Tag: online psychotherapy
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Understanding Projection in Everyday Life
Projection is one of the most familiar defence mechanisms within psychoanalytic thinking, although the term is now used so freely in everyday conversation that its original meaning can easily become blurred. People sometimes accuse one another of “projecting” whenever they disagree, become angry or appear to attribute motives to somebody else. In psychoanalytic terms, however,…
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Why People Sometimes Deny Difficult Reality in Psychotherapy
Denial is one of the psychological defence mechanisms that can become particularly visible during psychotherapy. At first, this may appear contradictory. A patient comes to psychotherapy because they already recognise that something is wrong. They may be experiencing difficulties in relationships, at work, within the family or in their general emotional life. They have actively…
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Understanding Emotional Numbness
Emotional numbness is a broad term that can describe several different psychological experiences. People may use it when they feel exhausted, disconnected, traumatised or unable to recognise what is happening emotionally inside them. It may arise after prolonged stress, painful relationships, severe trauma, psychiatric illness or the use of certain medications. Because the term is…
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Why Loneliness Can Exist Even When You Are Not Alone
Loneliness is often understood too simply. When somebody says, “I feel lonely,” the immediate assumption may be that they live alone, have few friends or spend very little time with other people. In reality, loneliness does not work in such a straightforward way.
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Why Some People Find It Difficult to Express Anger in Psychotherapy
Anger is one of the most complex emotions encountered in psychotherapy. Some patients express it openly and forcefully from the beginning of treatment. Others appear quiet, restrained or emotionally depleted, even though considerable anger may be operating beneath the surface.
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Understanding Shame and Its Emotional Effects in Psychotherapy and Everyday Life – Part 6
Patients often enter psychotherapy hoping that shame can be removed completely. They may want to forget what happened, stop thinking about how they behaved or reach a point at which the memory no longer produces any emotional reaction.
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Understanding Shame and Its Emotional Effects in Psychotherapy and Everyday Life – Part 5
Shame is not only an experience that patients describe from outside psychotherapy. It frequently enters the treatment itself and begins influencing what the patient says, what remains unspoken and how the relationship with the psychotherapist develops. A patient may enter psychotherapy because they feel depressed, anxious, socially isolated or unable to sustain relationships. They may…
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Understanding Shame and Its Emotional Effects in Psychotherapy and Everyday Life – Part 4
Pathological shame does not affect people only when the emotion is fully present. In some patients, the fear that shame might return becomes almost as powerful and destructive as the shame itself. The person may remember how overwhelming the feeling was on an earlier occasion. They remember the sense of exposure, worthlessness or internal collapse…
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Understanding Shame and Its Emotional Effects in Psychotherapy and Everyday Life – Part 3
Shame does not remain contained within one memory or one difficult situation. When it becomes established, it begins influencing how the person behaves, how they relate to others and what they believe they are capable of doing. The person may not always say that they feel ashamed. They may describe themselves as anxious, depressed, unmotivated,…
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Understanding Shame and Its Emotional Effects in Psychotherapy and Everyday Life – Part 2
Many patients who struggle with shame in adult life eventually return, through recollection, to experiences from childhood. They may begin psychotherapy by describing difficulties that appear to belong entirely to the present. They feel incapable at work, inadequate in relationships, uncomfortable in social situations or deeply anxious whenever somebody criticises them. They may constantly compare…