My Blog

Before I became a psychotherapeutic counsellor, I spent many years as an academic philosopher. When I changed careers, I sometimes wondered how much of that old life would follow me into the therapy room. As it turns out, a lot of it did. This doesn't mean that I sit opposite clients quoting Aristotle at them (although I’m not going to pretend it has never happened). I don't keep an emergency copy of the Tractatus concealed under my chair, which is just as well, since it is l

Part of an ongoing series on science and pseudoscience in mental health All posts in this series are reviewed prior to posting by an expert in the relevant field. Many thanks to Dr Viktoriya Nikolova at King's College London's Centre for Affective Disorders for taking the time to check that I have got things right and offering some helpful suggestions. High-angle view of a white supplement bottle with pink capsules on a beige surface. Chosen because it is a free stock image a

Fun fact about me - not that you've asked - I don't wear raincoats. Even in the most torrential of Durham springs and autumns, I have a light leather jacket in warmer weather, and a heavy wool coat in the cold, with a hat or a scarf wrapped around my head to keep out the worst of the deluge. This has been the case ever since a raincoat made me cry. I had dropped my child at school on a busy, rainy morning, and had to go to the school office to fill in a form. The office was p