Sitting on my sofa just thinking… I am looking at cars, the people in them Going to work or walking to school There are birds on roofs, and hedges looking for food. The pavements are frozen – be careful I am still thinking… Thinking about this little island This island that has helped so … Read more
Throughout our MSc in Speech and Language Sciences at UCL we have been trained to use active listening. It’s a key clinical skill. As trainee SLTs we listen when we collaborate with clients to take case histories. But these are often about a snapshot in time. What happens when clients complete assessment and intervention? How … Read more
Disclosing one’s stammer is easy they say… vital I say. In fact it is very much a technique I subscribe to, use frequently and encourage others to try. Imagine going into a stressful situation, an interview for example; walk through the door, friendly handshake, introductions gone well, half way through the first question, BLOCK. No … Read more
You could call me a supervision junkie. I love it! I always have. To be honest I find it hard to understand those who don’t feel the need for it as for me it is like oxygen. It is one of life’s essentials. Essentially it keeps me, a speech and language therapist of nearly 25 … Read more
We all start out with dreams and ideas about how our careers will go. It’s hard to foresee when, where or why the forks in the road will come, but it is almost certain that they will. This blog post explores two key ways in which supervision helped me to negotiate a fork in the … Read more
Supervision. The word invokes many different thoughts for me. The many supervisors I have had, and the many people I have supervised. And the formality of the word. I got a bit stuck when trying to move past this, so I read through multiple blog posts about having one’s communication shaped, ‘therapyed’ or embraced. These … Read more
Martyn: “Do you ever read poetry?” Me : “No. Of course not.” Martyn: “You might try it sometime. David Whyte1, something like that.” It had been just a short conversation but, as usual, his intuition was spot on. I’d been discussing with Martyn Brown, my Executive Coach at Ashridge2, my progress towards becoming more of … Read more
I have never written a blog before, but the invitation to do so is a timely one as I ‘grow up’ and find my way with social media on my freelance ‘adventure’. Since I took early retirement from my role supporting people with Creutzfeld Jacob Disease (CJD) and their families in the NHS, my goal … Read more
“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success” Henry Ford 2014 marks intandem‘s 10-year anniversary. Throughout this time, collaboration has been at the heart of all our work – both with each other and with others. 2013 was a year of experiments and we worked hard to establish even more connections and … Read more
I’d been to see Sam a few times before she introduced the idea of a group session. At first I was sceptical, after all I’d been trying to hide my stammer from everyone: family, friends, colleagues etc. so why would I want to be in a situation with people I didn’t know and be open … Read more