Steven Lucas

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

Have you ever found yourself stuck in a cycle of blame, guilt, or helplessness—wondering why the same emotional patterns keep repeating? Welcome to the Drama Triangle (Amazon), a psychological model developed by Dr. Stephen Karpman in 1968. This deceptively simple framework reveals the unconscious roles we play in conflict and emotional manipulation: Rescuer, Persecutor, and

Gerard Egan was born in the United States and pursued a career in psychology, eventually becoming Professor Emeritus of Organization Development and Psychology at Loyola University Chicago. His academic work focused on practical applications of psychology in counselling, leadership, and personal growth. His contributions to therapeutic work include SOLER and the The Skilled helper. The Skilled

A nightmare is a dream that evoke feelings of fear or terror and occur during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. REM usually occurs during the later stages of the sleep cycle. But why do we dream? Freud believed that dreams were a natural release mechanism for unconscious feelings. Other researchers have suggested that dreams are

Coping with grief: In the 13th century the Prince of Wales had a palace at Beddgelert. One day he went hunting without Gelert, his “faithful hound”. On his return he found Gelert in his infant son’s room, the crib was over turned and Gelert was stained and smeared with blood. The bedclothes from the crib