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It began, as these things often do, with a meeting that looked entirely ordinary: chairs pulled into a semi-circle, a lap-top propped up on a chair, a big screen flickering as people joined remotely, a list of cases to get through, someone apologising for being late, someone else needing to leave early. We were there, at least in name, to think about patients. At first it showed itself only lightly. A comment about a recent incident, a disagreement about how it had been hand

In The Twelve Dancing Princesses, a king is troubled by a mystery. Each morning, his twelve daughters appear, their shoes worn through, as though they had danced all night. He locks their doors, posts guards, and sets watchmen to observe them. Yet every attempt fails. No one can explain where they go or what happens after dark. Eventually, a soldier discovers the truth. Beneath the princesses’ bedroom lies a hidden passage. Each night, they slip through it into an underground

You only took a small bite. You did not mean to fall asleep. The apple was not obviously poisoned. It was polished. Persuasive. Glossed with the language everyone else seemed to be using. Half red: urgency, justice, belonging. Half green: freshness, safety, growth. It did not feel like deceit. It felt like fluency. You told yourself it was only language. You are a leader. You understand that leadership involves translation. You cannot afford to ignite unnecessary fracture. Th

I was listening to a podcast recently that discussed something called method dressing. The conversation centred on Margot Robbie’s press appearances for Barbie and now Wuthering Heights, and on Timothée Chalamet’s carefully curated wardrobes for films like Wonka. The idea is simple. The actor dresses not only for publicity, but to create atmosphere. Clothing becomes an extension of the role. Fabric prepares the room. Before a word is spoken, something has already been shaped.

Following some research for my group analytic training, I have found myself thinking differently about online therapy and about the current preoccupation with power in psychotherapy more broadly. I am beginning to wonder whether some of what gets framed as “power dynamics in the therapeutic relationship” may actually reflect a wider cultural tension about our dependence on technological and institutional systems. Online work makes this unusually visible. The therapeutic relat

Recently, I have found myself, like so many others, drawn to two stories. The first is The Traitors, where celebrities are siloed in a castle, accuse, betray, and splinter into Faithfuls and Traitors. The second is the fate of Ophelia. More specifically, Taylor Swift’s retelling, which transforms Hamlet’s collapsing lover into a survivor. In Hamlet, Ophelia becomes a vessel for the anxieties, desires, and conflicts of those around her, denied her own stable subjectivity. In S

Halloween approaches, and with it the invitation to sit with what lingers. In psychotherapy, we are asked to host the unburied: losses that have no grave, traumas that speak in symptoms, ancestral echoes that arrive unannounced. Samuel Kimbles (2021) calls these “suffering ghosts”, unacknowledged cultural and familial histories that demand psychic reckoning. The task is not to banish them but to transform suffering into kinship. This requires a mind that is both porous and bo

We live in a time of strong opinions and urgent calls to action. The pace is fast. The stakes feel high. And the invitation to respond publicly, quickly, and with certainty is relentless. But in this climate, where does our relationship with not knowing go? In a culture that prizes certainty, our professional and group lives are shaped by the same pressures: the pull to know, to define, to align. These forces can eclipse our capacity for genuine dialogue. In group life, espec

In Indian folklore, vetalas are spirits that dwell in cremation grounds and are said to animate the dead. Although unsettling, they are powerful beings who, if subjugated, can be of great use to humans. Vetalas feature prominently across the mythic landscape of the Indian subcontinent. One of the most well-known and beloved collections of stories featuring a vetala is the Sanskrit work Vetala Panchavimshati (“Twenty-Five Tales of the Vetala”). In this tale cycle, we meet a no

Over the past eight years, I have increasingly relied on online spaces for community, communication, and care in my professional world. In these spaces, particularly on platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook, the usual scaffolding of tone, ritual, and embodied presence often falls away. What remains is a volatile mix of projection, preference, and performance. Clinicians, academics, and facilitators often find themselves caught in reactive loops, where the desire for "just righ

I am on the ferry to the Isles of Scilly again, heading for the annual family camping trip. The crossing, the salt wind, and the gradual slowing into days shaped by tide and weather always bring both anticipation and unease. The rhythm here strips away the cushioning of daily life and exposes something rawer: a bodily sense of both vulnerability and connection. This landscape calls up what I have also known in grief, the abrupt shock of the real, the stripping away of pretenc

When I was pregnant with my first child, I imagined I could shape the birth I would have and the mother I would become. Like many choices of identity, I thought it would be a matter of desire and preparation. The reality of labour shattered that illusion. Childbirth has only recently, in parts of the world, shifted from one of the most perilous experiences a woman could face to something often framed as routine. For centuries, maternal and infant mortality were tragically com

Recently, I’ve been experimenting with AI to explore new metaphors for group dynamics. Unsurprisingly, there are many, but one of my favourites is music. Much has been written about this connection, and here are ten reflections—inspired by orchestral and editorial thinking—to enrich facilitation and encourage deeper listening. 1. The Shared Score: Defining the Group’s Task Every orchestra plays to a score, just as every group works towards a purpose. Without it, you risk scat

The Symbolism of Teeth in Fairytales and Multidisciplinary Team Functioning Teeth often appear as potent symbols in fairytales. Characters, such as Baba Yaga and Frau Holle, are held as wise women, and depicted as guardians of ancient secrets and natural processes. Known for their large teeth - this symbolism is used to suggest wisdom, nurturing, and the ability to transform or digest experiences and knowledge. Their teeth are not solely for devouring actual food but also

Last Christmas I found myself in the rather engrossing task of building a Lego technic race plane. The task was set for children 7+ years and my initial fantasy that this would be a straightforward assembly was quickly challenged. The aircraft was more technical than I had imagined it would be for this age group, which of course makes sense as following manuals is not quite the same skill set as unassisted engineering. I eventually got into the groove of translating the i

By Dr Libby Nugent, First Published Mar 18 2020 11:51AM In these strange times, the distress around the COVID-19 pandemic is bringing into consciousness both how connected we all are and how disorientating it can feel to be away from our everyday rituals. However, amidst the want and need to keep safe, life trundles on. Is there a space or need to keep thinking during this time? Issues that may have before felt important can take on a new perspective. Is it useful to maintain