Churchill Associates

• October 18, 2011 - Scientific debate - Heard some interesting radio programmes in the last two days: Start the Week (Monday 17 October) and The Life Scientific (Tuesday 18 October) - both Radio 4 at 9 am, and The Today Programme (Radio 4, Tuesday 18 October 8.10-8.25). - Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist and renowned atheist, was one of the guests on Start the Week, along with the Chief Rabbi Jonathon Sacks and the cosmologist Lisa Randall. Dr Sacks suggested that cultures - such as Judaism and Islam - which use a right to left written language are more 'right brain'/global perspective than cultures - such as Greek and... More →
• August 23, 2011 - Being different - Reflecting on ‘being different’, the sense of not fitting in, of what Sartre and other philosophers have called ‘the other’. I don’t know if it’s simply that this is the lens through which I look, but so many clients, supervisees and students over the years seem to have had feelings of ‘not belonging’. They might have called it by different names – feeling alien, an outsider, a second class citizen, a dinosaur – and the objective source of difference has varied hugely: ethnicity, height, weight, sexuality, age, adoption, religion (and others) – but there seem to be some... More →
• January 7, 2011 - New Year resolutions and the pursuit of perfection - So it's that time of year again, and when I went along for my first exercise class of the year today, the leisure centre was packed. I found myself wondering cynically how long this would last, before those whose attendance was due to a resolution found themselves faltering. - I'm not a supporter of New Year Resolutions (NYRs) - we all know that exercising, stopping smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, reducing alcohol intake etc. are good ideas - but most people's experience of NYRs is of initial enthusiasm, that peters out until resolve is lost. - I suspect that there are a few... More →
• December 2, 2010 - NaNoWriMo, perfectionism and procrastination - Between November 1st and 30th I took part in NaNoWriMo, the annual National Novel Writing Month, and completed the first draft of a 50,000 word novel in those 30 days. This was only the second time I've taken part, but it is a valuable reminder of what we can achieve when we let go of perfectionism and 'just do it'. - In the past, when I've embarked on writing fiction, I would get so far, and give up, overwhelmed by my inner critic. The critic subpersonality is satisfied with nothing less than perfection - which, is, of course, impossible. The critic has me read over what I've written so far,... More →
• November 12, 2010 - Hope and mental health - The psychologist Aaron Beck identified 'hopelessness' as a key indicator of depression, associated with negative thinking and low self-esteem. Recently, a couple of my clients have specifically mentioned that they are experiencing 'hope' at the moment, and this is associated with an improvement in their overall quality of life. Obviously, I like to think that the counselling has helped them confront their worries and negative aspects of their self-image, which has increased their hope for the future. But it's got me thinking about hope more generally. - Hope, as an experience, is linked to... More →
• November 5, 2010 - Happiness and fulfilment - I've been reflecting recently on 'what constitutes happiness?' I consider myself lucky that generally I'm a fairly happy person - but most of the time that equates to 'contentment'. There are times of 'joy', occasional 'ecstasy' (unrelated to the drug!), 'satisfaction', 'pleasure' (Sainsburys triple chocolate muffins recommended), 'delight', 'amusement', 'excitement', 'gratitude'. Most of these are a response to a particular situation or experience: watching my baby granddaughter interact with the world, sunlight on the glowing leaves of a shrub in my garden, reading a particularly... More →

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