Author: Gilead Yeffett

→Couples and individual psychotherapist, working in: 6a Bessborough Place, Pimlico, London SW1V 3SG Longcroft House, 2-8 Victoria Avenue, City, London EC2M 4NS

Switching behaviours on and off

Few are the concerns in human behaviour that can be measured in binary terms, that is, either/or situations. And fewer are the recoveries that psychotherapy can offer that can be measured in binary terms, as in: I had a problem, now I don’t.

Many concerns can be measured on quantitative scales or continua, bearing in mind that for each person there will be a different cut-off point in which a quantitative change will become a qualitative one as well.

Anger and depression are two good examples that I hope

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Elements of psychotherapy: part 2

Change, resistance and loss

In my previous post I wrote about the various factors that I believe make up psychotherapy and their contribution to its success.

Successful therapy is a subjective concept and hard to measure, it depends on what people say about how they feel. Often, people come to therapy because they want to feel good and therapy can help in achieving that. Aside from feeling good, therapy has another purpose, to help people bring

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A short zen story

After a long, hard climb up the mountain, the disciple finally found himself in front of his great teacher. Bowing, he asked the question that was burning inside him:

‘Master, how am I to become wise?’

‘Good choices’ replied the teacher after a long pause.

‘But teacher how do I make good choices?’

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Elements of psychotherapy: part 1

What makes psychotherapy work

The question why some people report making good use of therapy and others do not has been on my mind for a while. I believe it is important to understand what works and what doesn’t in therapy and adjust it accordingly. Research into therapy can help to keep it relevant and up to date.

The following thoughts are based on research by others (*) and my own ongoing research. There are many variables in therapy and accounting for all of them is not always possible, some are very subtle and others remain unknown. The following pie chart

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Beating the bounds

Beating the bounds is an ancient custom still observed in some English and Welsh parishes. Under the name of the Gangdays the custom of going a-ganging was kept before the Norman Conquest. A group of old and young members of the community would walk the boundaries of the parish, usually led by the parish priest and church officials, to share the knowledge of where they lay, and to pray for protection and blessings for the lands (Wikipedia).

Younger generations learned from older ones where

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Recovering from depression: a relational approach (part 2)

I have written this post for people who share their lives with a depressed someone.

It is hard to understand depression as it has no physical evidence; if you have never experienced a strong sense of helplessness, hopelessness, meaningless and lifelessness all merged, you will miss the crushing power of it.

Depression and sadness are not the same, although depressed people may feel sad as well. I am quoting again an anonymous and poignant description of depression:

“Imagine trying to enjoy a poolside party when you are drowning

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A beautiful clip on the importance of sadness

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Recovering from depression: a relational approach (part 1)

“Imagine trying to enjoy a poolside party when you are drowning in the pool and all you can hear is people having a great time and laughing while completely oblivious to the way your body keeps submerging into the water and getting heavier by the water filling your lungs.” Anonymous.

Depression is like that.

Depression is usually defined as an illness characterised by prolonged low mood and a wide range symptoms, which vary from person to person and may include feeling helplessness, hopelessness, meaninglessness, low self-esteem, change in sleeping patterns, loss

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A short note on definition

Back in 1928, the sociologists W. I. Thomas and D. S. Thomas conceived a theorem, now named after them, that states, “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences”.

If we believe that there is a monster in the forest and we change our route to avoid it, then our belief is real in its consequence.

If we define some emotions, such as sadness or anger, as negative and we avoid them , then our belief is real in its consequence, we have fewer tools to understand ourselves, others and the impact of our

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Practica Relational Psychotherapy

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Change, resistance and loss