Beginnings and Endings

"There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth... not going all the way, and not starting." Buddha

As she left the room she announced that if she still felt OK about things next week, she'd probably make it our last session together. Given that we've met only three times to date this is short term work in the extreme but not, I suspect, unconnected to the fact that this afternoon we touched the edge of something of significance. Something that has perhaps remained buried or hidden; unacknowledged and unexamined, in the shadows, which maybe feels too threatening to regard with curiosity just now. Such a premature conclusion is not uncommon, and maybe represents not an ending so much, as the denial of a beginning. Reluctance or refusal to leave the starting blocks is often for good reason - therapy is challenging. It is not for me to coerce or cajole anyone at any time, which is not to say it's not frustrating to see the potential for growth lying dormant. Plato suggested that the beginning was the most important part of the work - this is certainly true in my experience.

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Table. Apple. Penny.

Whilst there were several places I might have been that morning, I wouldn't have been anywhere else. The practitioner from the Memory Service arrived promptly. I liked her instantly. Mum was nervous. I think I was a little, too. It's been a difficult year. "It's Friday, it's the fourteenth of December and I'm at home..." No problems there. CAMCOG, or the Cambridge Cognitive Examination is a thorough assessment tool used to assess the extent of extent of dementia, and to assess the level of cognitive impairment. The standardised measure assesses orientation, language, memory, praxis, attention, abstract thinking, perception and calculation. "Table. Apple. Penny." Three everyday items that were introduced at one point, and then referred to again later on. Again, Mum was able to recall each. I am reminded that the...

Glass half full? Glass half empty? Or perhaps the glass is broken

I am, constitutionally, a glass half empty gal. I will always first acknowledge what I don't have, what I have lost, and what it is that I am seeking. I tend to overlook my strengths, concentrating only on those bits of me that are underdeveloped or weak. I refer to myself as a realist, but in doing so compliment myself and insult those who genuinely are simply realistic. My modus operandi is to identify what's not working and acknowledge this before seeing more clearly what functions perfectly well. This has its place: I edit others' written work pretty well. My fastidious attention to detail serves me, and the author. Accuracy counts, for me and I have an excellent memory. I can remember a great many of my sessions with clients verbatim. Even this asset is something I can, and do, diminish the true value of, by concentrating on 'I should have said...' or 'why didn't.... occur to me during the session?' Earlier this we...

Joan Miro: Emotional Art

"Painting and poetry are like love; an exchange of blood, a passionate embrace, without restraint, without defence. The picture is born of an overflow of emotions and feelings." Miro, The Farm 'La Masia' (1921-22) I learnt a great deal about Miro on a recent visit to the Tate. I learnt a great deal about a lot more too. Miro wanted to discover the sources of human feeling. He described his method of creating poetry by way of painting, using a vocabulary of signs and symbols, metaphors and dream images to express definite themes he believed to be fundamental to human existence. The exhibition displays his sense of humor and lively wit. His chief concern was a social one; he wanted to get close to the great masses of humanity, and he was convinced that art can only truly appeal when it resonates with roots of lived experience. "Wherever you are, you find the sun, a blade of grass, the spirals of the dragonfly. Courage cons...

The Reward is the Journey

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