Lifetide Training Ltd

15/08/2025

Two years after treatment started for throat cancer (it finished in September 2023) a visit to my consultant just now confirms that I'm clear of the HPV Mediated throat cancer and all tissues in my mouth & throat are healthy, pink & moist.

A beer to celebrate!

🎗

07/07/2025

Today we remember the 52 people murdered in the bombings of London in 2005.

We should take time to think about everyone else who was affected; families, passers-by as well as the survivors, bereaved & first responders.

My contribution was to supervise the counsellors and staff at the July 7th Assistance Center. The Centre was set up to provide psychotherapy, guidance and support to the survivors, the bereaved, the first responders and anyone else affected by the terrorist bombings.

We went on to provide help to people caught up in 16 further terrorist incidents and disasters.

I took the first photo above on the morning of July 7th is 2011.

Later in 2013 I gave an interview to ITV news about what we learned from providing psychotherapy services to those involved and how that learning went into a Resilience training programme that we offered to professionals and the general public.

Here is a link to that interview: ITV - Learning lessons from 7 July: https://www.itv.com/news/london/2013-07-07/learning-lessons-from-7-july

04/07/2025

Just over four weeks after my cryotherapy for prostate cancer I’m back in the gym.

To be precise I was in the pool. 10 lengths of a 25 meter pool in 25 minutes.

As always, early treatment and great staff make for the best recovery - that and my ever loving husband.

I won’t make London Pride tomorrow as my stamina isn’t up to that just yet - but next year. Happy Pride to all taking part.

If you are awaiting treatment for cancer then let me show you that there is life after it, and a life worth living.

05/06/2025

As I’ve been going through my own personal cancer journey so has my big brother. He’s just had a blog published by The Urostomy Association about his bladder cancer diagnosis in July 2023.

He calls his post “Nothing is beyond you” – mind you he also calls his urostomy stoma bag ‘Audrey’ so who knows what’s going on there!

It’s a practical blog on how to deal with change, incorporate new needs & demands into a busy life without too much upset.

We’ve both found that active engagement is the best and most positive response to this kind of change. That and keeping active. Life is about movement, both physical and mental. The moment you stop that’s when the real problems begin.

Our conversations have moved on to the latest cancer treatments, how to recover well from the various tests and surgeries as well as what this means for both of us in terms of getting older, if not wiser. It's a great read.

https://urostomyassociation.org.uk/blog/nothing-is-beyond-you/

Paul Weaver felt like a fit and healthy 68 year old, but was knocked sideways when he received a bladder cancer diagnosis in July 2023.

30/05/2025

We are social creatures so thank you all for your kind & supportive messages.

These flowers - & some rather nice chocolates - are from some of my lovely neighbours who I work with.

If you need support, just someone to talk to then reach out. Despite the news media people are endlessly helpful & kind.

We talk a lot about Mental Health so this is a practical way to show support, awareness and even (say it quietly) love.

Reach out with a text, card or phone call if you know someone who may need to know that you are thinking about them.

Back to the chocolates......

28/05/2025

Back in 2018 I had cryotherapy on the left side of my prostate, earlier this year some cancer cells were found on the right side. More cryotherapy yesterday and those will be gone as well.

I called myself the 'wounded healer' back then, now it's more of a known quantity as well as more men going through this procedure so it's less frightening.

I'm building resilience, although it'll be a few weeks before I'm back in the gym again!

I'm being cared for really well, learning to control what I can and my clients are learning with and from me.

As I've often said 'resilience' is having a plan & early screening / tests means a longer & healthier life.

Early tested also gives a postive outlook that makes life worth living.

Feeling a bit delicate now but back home and sleeping a lot.

23/05/2025

A blast from the past - 2020:
What is the Psychotherapy and Counselling Profession?

In this podcast we cast ourselves onto the high seas of debate about how our profession is regulated and how people, patients and clients, make sense of what it is that we actually do.

We skirt around which style of therapy might be better than another and discuss more about meaning of the words that we use and the interventions that we might choose.

We hope to bring some clarity and pose some questions and wonder if it matters what terms we actually use when it's what happens in the therapeutic relationship that really makes the difference.

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/martin-nicholas/episodes/Ep08-The-Psychotherapy--Counselling-profession---what-is-it-el85am/a-a3j1djo

In this podcast we cast ourselves onto the high seas of debate about how our profession is regulated and how people, patients and clients, make sense of what it is that we actually do. We skirt around which style of therapy might be better than another and discuss more about meaning of the words tha...

16/05/2025

Spending time with colleagues sharing food & energy.

11/04/2025

I’ve now handed over my AIDS Archive over to the .

Now the collection will be looked after as well as being available to researchers and interested people.

Included are various papers, the videos from 1980s and all the posts that appear in this and the Instagram account.

There are also papers and ‘stuff’ from my career in the NHS both at a regional and local Health Authority level.

Enjoy!

10/04/2025

More importantly there are many different kinds of psychotherapist and ultimately it'll be the relationship that is created between you that will matter most.

There are lots of different types of psychotherapy. Psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors can support you with depression, anxiety, addiction, trauma or life events such as childbirth, divorce, bereavement or the loss of a job.

04/04/2025

Today I attended the funeral of an employee who was my age but died from cancer, which because of a lack of testing was not caught early enough. By the time he actually felt ill, it was too late for him.

Whilst in the funeral service I was reminded of all the lives that he, and that we all, touched. Often we never know it, until it's too late.

A couple of weeks ago I had a second prostate biopsy. The results were told to me by my doctor and I have two small clumps of cancerous cells in my prostate. Like the cells I had in 2018 these are early stage cancer Gleeson 3+4=7. So intervention with cryotherapy is called for.

This is a known quantity as I had this done in 2018 and there is no recurrance of the cells that were treated then.

So it's back to hospital later in May to have these cells frozen into oblivion - just like before.

As the four tall, black horses took my friend on his last journey I was reminded of his message to everyone - if something feels wrong or you are in an 'at risk group' go and talk to your doctor - NOW, TODAY.

Early treatment leads to longer life....

25/03/2025

Very interesting....

📢 Upcoming report launch: the economic case for long-term psychotherapy.

Next week, we’re excited to launch a groundbreaking report in parliament that will shed light on the health economics of NHS service use by people with complex needs. Co-funded by UKCP and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, The Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Society for Psychotherapy Research, the British Psychoanalytic Council and the Association for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, this report presents key findings on the cost benefits of investing in long-term psychotherapy within secondary and tertiary care.

With growing pressures on the NHS, this analysis highlights how targeted, sustained mental health interventions can not only improve outcomes for individuals but also reduce overall service costs.

Stay tuned for the full report launch on Wednesday, 2 April, and find out about this crucial step in advocating for smarter, more effective mental health support.