Prevail Counselling Therapy

07/09/2025

Five years on from my cancer treatment and my outpatient appointments came to an end.

A time to reflect, remember, and be thankful.

Managing the physical, emotional and social aspects of moving from recovery into remission from cancer. Needing to recognise the fatigue and learning to adapt.

06/09/2025

The Civic Theater in Tallaght are showing a play about early family life called Synapses.

It has the young married couple showing the story of love and hate and child raring.

I, and my wife, would highly recommend it.

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A NEW play about love, memory and the romance of parenting. Synapses is a fast-paced comedy drama where two young parents try to mine the past for the key to their future. Mike and Emily have separated for a year and are constantly rowing about money, access and parenting styles. They can’t go on ...

04/09/2025

Three months post-discharge from hospital. My cancer story seemed to come to an end. I was discharged from the day hospital. I had the internal tube removed that gave me chemotherapy during those 5 months as an inpatient.

While the significance of this was real, I truly was passed my direct cancer treatment. The cancer was gone, but my life was forever changed. I looked back, I tried to look forward, but in truth, I was still in shock.

3 months after my hospital discharge, I was trying to look ahead but in truth I was in shock over what had happened within the previous emails 12 months.

02/09/2025

My third cancer blog and the last one I wrote while still an inpatient. I may have had two cycles of chemo left.
By this stage, I was drained of anger. I still had my days, but it was getting me nowhere. I was pushing myself to choose to accept the situation, but to keep the hope alive of future reunions and restarts.

This blog focused on the effect of the loss of personal autonomy and knowing I was not in control. I questioned are we ever really in control of our lives?

Two chemo cycles were left and I pushed myself to accept the reality of pain, insecurity, and lack of control. Still I had the hoped for future to live for.

31/08/2025

This is the 2nd of my blogs I wrote during my cancer treatment.

About halfway through my chemotherapy, which I was on for 5 months in total, I was really struggling with accepting what was happening.
I accepted that my survival prospects were good, but I was angry with the life I was losing. Simply put, I just felt it was unfair. Additionally, I had lost my spacious, bright room, which had an access space before entering, making it very private. I was now in a dark, poky room which looked straight onto the main corridor.
I had a long way to go, and things seemed to be getting worse.

I took solace that the moment I was caught in was just that. A day would come when I would re-enter the fullness of life, I believed. I wanted to see the big picture.

In the middle of my chemo, I was angry, sad and very lonely. I choose to believe I was only seeing a small picture of my pain, not the big picture of the life to which I would return.

30/08/2025

A well recognised therapist, Dr Todd Grande, comments on the recent school shootings in the US.

He makes comment on the transgender issue from 11 mins onwards.

He is of the opinion that when therapists identify transgender issues as a cause for negative behaviour and mood in a client, they are not identifying being transgender as the problem, but the social pressure to not be transgender as the problem.
He says this presumption prevents the proper assessment of underlying mood, cognitive or behavioural issues the client may have that is the real reason for their negative presentation.

He refers to direct evidence from this recent incident indicating this person was unhappy with their transgender decisions in their past.

He makes no comment on American gun culture or laws permitting easy use.

This video answers the question: Can I analyze the case of Robin Westman?Support Dr. Grande on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/drgrandeDr. Grande’s book Har...

29/08/2025

In the summer of 2020, when the world was becoming weary of living in lockdown, I felt I was being locked up. I had cancer. Apart from brief days at home, I was an inpatient receiving 6 separate cycles of chemotherapy, each 4 days long with 6 weeks in between each cycle.

Soon I will be attending my last outpatients appointment. So it will finally be the end of my medical journey with this cancer story. To mark this personal milestone, I will be reposting the blogs I wrote about my cancer story both during and after treatment.

I hope these blogs will be an encouragement to those who are struggling in whatever way.

BTW, this particular blog's formatting has been corrupted. We have done our best to fix it, but I'm sure there are still glitches.

My inital diagnosis and treatment for cancer. The emotional and physical pain. The strength from loved ones and faith, the effect of lockdown.

09/08/2025

I gave the paving and the front a good clean today with my favourite new toy. A POWER WASHER!!!

The paving still has some hard dirt patches on it.
Must Google about that.

There is an answer to every problem isn't there?

07/08/2025

If you're looking for support after a bereavement, GriefConnect.ie helps you find experienced, accredited grief counsellors offering support across Ireland — either in person or online.

I am glad to say I am working as part of the Grief Connect team.

.ie

🔹 How GriefConnect.ie works — in 3 simple steps

If you're looking for support after a bereavement, GriefConnect.ie helps you find experienced, accredited grief counsellors offering support across Ireland — either in person or online.

Here’s how it works:

1️⃣ Browse the website
Visit www.griefconnect.ie to explore our network of professional grief counsellors, searchable by location or specialism.

2️⃣ Read profiles
Each counsellor has a profile where you can learn more about their qualifications, approach, areas of expertise, and availability. Some include their fees, and others offer negotiable rates depending on circumstances.

3️⃣ Contact the counsellor directly
Once you find someone who feels like a good fit, you can get in touch with them directly to book a session.

💬 Please note: This is a private counselling service — sessions are paid for directly with your chosen therapist. There’s no referral needed and no platform fee.

GriefConnect.ie is here to help you find the right support, at the right time. 💙

07/08/2025

Arrival is a mindful story about family, loss, communication and seven-legged aliens.

I accept the heptapod alien thing may not be your taste. Don't worry, this is not another installment in the Alien film franchise.

At its heart, and trust me, this film has a lot of heart, a mother is struggling with the realisation of the greatest loss she could have.

Yes, there is the big "Save the World" storyline, and that's a good story, but trust me, you will appreciate this film's heart as much as its action.

It is not a high-action shoot-out, more so tense, can't they see what they are doing?
A great film for the man to watch with his female partner who doesn't like science fiction.

Below is a review of the film from a psychological perspective. There are spoilers.

Enjoy

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01/08/2025

Want something to read for the long weekend?

The long weekend may be a time to take stock of what is happening in your life, and maybe plan to take some action on it.

There are over 35 blogs on the Prevail website. This includes the new blog: https://www.prevailcounsellingtherapy.ie/blog/helping-those-bereaved-by-su***de
https://www.prevailcounsellingtherapy.ie/blog
This blog is to support those helping loved ones bereaved by su***de.

The blogs do handel serious issues such as food addiction, having cancer and dealing with failure, etc.
There are also blogs on the nature of counselling and how Prevail specifically works:
https://www.prevailcounsellingtherapy.ie/blog/doing-counselling-therapy-with-prevail

I have a keen interest in how films reflect psychological issues. For example, what did the last Indianna Jones film say about our views on ageing?
https://www.prevailcounsellingtherapy.ie/blog/blog/indiana-jones-and-the-idol-of-eternal-youth-indy5

There are also more casual blogs about how we deal with everyday issues. The importance of finding purpose in everyday life:
https://www.prevailcounsellingtherapy.ie/blog/blog/what-gets-you-up-in-the-mornings

So I hope this long weekend you find something in the Prevail blogs that meets your current need.

Blogs at Prevail cover discuss how counselling works, the various issues that James Works with in Prevail and reflections on therapeutic needs in society.