Articles & Reviews
The world of psychotherapy, counselling and holistic medicine is a rich and varied one, and we make it our business not only to keep up with current research and thinking, but also to give our own views on issues that affect us and our clients. We believe it is vital to be aware of the latest research, social trends, scientific developments – in fact anything that may affect our work and our clients’ lives. Below you will find articles written by us for local magazines and also national press articles which we found interesting - these have been reproduced and commented on by Anam Cara founder Sonia Manning. What will you learn today?
STREETS AHEAD MAGAZINE BY SONIA MANNING
SEPTEMBER 2011
It works the other way too, of course. Poor nutrition increases your susceptibility to illness, creating biochemical imbalances in the body’s systems. It can lead to any number of illnesses as well as more general feelings of tiredness, nausea and wide-ranging digestive problems...
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STREETS AHEAD MAGAZINE BY SONIA MANNING
AUGUST 2011
There is nowhere else like this place in the area, with so much expertise, breadth of knowledge and with such a commitment to working as a team to ensure our clients are helped and cared for in the very best way possible for them as an individual. That is why, when I moved to this area, this was the only centre I wanted to work for...
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STREETS AHEAD MAGAZINE BY SONIA MANNING
JUNE 2011
There’s not much time for reflection in the way we live our lives. If you’re anything like most people in this country, and indeed in the West, you like to be doing something all the time. You’re busy rushing about and if you encounter a problem then you solve it by doing even more rushing about or you spend all your time worrying about it...
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STREETS AHEAD MAGAZINE BY SONIA MANNING
MAY 2011
Too much to do and too little time? Head full of thoughts and ideas but lacking in focus? Are you constantly preoccupied or worrying? Or maybe you’re finding yourself getting cross at the smallest thing... perhaps you’re already looking forward to 6pm and that first glass of wine... or maybe you’ve been throwing back the painkillers for that headache that just won’t go away...
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STREETS AHEAD MAGAZINE BY SONIA MANNING
MARCH 2011
Exploding the myth of the therapist’s couch and other misconceptions… Generally, we view therapy as something of an American phenomenon mainly because of our consumption of transatlantic films and TV programmes. Therefore our expectation of how therapy works is clouded by the images we have seen and the obvious interpretation of such scenes...
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STREETS AHEAD MAGAZINE BY THE EDITOR
FEBRUARY 2011
Most relationships go through, to use that well-worn phrase, ‘ups and downs’ - we can all relate to that. One day you are crazy in love and the next you can’t stand the sight of each other. To some degree, life’s like that but there may come a point where you think there are more downs than ups and seek to change...
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STREETS AHEAD MAGAZINE BY THE EDITOR
OCTOBER 2010
When Tracey split with her husband five years ago she was left devastated, angry, upset and alone. She had reached her lowest point and was beyond despair. Then by chance she saw an advertisement from Anam Cara and her life took a totally new turn...
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STREETS AHEAD MAGAZINE BY THE EDITOR
AUGUST 2010
You would think that it would be quite stressful itself working with people that are suffering from a multitude of ailments from stress, loss, depression, anxiety through to phobias and acute health problems. But when you first meet Sonia you will find one of the most calming, laid back people you are likely to encounter...
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THE JOURNAL MAGAZINE BY A CLIENT
November 2012
It took some time to agree to a therapy session. I found the prospect a little daunting. Many of us are well aware of our imperfections and compromises, our dissatisfactions and worries...but somehow it’s a case of the better the devil you know. If life is ok, work is ok, relationships are ok, then isn’t ‘ok’ enough?
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THE JOURNAL MAGAZINE BY SONIA MANNING
OCTOBER 2012
Addiction is among the cruellest of all conditions. On a superficially rational level, it makes no sense – not only to those who witness it, but also to those who suffer from it. No matter how intelligent, strong-willed, sensible and otherwise rational a person is, the compulsion an addict feels is often impossible to repel. A person with an addiction will almost certainly need professional help to overcome their condition as frequently they cannot do it alone.
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THE JOURNAL MAGAZINE BY SONIA MANNING
SEPTEMBER 2012
The eyes are the windows to the soul, goes the old proverb. In truth, they are the window to so much more.
“By examining the iris, I can learn many things about someone’s health, their genetic inheritance and how their lives and lifestyle have influenced their health, wellbeing and constitution – and indeed, how their health has influenced their lives,” says Anam Cara’s Naturopathic Iridologist and Master Herbalist.
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THE JOURNAL MAGAZINE BY SONIA MANNING
MAY 2012
At the very least, if you have an hour of Shiatsu, you are likely to leave feeling intensely relaxed in both mind and body and with your energy levels renewed. Important though relaxation is, however, there is much more to it than that...
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THE JOURNAL MAGAZINE BY SONIA MANNING
MARCH 2012
Have you ever noticed how you just get used to some sounds and get to the point where you don’t even notice them? On the other hand, sounds like the cry of a baby or waves coming to shore can generate a huge emotional response. Clearly, sound can be powerful but so often we are just not tuned into it...
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THE JOURNAL MAGAZINE BY SONIA MANNING
FEBRUARY 2012
I am in such a different place now to where I was last year. I have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). I’ve always hated the cold and dark. The winter months had become a long, difficult, painful period...
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THE JOURNAL MAGAZINE BY SONIA MANNING
JANUARY 2012
Food is medicine – or it can be if you eat the right food. It works the other way too, of course. Poor nutrition increases your susceptibility to illness, creating biochemical imbalances in the body’s systems. It can lead to any number of illnesses as well as more general feelings of tiredness, nausea and wide-ranging digestive problems...
Read more
THE JOURNAL MAGAZINE BY SONIA MANNING
NOVEMBER 2011
There’s not much time for reflection in the way we live our lives. If you’re anything like most people you like to be doing something all the time. You’re busy rushing about and if you encounter a problem then you solve it by doing even more rushing about or you spend all your time worrying about it...
Read more
THE JOURNAL MAGAZINE BY SONIA MANNING
OCTOBER 2011
Rekha is a client at Anam Cara and her story demonstrates our belief that as everyone’s situation is different, so the approach to tackling their problems should also be unique. At Anam Cara we have a wide range of therapists and practitioners, who work together to create the ideal path to recovery for every client...
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THE JOURNAL MAGAZINE BY SONIA MANNING
SEPTEMBER 2011
How are you? Too much to do and too little time? Head full of thoughts and ideas but lacking in focus? Are you constantly preoccupied or worrying? Or maybe you’re finding yourself getting cross at the smallest thing... perhaps you’re already looking forward to 6pm and that first glass of wine...
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THE JOURNAL MAGAZINE BY SONIA MANNING
JULY 2010
The power of your mind and spirit is extraordinary. How else could you explain how people can walk over hot coals or broken glass without suffering injury? Or why some people have surgery under hypnosis and feel no pain? Or even the familiar phenomenon of people who defer dying until after an important event such as a wedding or the birth of a grandchild...
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THE SUNDAY TIMES ‘STYLE’ MAGAZINE
APRIL 2012
Some people experience anxiety during takeoff and landing. Others get a stab of it when they open their monthly bank statement. And still others - a not insignificant number - feel anxious quite a lot of the time, or all of the time, for no particular reason...
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THE TIMES
MARCH 2012
Couples in their forties should undergo a "relationship MoT" to prevent their marriage falling apart as the strain of midlife takes its toll, the head of Relate has said...
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THE TIMES
FEBRUARY 2012
Some people experience anxiety during takeoff and landing. Others get a stab of it when they open their monthly bank statement. And still others - a not insignificant number - feel anxious quite a lot of the time, or all of the time, for no particular reason...
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THE TIMES
JANUARY 2012
"It's ego. It's fine wine, champagne, cocaine. It's all about alpha males and excess up here," Richard Kingdon says. "Third week of January is a killer. It's a classic on New Year's Even they say: 'Right this is my last binge. Next year I'm going to sort myself out, sort out my debts, maybe try for a family.'...
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THE TIMES
DECEMBER 2012
Prescriptions for antidepressants and sleeping pills have surged in the past three years, with millions now relying on medication to keep stress and depression under control..
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THE SUNDAY TIMES
DECEMBER 2011
When Dr Michael Gershon uttered the immoral line, "If you're chained by bloody diarrhoea to a toilet seat, it can really do you in," on an American late-night chat show, he was uttering the "I think, therefore I am" of the neurogastroenterology world...
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THE TIMES
DECEMBER 2011
Middle-aged men are the people most likely to take their own lives, says the Samaritans. This week the Professional Football Association sent a guidebook on handling depression to 50,000 past and present members after the suicide of Gary Speed, the 42-year old manager of the Wales football team...
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THE TIMES
NOVEMBER 2011
"I began to get a headache like I had never had before" says 37-year-old Priscilla Chandro. "It was intense, but I didn't know what caused it. I went to the kitchen to get paracetamol, but on the way I felt so hot I had to lie on the sofa...
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THE SUNDAY TIMES
NOVEMBER 2011
It is news that might leave those prone to four-letter outbursts wanting to, well, swear. A television experiment has shown that the use of expletives is of greatest benefit in combating pain when uttered by those not accustomed to doing so...
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THE TIMES
NOVEMBER 2011
Yoga is more efficient at alleviating lower back pain than conventional medical treatment, a trial has found. After a 12-week course of yoga, patients with long-term back pain reported less discomfort, performed better physically and were more confident in performing everyday tasks than those offered conventional GP care...
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THE TIMES
NOVEMBER 2011
The Rev Canon Ken Gardiner has spent the past five decades exorcising demons from his flock in commuter-belt Kent. The octogenarian, in dog collar and grey blazer, could be straight out of The Exorcist - the calm and authoritative man of God with an unshakeable belief in the power of Jesus...
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Keep coming back as we add more articles regularly on counselling, psychotherapy, yoga, nutrition and other holistic services. There’s always more to learn...
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