Archive for the ‘Endings’ Category
DISCUSSION: Is Individuality OK?
Posted in Anxiety, Beginnings, Bullying, Counselling, Endings, Face-to-Face, Help, Mental Health, New Year, OCD, Online, Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, RRS Counselling Services, Self-esteem, Stress, Supervision, Support, Training, Uncertainty, Work-Life Balance, tagged Accept, Acceptable, Age, Appearance, Barbie, Beautiful, Body Image, Bullying, Change, Cosmetic Surgery, Cousnelling, Culture, Difference, Different, Discussion, Ethnicity, Fear, Figure, Future, Gender, Height, help, Home, Hope, Individual, Invisible, Life, Looks, Magazines, Nature, Nurture, OK, Past, People, Personal, Photographs, Rejection, relationship, Relationships, School, Sex, Sexuality, Similarity, Supevision, Support, Tattoo, Ugly, Uncertainty, Uniform, Unique, Values, Weight, Work, Workplace on July 17, 2012| 1 Comment »
What do you think about Individuality?
Is it OK to be different and stand out from the rest of the crowd?
Are there times when being different is not OK?
Feel free to share your views, beliefs and personal experiences if you want to. However, if you have a personal experience to share, please be mindful that others may be reading what you write in this public space.
RRS Counselling Services © 2012. All Rights Reserved.
Identity: I Am Me
Posted in Anxiety, Beginnings, Bullying, Counselling, Endings, Face-to-Face, Help, Mental Health, Online, Resolutions, Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, RRS Counselling Services, Self-esteem, Stress, Supervision, Support, Training, Work-Life Balance, tagged Anxiety, attitude, BSc, Bullying, CBT, Challenge, Change, Consequences, Counselling, Creative, Creativity, Depression, Differences, Different, Emotions, Exclusion, Face-to-Face, Fear, help, Human, I, Identity, Individual, Insecurity, Irrational, Isolation, MBACP, MBPsS, ME, Mental health, Movement, MSc, OCD, Online, Other, Person, Personality, relationship, Risk, Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, Self, Self-esteem, SFBT, Supervision, Support, Training, trust, Uncertainty, Understanding, Work, Work-Life Balance on July 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »
“I Am Me and I Accept Myself As I Am.” (Roxana Rudzik-Shaw)
This article aims to explore Identity… Who am I? What am I? How am I? We will explore what the most common aspects of identity are, such as the ‘Who’, ‘What’ and ‘How’, as well as considering misidentity and a sense of being expected to ‘fit in’. Our understanding of the notion ‘Identity’ refers to, but is not limited to biological, physiological, sociological, psychological and emotional elements of human beings. In a nutshell, over the next few weeks, I will present to you ideas, research, case studies, share my beliefs, values, and express opinions, to raise awareness, provide insights and facilitate a better understanding of you getting to know your own identity.
What is Identity?
Identity is a term that describes “A sense of continuity and sameness and of defining yourself on your own terms” (Nelson-Jones, 1986). Put simply, this suggests that YOU define who you are. However, identity is much more complex because there are a vast amount of internal and external factors at play which may influence who we are or who we become. I will briefly outline these aspects in the following sections: Who Am I? What Am I? How Am I?
Best wishes,
Roxana Rudzik-Shaw (MSc (Dist), BSc (dual hons), MBACP, MBPsS, ACTO)
RRS Counselling Services
www.rrs.counselling.co.uk
© RRS Counselling Services. All Rights Reserved.
Body Image
Posted in Anxiety, Beginnings, Bullying, Counselling, Endings, Face-to-Face, Help, Mental Health, New Year, Online, Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, RRS Counselling Services, Self-esteem, Stress, Supervision, Support, Training, Uncertainty, Work-Life Balance, tagged Anxiety, attitude, Body, Bullying, Celebrity, Change, Consequences, Counselling, Depression, Fashion, Fear, Food, help, Identity, Image, Irrational, Isolation, MBPsS, Mental health, Model, OCD, Online, Personality, Retail, Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, Rumination, Self-esteem, SFBT, Supervision, trust, Understanding, Weight, Work-Life Balance, Worry on May 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »
What is Body Image? What are the most common factors that determine Body Image? What are the consequences of Negative Body Image? And how can counselling help me?
Definition of Body Image:
“Body Image is your Self Perceived image of your outward appearance, visible to others.” (Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, 2012)
The most common factors that determine Body Image:
- Family and Friends
- Peer Pressure
- Drawing comparisons with others
- Popular Culture (e.g. music videos, glossy mags)
- TV Advertisements
- Unrealistic goals
- Focus on results (e.g. weight loss)
Best wishes,
Roxana Rudzik-Shaw (MSc (Dist), BSc (dual hons), MBACP, MBPsS, ACTO)
RRS Counselling Services
www.rrs.counselling.co.uk
© RRS Counselling Services. All Rights Reserved.
Perfectionism
Posted in Anxiety, Beginnings, Bullying, Counselling, Endings, Exam Stress, Face-to-Face, Help, Mental Health, OCD, Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, RRS Counselling Services, Self-esteem, Stress, Supervision, Support, Training, Uncertainty, Work-Life Balance, tagged Anxiety, attitude, Belief, Change, Counselling, Depression, Development, Expectations, Focus, Goals, Irrational, Mental health, Mistrust, OCD, Outcome, Over Thinking, Perfect, Perfectionism, Personality, Realistic, Restless, Results, Risk, Rumination, Self-esteem, Stress, Support, Training, Traits, trust, Uncertainty, Understanding, Work on May 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »
How realistic is the strive for perfection?
What is Perfectionism? What are the most common signs? What are the consequences? And how can counselling help me?
Definition of Perfectionism:
“A perfectionist is someone with very high expectations of self who often strives to be perfect. Being a perfectionist can lead to having a good work ethic. However, some issues may include dissatisfaction, inability to meet high expectations, and risk of mental health issues such as depression.” (Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, 2012)
The most common signs of Perfectionism:
- Drawing comparisons with others
- Setting high expectations
- Unrealistic goals
- Focus on results
- Can be difficult to engage
Best wishes,
Roxana Rudzik-Shaw (MSc, BSc, MBACP, MBPsS)
RRS Counselling Services
http://www.rrs.counselling.co.uk
RRS Counselling Services © 2012. All Rights Reserved.
Addiction
Posted in Anxiety, Beginnings, Bullying, Counselling, Endings, Face-to-Face, Help, Mental Health, OCD, Online, Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, RRS Counselling Services, Self-esteem, Stress, Supervision, Support, Training, Uncertainty, Work-Life Balance, tagged Addiction, Alcohol, Anxiety, Bullying, Coping Startegies, Counselling, CPD, Dependency, Diary, Drug, Exploration, Loss, Relationships, Self-esteem, Specialist Service, Stress, Supervision, Support, Training, Trauma, Understanding, Unemployment, Work, Workshops on February 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »
What is Addiction? What are the most common causes? What are the consequences? And how can counselling help me?
Definition of Addiction:
“A state of dependency on a chemical substance, especially on a drug such as alcohol, nicotine, or caffeine, or a narcotic such as morphine or heroine, characterized by a strong physiological and/or psychological need and a compulsive inability to resist taking the drug despite anticipation of probable adverse consequences, withdrawal if there is an abrupt deprivation of the substance, and in some cases drug tolerance .” (Oxford dictionary of Psychology, 2003).
Common causes of Addiction:
There is no single cause of addiction. Some of the risk factors may include:-
- genetic predisposition
- poverty
- lack of education
- unemployment
- peer pressure
- bullying
- trauma
Best wishes,
Roxana Rudzik-Shaw (MSc, BSc, MBACP, MBPsS)
RRS Counselling Services
http://www.rrs.counselling.co.uk
RRS Counselling Services © 2012. All Rights Reserved.
New Year, New Start
Posted in Beginnings, Endings, Help, Mental Health, New Year, Online, Psychology, Resolutions, Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, RRS Counselling Services, Support, Work-Life Balance, tagged 2012, ACTO, attitude, BSc, CBT, Challenge, Change, Consequences, Creativity, help, Identity, MBACP, MBPsS, Mental health, Movement, New Year, Online, Personality, relationship, Resolutions, Risk, Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, RRS Counselling Services, Self-esteem, SFBT, Supervision, Support, Training, trust, Uncertainty, Understanding, Work-Life Balance on January 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »
We are already a few days into the New Year…
Has the start of 2012 been the Happy time we wish each other and subsequently pre-empted it to be? Has the pressure of trying to keep to New Year’s Resolutions been too much? Perhaps you are feeling stressed out with going back to work, college or university? Or anxious about finances and/or unemployment? Alternatively, you may view 2012 as your lucky break to finding new opportunities?
Whatever your thoughts and feelings about 2012, it is important to let go of the past that can no longer be changed. Ultimately, YOU are in control of your own thoughts, feelings, actions, and able to make choices that may be able to help you to move forwards toward your goals.
Best wishes,
Roxana Rudzik-Shaw (MSc (Dist), BSc (dual hons), MBACP, MBPsS, ACTO)
RRS Counselling Services
www.rrs.counselling.co.uk
© RRS Counselling Services. All Rights Reserved.
Loneliness
Posted in Anxiety, Beginnings, Counselling, Endings, Face-to-Face, Help, Mental Health, Online, Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, RRS Counselling Services, Supervision, Support, Training, Uncertainty, Work-Life Balance, tagged ACTO, Alone, Anxiety, attitude, BSc, Bullying, CBT, Challenge, Change, Communication, Consequences, Counselling, Creativity, Debt, Depression, Discrimination, Emotion, Exclusion, Face-to-Face, Family, Fear, Fianance, help, Homeless, Identity, Individual Differences, Insecurity, Insight, Isolation, Loss, MBACP, MBPsS, Mental health, Mood, Movement, MSc, OCD, Online, Personality, relationship, Risk, Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, RRS Counselling Services, Rumination, School, Self-esteem, Social Exclusion, Stress, Supervision, Support, Talking, Training, trust, Uncertainty, Understanding, Work, Work-Life Balance, Worry on December 22, 2011| 1 Comment »
We have all experienced feelings associated with loneliness at some time in our lives.
Loneliness can be very difficult to come to terms with even as a short-term experience. However, if loneliness is prolonged it can be associated with the onset of numerous mental health issues, particularly in individuals whom were once considered social, out-going or people-focussed.
What is loneliness? What are the most common causes of loneliness? What are the consequences? And how may counselling help me?
If you would like to know some of the answers to these questions, then read on.
Definition of Loneliness:
“Loneliness is a subjective experience often characterised by a sense of emptiness and solitude” (Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, 2011).
Common causes of Loneliness:
- Individual differences
- Introvert personality
- Shyness
- Fear
- Social phobia
- Insecure
- Lack of trust in others
- Inability to form meaningful in-person relationships
- Divorce
- Separation
- Single parent
- Lack of socialisation experience
- Victim of crime
- Bullying
- Prejudice & discrimination
- Feeling unwelcome
- Social exclusion
- Health-related issues
- Mobility issues
- Disability
- Lone working
- Carer
- Unemployment
Common consequences of Loneliness:
- Ruminating (e.g. over-thinking)
- Irrational thoughts and/or beliefs (e.g. Thinking that you’re going ‘mad’)
- Feeling detached from you environment and other people within it
- Suspicious of self and other people (e.g. Feeling ‘on edge’)
- Emptiness
- Empty nest syndrome
- Avoidance of people
- Low self-esteem
- Comfort eating or developing eating disorder (e.g. anorexia, binge-purge eating)
- Sleeping disorder
- Insomnia
- Anxiety or Panic disorder
- Addiction (e.g. alcohol, drugs)
- Over-reliance on self-medicating
- Decreased self-care and poor hygiene
- Homelessness
- Self-harm
- Depression
- Suicide ideation
How counselling may be able to help you?
RRS Counselling Services is able to offer you time and space to explore your experiences and feelings of loneliness. Sessions are available online and/or face-to-face within Greater Manchester.
I have worked with numerous clients in the workplace, and in independent practice for loneliness-related issues as detailed above.
I vividly remember working with a few male and female clients on self-esteem or anxiety issues with the goal being to work towards seeking and maintaining in-person relationships. These clients often felt worthless, anxious and very mistrustful of others. However, with the development of a good therapeutic rapport, clear goals set and weekly appointments that were often emotive, we were able to gain an in-depth understanding of the origins of loneliness during our therapeutic encounters. To understand the beginnings of loneliness was beneficial to making sense of client’s here-and-now, accepting the past and how this may have impacted on their present, as well as to highlight areas for personal development in order to begin working towards client’s goals.
Thanks for reading my post about ‘Loneliness’. I hope it has been useful to gaining a better understanding of the issue and how I may be able to help you through this. If you think this may be a useful read for others, please share this article.
Best wishes,
Roxana Rudzik-Shaw (MSc (Dist), BSc (dual hons), MBACP, MBPsS, ACTO)
RRS Counselling Services
www.rrs.counselling.co.uk
© RRS Counselling Services. All Rights Reserved.
Identity
Posted in Anxiety, Beginnings, Bullying, Counselling, Endings, Exam Stress, Face-to-Face, Help, Mental Health, New Year, OCD, Online, Resolutions, Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, RRS Counselling Services, Self-esteem, Stress, Supervision, Support, Training, Uncertainty, Work-Life Balance, tagged attitude, BSc, Bullying, CBT, Challenge, Change, Consequences, Counselling, Debt, Depression, Exclusion, Fear, help, Identity, Insecurity, Irrational, Isolation, MBACP, MBPsS, Mental health, MSc, OCD, Online, Personality, Risk, Roxana Rudzik-Shaw, RRS Counselling Services, Rumination, Self-esteem, SFBT, Stress, Supervision, Support, Training, Uncertainty, Work, Work-Life Balance, Worry on November 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Identity… Who am I? What am I? How am I?
What is identity? Who am I? What are the most common characteristics/elements of identity? What about misidentity? And how can counselling help me?
If you would like to learn more about identity, then read on.
What is identity?
Identity is a term that describes “A sense of continuity and sameness and of defining yourself on your own terms” (Nelson-Jones, 1986).
Who am I?
Best wishes,
Roxana Rudzik-Shaw (MSc (Dist), BSc (dual hons), MBACP, MBPsS, ACTO)
RRS Counselling Services
www.rrs.counselling.co.uk
© RRS Counselling Services. All Rights Reserved.
RRS Counselling 