Scribblings of a Psychotherapist

Enjoyed NRS Mental Health Research Network Scotland Conference @NRS_MH in #Glasgow , at my old university, @UniStrathclyde Strathclyde yesterday.    Great to have some speakers on research into the effectiveness of #digital #psychotherapy ( #CBT in particular). An interesting day out.       www.eatingdisorderscotland.co.uk www.glasgowanxietydepression.co.uk www.citizen17therapy.co.uk www.cbtersclub.co.uk 

#MondayMotivation There is no 'right' time to change or take action. If we wait for that 'right' time we will never work on recovery, seek support, go to therapy or counselling or make the changes that we need to make in life. NOW is the right time. Don't put of making your life a bit better any longer. Why wait? Give yourself permission and tell yourself that you deserve things to be better. Because you do. Every single person reading this deserves life to be better. And it can be. Just give yourself permission to spend some more time on you. And, by the way, you CAN do it, even though your critical voice might be telling you otherwise at the moment. YOU CAN DO IT.   See the video link that follows on self-worth:   https://www.facebook.com/all4/videos/722720681479084/UzpfSTE4NjM0NDgyNDczMTc5NDE6MjM0MjEwNTUyMjc4NTU0Mg/ All the best, Alexandra :-)   www.glasgowanxietydepression.co.uk support@glasgowanxietydepression.co....

Some weekend motivation... Be a unicorn in a field of horses....

Focus on ....Chew and Spit Disorder     Chew and Spit Disorder (CSD) is by no means a new form of Eating Disorder (ED).   Many people who experience Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating etc. also experience CSD.   Nevertheless, it should be noted that some people experience CSD but don't necessarily other EDs.   It is important to consider CSD in its own right.   CSD does not currently feature in DSM-5.   CSD is literally what it says:   it involves chewing food, enjoying taste and  texture, then spitting it out instead of swallowing it.   Amount of food chewed, then spat out can vary from relatively small amounts to large amounts. It can often cost the person a considerable amount of money to purchase the food in CSD.   Many with CSD don’t feel it is particularly serious/harmful.   However, there many damaging consequences associated with CSD which why it’s important health professionals ...

I was delivering training/lecturing to a group of trainee CBT Therapists in Glasgow yesterday about treatment and therapy for Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). They learned a lot about BDD and just how much it really distresses those experiencing it and impact on their life. Some of the signs and symptoms of BDD include (we are all different though, so some signs may not be listed/be different):  * Do you feel that you have one or more features that are very noticeable, ab normal, ugly or ‘not right’? * Have others close to you or a health professional said that the feature(s) are not that noticeable, abnormal or ugly or look OK? * If you add up all the time your feature(s) is/are at the forefront of your mind and make the best estimate for a typical day, do you worry (or brood) about it/them for an hour or more a day? * Does your worry about your feature(s) cause you marked distress? * Does your worry about your feature(s) significantly interfere with your ...