the next week while taking note of the last three points every day. 1. Research shows that about 80% of our thoughts have some degree of negative content.. But try singing those thoughts and see if it has the same impact! Try the tune of Jingle Bells or Happy Birthday! 2. The mind loves telling stories: it never stops. Give it a name to distance yourself