Childish Psychology & Psychotherapy

Welcome

Thanks for coming to take a look at the Childish Psychology & Psychotherapy blog page. What you’ll find here are short blogs about psychological theory, practice and reflection which centre on the mental health of children, and those associated with them – so it’s child-ish. My work also takes a ‘childish’ approach of playfulness, this is the ‘serious play’ of psychotherapy, where creativity meets suffering and does all it can to explore ways to heal and grow. On this page there are pieces which focus upon children themselves, upon the adults who care for children, the families they belong to, and upon the professionals, teams and organisations who provide services to support them. The pieces explore psychological practice, as well as the professional and personal development of practitioners.

I am a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and a Systemic Psychotherapist who has worked with children, families, professionals and organisations from within the NHS for over 25 years.

Some of my blogs refer to people and conversations. These are for illustrative purposes only, they are not direct reports of particular real people. They are amalgams of people and conversations I have had over the years, and are there to illustrate and share psychological ideas and practices. Some blogs refer to services I have worked within; again these are themes drawn from my experiences within services, and are not a direct report of practice.

If you read my blogs, you’ll notice that I often illustrate psychological ideas and practices by references to popular culture; television, music, film, fashion and poetry. I enjoy the ordinary things of our ordinary lives, and I appreciate the wisdom of ‘ordinary’ people in their everyday activities and interactions.

You might want to read my blogs if you share my interests:

I am interested by the life long process of human development, most especially how children develop and how family and society shape us. I am particularly interested in the psychologically formative influences of gender, ethnicity, class and place.

As the foundations of our development, I am curious about attachment, friendship, belonging, community, play and irreverence, as well as about inquiry, challenge, edges, courage and critical thinking.

I am passionate about the value, in psychological practice, of self inquiry, self awareness and emotional intelligence.

I am an experienced Zen student interested in psychologically aware practice of Zen in ‘everyday’ or ‘ordinary’ schools of lay practice. I am particularly interested in emotionally focussed psychotherapy and Zen practice.

If you share similar interests, I hope that my blogs are useful and enjoyable for you. Just click on the menu above and start reading.

Jael