It seems I am going through a period of re-birth. It started a while ago and has involved a number of experiences with strong emotional responses. Now, it feels like i have to be strong enough to make a ‘breakthrough’. This might sound irrelevant to the research process but, actually, is not. In order for me to find the ‘researcher’s voice’, my top priority shall be my own well-being. The topics I have been involved in during the research period have been woven through so many personal experiences and this has not been, and still isn’t an easy process. But I nead to respect my pace and allow for things to emerge at their own time. … Read more »

It has been a while now that my relationship with research and the counselling field in general has been one of ‘love and hate’, in the sense that it has brought so many intense responses in me that I often wondered ‘what is this all about?’. There have been times that I felt ‘in love’ about being a counsellor and researcher and other times that I have felt (maybe also feel like this now) that I have ‘fallen out of love’ with it, that it is too hard work and I’d rather have some peace…somehow. As I was thinking about whether ‘I shall love my PhD’ in order to manage to do it, an interesting email come through my mailbox, about a research network on Love. Here is how they describe themeselves: … Read more »

Thank you Jeni for telling me this today!

“Whatever learning one may acquire, whatever positions of authority one may occupy, however great one may be, if one lacks human values, one cannot be called a human being at all. What is humanness? Essentially, it means unity of thought, word and deed. When one’s thoughts are at variance with what one says or does, one ceases to be human. Today, what men have to cultivate is unity and purity in thought, word and deed. True human qualities can grow only in a heart filled with spiritual aspirations; seeds should be sown in fertile soil and not on a piece of rock. Hence, to develop these qualities, men have to develop compassion and equanimity amidst the vicissitudes of life”  by BABA

I had email exchange today with a colleague and fellow researcher (A.S.) who has been living and practising as a therapist in Belgium for a few years now (she moved there from the UK due to her husband’s career). When talking about her feelings/experience around living in a host culture, she mentioned the following factors that helped her, in terms of managing the ‘cultural shock’ both externally and internally. She wrote: … Read more »