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What’s the difference between counselling and psychotherapy?
I’m often asked what the difference is between counselling and psychotherapy, so I thought I’d offer my take. The short answer is that today there is a great deal of overlap between the two. In my view, what matters far more is how a therapist works than whether they call themselves a counsellor or a psychotherapist.* Psychotherapy emerged from Western medicine in the late nineteenth century and became associated with doctors such as Freud and Jung, who used psychological met
mikeswift4
4 days ago3 min read


Never Believe What You Think
This short post offers a piece of practical advice, grounded in Buddhist psychology, to help with troubling thoughts. It’s very easy to believe that our thoughts have some kind of fixed or definitive nature. We all do it. I must do that, I should do this. However, when we hold onto our thoughts too tightly, we can suffer. A simple mindfulness technique for changing our relationship with troubling thoughts is to label them “thinking” as they arise. This can interrupt the usual
mikeswift4
Jan 271 min read


FUNGILIST MASSIVE!
Have you heard about the mental health benefits of psychedelics and want to know more?
mikeswift4
Dec 20, 202317 min read


Do You Feel Like a Social Chameleon? Maybe It's Your SUPER POWER!?
“Other people seem to have this fixed personality that’s the same regardless of who they are with, whereas I feel like I completely...
mikeswift4
Aug 2, 20222 min read


Am I Doing Therapy Right?
Coming to therapy can be daunting. As a client, you are on the spot, the focus is on you. This can feel really uncomfortable at first. It...
mikeswift4
Apr 29, 20223 min read


Thinking About Climate Anxiety
While updating my website recently, I was thinking about the client issues that, as a therapist, I have worked with or am likely to...
mikeswift4
Nov 9, 20213 min read
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