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Titration, Not Catharsis
ByJo Oxley(Why Going Slowly Is Often the Most Powerful Intervention) There’s a quiet pressure many counsellors feel – even if they don’t name it. That therapy should go somewhere.That something should happen.That emotional release equals progress. And when clients carry trauma, there can be an added, unspoken belief:If we don’t access the pain fully, are we…
Music as an Attachment Figure
ByJo OxleyCan music be more than just background noise? For many, it becomes a lifeline—an emotional surrogate offering containment, regulation, and a sense of presence. This post explores how music can act as a secure base in the absence of safe attachment figures, grounded in both personal experience and therapeutic insight
The Tyranny of Expectations: Finding Peace in “Good Enough”
ByJo OxleyWhen Expectation Meets Reality Therapists spend a lot of time helping clients make sense of disappointment — that aching gap between what we hoped for and what is. But if we’re honest, we’re not immune to it ourselves. We expect to feel centred and compassionate every day, to know what we’re doing, to manage our…
Listening to the Body: Why Attachment-Based Therapy Needs a Somatic Lens
ByJo OxleyWhen connection feels unsafe, the body remembers. In attachment-based therapy, somatic awareness helps us understand nervous system patterns rooted in early trauma. This article explores how integrating body-based work deepens healing for clients with insecure or disorganized attachment
“I Don’t Do Inner Child Work”
ByJo Oxley(What Might That Be Protecting?) Many counsellors say it – sometimes confidently, sometimes cautiously: “I don’t really do inner child work.” It’s often followed by a rationale: These concerns are understandable. Inner child work has, at times, been poorly taught, loosely defined, or practiced without enough containment. And yet, from an attachment-informed perspective, it’s worth…
New Year Resolutions – Old Patterns: The Challenge of Change Through an Attachment Lens
ByJo OxleyBy a therapist with a soft spot for attachment theory and a healthy scepticism about January makeovers Every January we are invited—no, instructed—to reinvent ourselves. New bodies. New habits. New lives. It’s a seductive promise, usually delivered alongside a discounted gym membership and a faint sense of personal failure. But from an attachment perspective, most…
