Jacinta Bourke Counselling and Psychotherapy

20/09/2024

29/11/2022

26/11/2022

”Proud mom moment! Matthew worked this evening and a homeless gentlemen walked in the restaurant with .50 cents and asked if there was anything on the menu he could buy. Matthew asked him what he would order if he could and the man said anything would help his hunger pains. So Matthew rung him up for a hearty meal and then used his own debit card to pay for the mans meal. He handed him the receipt and told him to relax and take a seat. The story could end there and It would be a happy ending, but apparently a women watched my son during his random act of kindness. Not only did she write the company to let them know about the caring employee they had working for them, she also rewarded my son with a very generous tip! ”So proud to be his mom and I can pat myself on the back knowing that I've played a part in raising this big hearted young man."
What a wonderful young man! Wish there were more like him.❤🙏🏻

Credit: Michelle Resendez

08/10/2022

Oh my!!!

27/09/2022

Adorable

02/10/2019

Why therapy works...

Therapy offers a person a reflective space away from friends, family and colleagues with a skilled professional in a safe environment. Research has shown that regardless of the therapeutic orientation, it is the relationship with the therapist that offers the potential for transformation:

- through valuing and respecting each client
- appreciating the variety of their human experiences, culture and beliefs
- protecting the safety of the client
- offering confidentiality in a non-judgmental space
- respecting the client’s rights to be self-governing
- ensuring the integrity of a practitioner-client relationship

The value of relating with integrity and the co-constructing of meaning that take place in the context of trust cannot be underestimated. Truth-telling is an essential facet of our humanity. Sharing our experiences in a safe non-judgmental environment where it is held and acknowledged is both cathartic and healing.

21/05/2019

PSYCHOSYNTHESIS HELPS CLIENTS REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL

Psychosynthesis is an integrative transpersonal psychology that provides a universal framework for incorporating one’s own body, feelings attitudes and behaviour into a harmonious, synthesised whole that incorporates all human dimensions, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Psychosynthesis assumes we all have multiple sub-personalities that help us to function in the world mostly without much reflection of conscious choice. The techniques include guided visualisation, daily self-reflection, role playing, drawing and dream work. Users learn to become the observer and director of their own sub-personalities, so they can function in a harmonious and balanced way.

Creativity can have positives outcomes for health and well-being. Research has found parallels between creative training processes and counselling methods. Studies has shown that personal growth, confidence and enjoyment are developed through creative training and counselling combined. This leads to improvements in functioning in relationships, communication, problem solving and capacity for divergent thinking and feeling. Divergent thinking is a central feature of creativity. Divergent thinking tends to be tentative, exploratory and orientated to multiple possibilities, including the ability to hold contradictory ideas simultaneously in one’s mind while incorporating and modifying new ones. For many clients, learning and practising divergent thinking and feeling is the beginning of positive growth and change. Rogers argued that “the mainstream of creativity appears to be the same tendency as the creative force in psychotherapy”. As such the client and counsellor, can be co-producers of ideas along with solutions that are novel and useful by creating a new way of being for the client, which is more fulfilling and empowering and ultimately creative.

15/03/2019

WHY SOME CLIENTS ABANDON THERAPY TOO EARLY

Over the years there has been considerable research into why people leave or stay in therapy. A recent study, where clients were interviewed about what influenced their decision to stay or leave therapy showed that they regularly reviewed their decision to stay. The three main influencing factors were the urgency of their need to change, how they felt about their therapist and if the process was moving them towards their goals for therapy. For many clients in the study, they were strongly influenced by the extent to which their therapist had been able to present them with a credible plan to resolve their problems.

When there is an unplanned or premature ending to therapy, it leaves a lot of questions for the therapist. I believe transparency is crucial, as is engaging with the client in where you are in reaching their goals and how they are feeling about the process and their progress. When the core conditions are in place for unconditional regard, empathy and congruence, there is the possibility to explore whether their feelings and needs are being meet or not, while challenging your own work to give each individual client the best of yourself.

16/02/2019

A very interesting piece of research from Dr Erin Dunn, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital suggests children’s teeth could provide a window into their minds and help doctors diagnose mental health problems at an early stage. Scientists examining teeth lost by six-year-olds found traces on their surface that were associated with behavioural problems. The association was so clear the team think they may have come across an overlooked resource for predicting future issues in children.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/teeth-child-mental-health-problems-behaviour-research-study-a8780286.html

Study reveals ‘untapped potential’ of teeth as tool to predict risk of problems in later life

04/02/2019

Some useful tips in this article on how to reduce your stress levels...

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/feb/04/from-work-to-family-the-experts-guide-to-a-low-stress-life

How to ease your anxiety about relationships, work, family or money

02/02/2019

An interesting article on anxiety by Oliver Burkeman in today's Guardian - "while severe anxiety can certainly be a debilitating problem, demanding treatment, some sense of uncertainty about the future is surely part of what makes life worth living. If you ever actually managed to rule out the potential for any nasty surprises, you’d find that you’d ruled out the possibility of any good ones, too."

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/feb/02/truth-about-anxiety-without-it-we-would-not-have-hope

In a world so full of uncertainty it’s little wonder so many of us feel stressed. But understanding it can change how you feel