(first published in the Sunday Independent – August 2, 2015) Just like Freud, psychotherapist Gayle Williamson gets a little help in sessions from a canine co-therapist It happened by accident one afternoon. I had been on a break between appointments, drinking tea in the kitchen as usual, when my next client arrived a bit early. […]

(Published in the Sunday Independent 5/7/2015) Advances in brain science are also transforming how psychotherapy is practised, says psychotherapist Gayle Williamson A few years ago, a young woman called Laura (not her real name) came to see me for chronic anxiety. There was no part of her life where she felt relaxed and in control, […]

**Facing difficult emotions is the key to psychological liberation, says psychotherapist Gayle Williamson Christmas is an emotional time of year. Some of the feelings we have may be positive – peace, joy, relaxation, gratitude – but often the emotions are difficult ones: sadness, loss, loneliness. So it seems a good time to ask: “How are […]

First published in the Sunday Independent, We all struggle to be authentic, but a sadistic inner self could be to blame, writes psychotherapist Gayle Williamson “I don’t know who I am,” was one of the first things Sandra* (not her real name), said to me. An attractive professional woman in her mid-40s, she had become […]

Written for Sunday Independent Unlike depression, anxiety can motivate you to fulfil your potential – as famous sufferers can attest. My client was obviously in a great deal of pain, worn down by her anxiety. “I feel so weak and pathetic that I can’t just get on top of it.” You’d be forgiven for imagining […]

Written for Sunday Independent Hot, trapped, and a garda at the car window … the worst experience I had of anxiety was when I was driving to my then job several years ago and got stuck in a huge traffic jam on the quays in Dublin. It was a warm summer’s day, and I began […]

Originally written for www.independent.ie One of my first tasks in working with someone who is depressed is to encourage them to talk to the people in their life about what they are going through. This isn’t easy – despite the fact that there has been so much in the media in recent months about depression, anxiety […]

Written for www.independent.ie When Edward Byrne, a member of the 19th Royal Hussars, returned from the front in 1919 after the First World War, his nightmares were so violent they would wake up his family and neighbours on Rialto Street in Dublin. After his time in the trenches, during which he fought at the Battle of […]