Proud to share our latest publication. It’s been a pleasure to co-author this with @ProfDCharura. We engaged in a duoethnography process to explore our approach to research, training, & therapeutic practice with regard to relational psychotraumatology. https://t.co/VN6VQeknml
Warmest congratulations to our BA in Counselling & Mental Health students who graduated today at York Minster 🎓 #Classof2024@ysjschoolofelp@YorkStJohn
Wonderful to receive this in the post this week. Pleased to see our co-authored chapter in print. "Working Through Relational Trauma: An Exploration of Narratives of Lived Experiences of Trauma and Recovery" @ProfDCharura@ysjschoolofelp
@TheFlyingChild@NextToNormalUK I would highly recommend. It captures the complexity of grief, trauma and the all too common & unhelpful responses to mental health in such a meaningful way.
Blown away! @NextToNormalUK
Such a powerful storyline and talented cast.
Reminder to all that the question to ask is not 'what's wrong with you?' but 'what happened to you?'
#grief#trauma
Wrote a personal reflective piece for May 2024’s @BACP University and College Counselling Journal - “Distinctions and visibilities: Dr Heather Sutherland shares a personal reflection on ‘mental health’ as a labelled issue of concern in UKHE”
https://t.co/Q9ydqWrtTx @YSJPsych
My rapist’s defence lawyer tried to break me down and put me in my place. Well, he didn’t succeed. Today I spoke on Good Morning Britain about how I successfully took action against him, and brought changes to the justice system as a result. He messed with the wrong woman…
This is some of the feedback we’ve received from counsellors/students for our training last week.
100 percent of people said that the presentation has made them reflect on their personal responses to the subject of CSA.
100 percent would recommend our training to a colleague.
Celebrations at The Flying Child headquarters today 🥳
#CSA #TheFlyingChildProject @PennSmith27
Thank u for sharing your story with our students. Your work is so important & impactful. It doesn't stop with us; the ripples continue and have the potential to reach many others.
See the person. Hear them. Always human first.
#TheFlyingChild@YorkStJohn@ysjschoolofelp
Despite thinking I’d never say anything, for the shame.
Despite people turning away from signs of my distress, over and over again.
Despite being told to leave university and that I would never achieve anything in my life.
Despite suicide attempts spanning 25 yrs in total.
Despite being told my survival mechanisms were an indicator I had a chemical imbalance of the brain
Despite years of medication I didn’t need, diagnoses I now reject.
Despite being told I had a severe and enduring mental illness and would never live without community support.
Despite being told by a therapist “you shouldn’t look back - you’re an adult now, not a child”
Despite all of this, I survived. I am surviving.
Recovery is not a word that feels appropriate (for me), because it suggests there is an end point, and it’s not that simple.
CSA impacts me, how could it not? But, because I was lucky to cross paths with a therapist who had an understanding of trauma, - I’m living my life in the way I choose, and not drowning in trauma as I was for so many years.
Working today with 50 counselling students who will potentially cross paths with many CSA survivors like me, has been one of the highlights of my work so far.
I hope they remember my story and my parting message - to always look beyond the labels, to see the person, to hear them, and to be human first. Always human first.
#CSA #TheFlyingChildProject
In York today with humanistic counselling students.
I’m thrilled to have Jasmine with me - she is presenting from the perspective of both CSA survivor and counsellor, and our panel discussion with tutors will include exploring personal attitudes towards suicidal ideation, self-disclosure and the pathologising of #CSA trauma responses.
#TheFlyingChildProject
Let's be committed to not saying "committed".
Suicide has not been a crime in the UK since 1961. When we use terms like "committed suicide", we make the issue more difficult to talk about and prolong the pain for the person's loved ones.
What should you say instead? Read on...