Understanding “Pre-Rupture” in Relationships

In recent discussions, many people have shared thoughtful feedback and appreciation for the introduction of the term “pre-rupture” in relationships. This concept highlights something both simple and profound: relationships do not always begin on equal footing. Even before two people meet, tensions, assumptions, and barriers may already be present.“Pre-rupture” refers to the ways in which … Continue reading Understanding “Pre-Rupture” in Relationships →

Guidance for Training Provision, Design and Delivery

🌱📢 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 for helping and therapeutic professions. Vital new guidance for trainers and training providers/organisers and helping professionals.✅ Lets ensure ALL mainstream training formally & consistently embeds consideration of access/ibility, EDI, and contextual understanding (e.g., social identities, embodiment, resource constraints, and lived-in culture) and their implications from both … Continue reading Guidance for Training Provision, Design and Delivery →

JoCAT Book Review: A New Introduction to Counselling and Psychotherapy

R-25-AlyDownload The Journal of Creative Arts Therapies (JoCAT), the home of the creative arts therapies research community. JoCAT is the open access peer-reviewed publication of ANZACATA in association with the School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University. Review reference Aly, N.O. (2025). Book review – Context as constitutive: A critical creative arts therapist appraisal of … Continue reading JoCAT Book Review: A New Introduction to Counselling and Psychotherapy →

Book Review for “A New Introduction to Counselling & Psychotherapy”

NCPS CM ArticleDownload Book Review for A New Introduction to Counselling and Psychotherapy - Text version Tell us about your book. It’s called A New Introduction to Counselling and Psychotherapy: Embedding Context, Diversity, and Equity into Practice. It’s a bit of a long title, but it reflects the book’s scope. It’s a comprehensive (nearly 500-page) … Continue reading Book Review for “A New Introduction to Counselling & Psychotherapy” →

What is Contextual Empathy?

A number of people have given feedback and messaged appreciation for my defining a new term, 'contextual empathy' explicitly to avoid thinking/empathising solely in ahistorical, here-and-now, or decontextualised human-only terms. Here is the definition used (Ahmad, 2025):"Contextual empathy (author term/definition): Empathy seeks to understand a person’s inner world (client frame of reference) and experience as … Continue reading What is Contextual Empathy? →

Therapist disclosure

Image: Mike Lewinski Therapist Disclosure Revisited: By Mamood Ahmad Disclosure Self-disclosure is the intentional or unintentional disclosure to the client of aspects of the therapist’s personal biography, such as identity, positionality, values, beliefs, or lived experience. Disclosure may occur while in therapy or outside of it. Self-disclosure may be deliberate, unavoidable, accidental, or client-initiated (Zur … Continue reading Therapist disclosure →