Category Archives: grief

A Tale of Two Dogs

These are my two cockerpoos, Sid and Peggy. Sid died in June, aged fourteen and a half years. Peggy came to live with us at the end of August, aged nearly four months.  Amid my grief for Sid, I did what all experienced therapists do and googled ‘how long should I wait before getting another […]

Swedish houses and Sylvanian families: decluttering and loss

Along with the exhortations to ‘lose weight’, ‘dry out’, ‘get fit’, ‘save up’, which assail us from every direction at this time of year, come the calls to ‘clear out’. Declutter. Spring clean. To paraphrase William Morris, if it’s not beautiful or useful, dispense with it. If you haven’t worn it for a year, pass […]

‘Look for the helpers’: The public place of empathy

The last few months have been traumatic for the UK population. Terror, tragedy and a political process which is throwing into relief division upon division, has left us shaken and grief-stricken. ‘Look for the helpers’, we’re told, to console ourselves in the face of each new wave of grief. And there are many helpers. Like […]

who cares?

The current debate in the news about our political parties’ views on the funding of social care for the elderly and more vulnerable members of our communities, focuses on whether government funding should go to local authorities, the NHS or the providers of care. Wherever the funds come from for the coordination and delivery of […]