This is a response to a provocative post in the Facebook Men’s Group titled Depression Isn’t Real.
I’ve experienced depression, and took a deep dive into the root cause to work out what to do about it in my own life. I’ve also talked to a lot of other people who experience it, so here’s my take: I disagree that depression isn’t real, but I do think the way modern society and our health care system approaches it is often unhelpful. (more…)
I recently came across the most excellent 2019 BBC documentary Nadiya: Anxiety and Me offering profound insights regarding conventional treatment of anxiety and panic disorders. It follows the brave journey of UK celebrity chef and panic attack sufferer Nadiya Hussain as she seeks mental health treatment for her chronic anxiety for the first time, on camera. (more…)
As someone who has experienced a truckload of anxiety myself, I was very interested to come across the recent 2019 BBC documentary Nadiya: Anxiety and Me. In this video, I watch the documentary and capture my reaction to Nadiya Hussain‘s experience seeking treatment for her panic attacks; and I bet it’s not what the producers were expecting… (more…)
This fantastic book on affective and interpersonal neuroscience reads like a who’s who from many of the leaders in the field on the cutting edge of neuroscience-based psychotherapy. Big-name contributors include Jaak Panksepp (Affective Neuroscience), Stephen Porges (The Polyvagal Theory), Daniel Siegel (Interpersonal Neurobiology), Pat Ogden (Sensorimotor Psychotherapy), Diana Fosha (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy), and Susan Johnson (Emotionally Focussed Therapy). (more…)
In our age of gender fluidity, traditional masculine role models have come under increasing attack from a radical minority of toxic feminists. My take on feminism is that it started out with noble goals like universal suffrage and the emancipation of women, which I’m all for. But now it includes a radical fringe element who either fundamentally don’t trust the notion of masculinity, or are beta females who don’t have what it takes genetically to attract an alpha male, so instead they sit back and criticise empowered men. The tables have turned essentially, and now masculinity is under attack. So what’s the solution? (more…)
The Transforming Power of Affect: A Model for Accelerated Change by Diana Fosha is a book I wish every Cognitive Behavioural Therapist would read. It outlines the theoretical foundation for, and practice of, Diana Fosha’s Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP). I particularly enjoyed Part 1: Theoretical Foundations which describes how and why AEDP works. (more…)
Our ability to communicate authentically with other people is one of the most important life skills that we can possess. We often spend a great deal of our education learning how to analyse, think, solve problems, and understand how things work; but tend to downplay the importance of subjects that teach us how to communicate. The ability to communicate, inspire and influence other people is also a key leadership skill. Whether in business, relationships, or just in our personal lives, our ability to communicate our thoughts, feelings and ideas to other people is absolutely crucial to our success… and ultimately our happiness.
Individualist western cultures traditionally tend to champion our rights as individuals over our responsibility to others in the community. Things are kept in balance by the legal system which dispenses justice by limiting the freedom of those who choose to consistently break the law, and the capitalist economy which rewards us for providing value to other people who we might not even know or otherwise care about. These safeguards prevent most people from focusing too much on themselves to the exclusion of other people.
For the most part, this system works fairly well. When it doesn’t work, the person who suffers most is usually the one who is unwilling or unable to exercise their freedoms constructively within the confines of the legal and economic system. While there is certainly structural inequity in all cultures, this can often be overcome by playing the societal game effectively and reaping sufficient rewards. The key is to exercise personal responsibility at all times and avoid playing victim to our circumstances. Those who choose to do so, despite whatever hand they may have been dealt in life originally, get rewarded. Those who rebel mindlessly get punished either directly by the legal system, or indirectly by their failure to contribute to the economic system. (more…)
In the article “The Effect of Integrating Music Listening With an Attachment- And Affective-Focused Short-Term Psychotherapy in an Individual With Relational Trauma: The Case of ‘James.’”[1], G. Paul Blimling describes a hybridized case study using music chosen by a client nicknamed “James” within psychotherapy to help them heal their early life attachment trauma. By facilitating trust in the relationship with the therapist, collaborative music listening helped the client access and express strong emotions which would otherwise overwhelm and incapacitate them, and as a result healed their core attachment wound[2].
Karen Riggs Skean responds in her article “Integrating Client-Chosen Music in Relational Trauma Treatment: Pathways to the Heart”[3], noting that Blimling is a talented cellist, and adding that integrating his musicianship into his role as a therapist “helped him be more fully present with the client, which in turn helped the client be more present as well”[4]. Bringing his musical background to the therapy setting helped to bridge the gap with a client who was initially extremely reticent, untrusting and hostile.[5]
Ben G. Adams continues the conversation in his article “Self-Selected Music for Relational Trauma: Commentary on the Psychotherapy Case of ‘James’”[6] by pointing out that while integrating music listening into mainstream therapy sessions may at first seem novel, it actually represents a return to our hunter-gatherer ancestors, when music was integral to the shamanic healing process. By combining the music and psychotherapy, Blimling has in fact reconciled what was originally a unified societal role.[7]
In this essay I summarise the use of music for healing attachment trauma in Blimling’s case study and Skean & Adams’s responses, and discuss how it informs and impacts my own current musical practice and future projects. (more…)
Kenny et al (2014) present a case study of a typical professional musician suffering from music performance anxiety: a 55-year-old senior strings player in a leading Australian orchestra, named Kurt[1]. During musical performances he typically reported overwhelming anxiety, distracting physical sensations and thoughts, inability to control his arms, and striated muscle tension. This significantly detracted from both his performance and his personal enjoyment of his career[2].
Music performance anxiety is a serious problem for many professional musicians[3]. Typical symptoms while performing include overwhelming anxiety, profuse sweating, dry mouth, muscle tension, inability to focus, loss of self, loss of flow, paralysis and catastrophic performance failure. General traits common to sufferers include perfectionism, dependence on drugs and alcohol, fear of exposure, fear of failure, catastrophizing and extreme emotional distress. Such traits have consequences beyond the performance realm including poor mental and physical health. Many sufferers abandon their career in music altogether while others soldier on despite having a miserable experience[4]. (more…)