Joanna Russell

I've been prompted by my website manager to write another Blog.  I know it's been ages, but there's always so much happening it's hard to select a specific topic to write about.  And I like Counselling Blogs to be intentional, usually about a current theme in my work.  But what to choose?

I've got one.  Hopefully this will be the right word at the right time for someone.  I'm writing about Letting Go, because recently, I've been working with many older parents and adult children who are learning to do this, just as I've had to learn (and yes, am still learning).

So, I'm talking about the 'letting go' that's a requirement of life;...

Last Friday, I praised a client who has changed amazingly in the time I’ve known her.  But it’s what she’s done that counts; and this is what I was praising her for.

Then I asked the question I always wonder about when people decide to take a journey of self-discovery.  The question is: How did you find the courage to face your problems and begin this journey?

She thought a bit; then replied: I wanted to be honest with myself and I wanted self-understanding.  And I think I knew what I wanted to be like, but I didn’t know how to get there.  But that’s when I realised I had to confront my past, and figure it out. 

This was an impressive answer, (s...

We all put on social masks.  They’re the personae, or facades we put on when we step out the door in the morning.  It’s the person we are in the workplace, or when we attend a public meeting; on the sports field; at a social gathering, and on Facebook. 

But sometimes I wonder if there’s such a thing as ‘authentic’ anymore?  Have we become so comfortable with our social masks, we are that mask?  Or, do we not only fulfil a role; we are the role?  It’s become one and the same thing.  There’s no difference. 

Don’t get me wrong; social masks have their place.  They help us survive in life. They protect us, promote us, and focus us on wh...