In March 2007 The Swiss army marched into Liechtenstein apparently accidentally which, if it weren’t Switzerland a country notable for its lack of aggression, might have caused a dramatic diplomatic incident. As it turned out the Liechtenstein response remarkable, they didn’t notice. In fact the Swiss had to own up to their mistake and were […]

At the weekend I travelled to Bournemouth to give a presentation at a conference. The event was all about finding ways to reach your potential, but I don’t believe it’s possible for us to reach our potential, and strangely enough, I think that’s a wonderful thing. Sinking into the rather too deep leather sofa I […]

Sometimes people come into my room with a story which seems to have an inevitable end to everyone except the person telling it. When your relationship is falling apart it’s easy to be blind to positive action, engulfed instead by the impending catastrophe. Even when a relationship reaches crisis point all is not lost. What […]

I used to have a client who wouldn’t let me use the word “vulnerable”. I understood why she was so opposed. Growing up in an extremely abusive environment she had learned that it was neither safe nor constructive to be vulnerable. Children are incredibly resourceful at finding ways to survive. On a forum this week someone […]

Jack and Mary split up. Surviving a break up is rarely easy, but there are ways to make it so much harder. Mary moved her belongings out into a small place and Jack moved too, into a period of stagnant and painful denial. An emotional place where things don’t happen the way they are happening, […]

At Weston Super Mare the tide stretches out so far that you can scarcely believe you are on a beach. Like some strange landscape which is marked by nothing and which leads to nothing, if eternity were a picture it might look something like this. When the sea has turned on its heels and disappeared […]

Back to school and my children are both beginning an exam year. It seems like only moments ago I was dropping them off in the morning to play in the reception class sandpit and now it’s all coming to some sort of interim conclusion. At times like these its hard to avoid a little anxiety […]

This week I met a friend for a coffee and he told me about a deep family feud which has its roots in much more than can be seen on the surface. The vitriol and animosity coming at him and his family looks initially to be childish and wholly without foundation, but scratching beneath there […]

Sitting in the garden I’m comfortable until the sun pokes its head over the top of next doors roof. Suddenly bathed in the reflection from the whitewashed back wall it’s too hot, and it’s mid September. By now I am expecting the end of the summer but it’s clinging on. Despite the definite chill in […]

I’m coming down with a cold. I felt it when I woke up this morning, the itchy throat, the blocked nose. When we’re sick people tend to treat us differently, and illness brings upon us an altered persona which makes others react in a different and often more positive way. Sometimes it feels as if […]