Steven Lucas

A Biblical Perspective on our mental health: Luke 17:6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” We each have a mulberry tree growing in us. Its roots go deep into every part of […]

Anger is often associated with suspicion and mistrust, and can manifest itself in feelings of hostility, frustration, exasperation and even fury. But what happens when you displace your anger? Anger displacement occurs when you direct your angry thoughts and feelings at someone or something that is safe or convenient, rather than the actual source of

“A relationship can force us to revisit every feeling and memory in the legend of ourselves” Richo (2002:3) What difficulties are you experiencing in your relationship and how do you address them? This checklist isn’t exhaustive but can form the basis of a broader conversation towards healing. Communication: What is your communication style with your

Picture this positive scene; A family spent a great weekend together. The weekly chores were quickly dealt with, which left time to spend at the local park playing ball games and having fun. The family then had dinner together, laughing and talking about the events of the day. Then they switched on the TV…. According

Do you have trouble getting off to sleep? Or do you wake up in the early hours of the morning and can’t get back to sleep again? Here are some suggestions for a better night’s sleep: Stress: Find ways to reduce your daily stress levels as this can disrupt your sleep. What adjustments do you

Rosenberg (1965) described self esteem as a “favourable or unfavourable attitude toward the self”. Although self-esteem often refers to our overall feelings of self-worth, body image and self-confidence are expressions used to identify specific areas of our self-esteem. So how can we obtain a healthy level of self-esteem without becoming over confident or arrogant? Stop

Being assertive: When we were growing up, we may have been told that if we studied hard and achieved success academically, and were prepared to work hard in our jobs, we could become the managing director or CEO of a company. We may have been told that when we found somebody we liked and fell

Thought reframing: There is an adage in CBT that says what you think about creates feelings. So, imagine I spoke to you each day and told you how well you sounded; that I had spoken to your family, friends and colleagues and they had all commented on how much they value you and how hard

When we experience symptoms associated with stress and/or anxiety our sympathetic nervous system can feel in overdrive. It can make us vigilant to both real and perceived threats. Furthermore, we can experience tightness in our chest. We can feel shaky, clammy, tense, irritable, emotional and foggy headed. Our appetite can be affected. Our internal narrative

Transactional Analysis is a therapeutic and analytical system developed by Eric Berne. It focuses on personality, social interaction and therapeutic analysis. Part of the system, developed by Stephen Karpman M.D,  looks at the games people play, and the roles they assume  in these games. There are three basic roles in the drama triangle: How to