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Recognising mental health issues and then finding a counsellor sometimes isn’t an easy process. With this in mind, my website is designed to provide an understandable overview of the world of psychotherapy and counselling to help you take the first step towards a life of positive mental health. Specialities Introduction to Specialities As a transpersonal and integrative psychotherapist, I am able to help with a broad range of issues. Below I have provided information surrounding my main specialist areas. Please feel free to scroll down through each specialist therapy area, or use the 'Quick Links' buttons provided to jump directly to the area you would like to learn more about. If there is something you would like to discuss that is not covered on this page, please simply contact me . Quick Links Abuse Addiction or Dependency Anger Issues Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Depression Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR) Grief & Bereavement Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Panic Attacks Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Relationships Stress The Chakras Reach For A Helping Hand Take your first step toward positive mental health Book an Initial Consultation Abuse Issues Abuse comes in many forms. Abuse can happen to anyone and often the situation has developed so gradually that victims are not even aware that they’re being abused. It’s impossible to detail the many ways abuse is meted out, but here’s a broad sweep of the subject. Psychological Abuse Where we are prevented from making choices or expressing opinions, subjected to threats, bullied, intimidated, etc. Physical Abuse Where we are hit, slapped, kicked or punched. Financial Abuse This can include theft of possessions, money, benefits; we may be subjected to fraud, scams, rogue traders and so on. Discriminatory Abuse We may be abused on the basis of race, religion, gender or gender identity, age, disability or sexual orientation. Sexual Abuse We may have received unwanted sexual attention such as touching, teasing or innuendos or forced into non-consensual sexual activity. Book an Initial Consultation Ask a Question Abuse Addiction or Dependency Addiction is a huge subject, so let me try to convey some of the main points. There’s a fine line between dependency and addiction. Dependence can lead to addiction. Dependence can occur with the chronic use of drugs (including alcohol). We are dependent when we are using substances to the point where it is causing significant difficulties in our lives and we are losing the willpower to control our drug use. When someone is addicted the use of drugs causes major problems with school, work or home life (or all three). They may act out of character, lie, or even steal to obtain the drug. They may suffer physical issues such as ulcers, kidney or liver damage. Addiction is the disease which is called the ‘disease of denial’. Why is that? Why would anyone wish to be in denial of any disease? Usually, we run to the doctor and hope to be reassured, or have a diagnosis confirmed and a clear treatment plan outlined. The roots of addiction may be far-reaching. It may be genetic, trans-generational, trauma-based, environmental or psychological. The drug of choice that is causing the problems usually feels (to the person suffering from the dependency) like their best friend. Their salvation. The drug of choice is usually helping them to compensate for, or avoid, something they may not even be aware of! Essentially, we may, for a variety of reasons, not have sufficient internal resources to soothe ourselves and we may, therefore, be in the position of seeking that outside of ourselves. And in an attempt to find a way of coping with stress, we may engage in unhelpful behaviours which are not conducive to a balanced, healthy life such as overeating, drinking too much alcohol, taking drugs, sexual addiction, impulsive and unnecessary shopping, workaholism, etc. In therapy, we work on exploring the ways we can soothe ourselves. We will look at many aspects of this difficult and sometimes life-threatening disease and begin to find ways of developing new adaptive behaviours to help us deal with those difficult situations which trigger us to use the very thing that seems to comfort us - but can kill us in the end. Book an Initial Consultation Ask a Question Addiction or Dependency Anger Issues Anger is a normal human emotion. But the ways we express our anger can be healthy or unhealthy. There are two types of unhelpful expressions of anger: Passive Aggression This includes behaviours such as sulking, procrastinating, smirking, ’forgetting’ to do certain things. Overt (Open) Aggression Examples of behaviours include physically lashing out, shouting, verbally abusing others, bullying, sarcasm, criticism, shouting and bickering. If you think you have anger management issues and you want to work on making different choices, counselling can help you develop new, healthy, assertive behavioural skills in response to triggering situations. Book an Initial Consultation Ask a Question Anger Issues Your First Step Toward Professional Support Take your first step toward positive mental health Book an Initial Consultation Anxiety Anxiety is an emotion we experience when we are worried or afraid. It is a future-oriented emotion and it’s usually about what might happen. It can be mild or severe. Some people suffer from anxiety every day as if they are hard-wired for worry. It can make your heart race, cause you to sweat, shake or become short of breath. Anxiety can also cause you to become overly careful or avoid anxiety-provoking situations. You may begin to worry in relatively harmless situations. It can feel overwhelming and interfere with your life and relationships. It can be totally debilitating. Counselling is highly effective in the treatment of the symptoms of anxiety. Book an Initial Consultation Ask a Question Anxiety Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by demonstrating how you think directly impacts the way you behave. It's most commonly used to treat anxiety and depression, but can also be useful for other mental and physical health problems. In my opinion, CBT is a fantastic therapy when used as an integrative package to the other therapies I offer to my clients. I run courses on CBT for fellow-professionals, and the public, that deliver a host of techniques around how to best free yourself from any distorted beliefs that may be getting in the way of you living the best life you can! Book an Initial Consultation Ask a Question Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Depression Feeling down from time to time is perfectly normal, but if you find that you’re feeling hopeless and despairing, if your low mood is affecting how you think, feel and perform your daily activities such as working, eating, studying sleeping and having fun, you may be suffering from depression. Counselling can help with depression in many ways — let me name just two! (1) We can explore the way negative or distorted thoughts lead to emotional, behavioural and physical consequences. (2) We can examine the stressors in your life and see how these impact on you. We then play with ideas about making new choices which will help you change the way you live and see your life. Don't suffer in silence. If you feel you could be suffering from depression, take your first steps towards a better life and book an initial consultation with me today. Book an Initial Consultation Ask a Question Depression New Book In her first book, psychotherapist Lynn Somerfield explores the subtle processes through which change begins to take root in our lives. Through reflection and insight, she considers how moments of awareness, courage, and compassion can gradually shape meaningful personal transformation Explore the Book Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR) This type of fast-trauma reduction has, with good reason, grown steadily in popularity for the past couple of decades and is a treatment recommended by NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence). It is particularly indicated for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD often occurs after experiences such as military combat, physical assault, rape, or car accidents. Complex PTSD can be the result of repeated traumas, such as an extremely unsafe environment whilst growing up due to emotional, mental or physical abuse or even being born into a war environment or having to flee one’s homeland for example. To explore the use of this therapy, please book an initial consultation or simply contact me to obtain more information. Book an Initial Consultation Ask a Question Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR) Grief & Bereavement We all lose a loved one eventually. Your loved one may be a parent, a spouse, a sibling, a friend, or a companion animal. The loss may be sudden or it may be expected. Everyone experiences grief in their own way. Some commonly experienced emotions are rage, shock, anger, guilt and longing. Other feelings, such as relief, are more difficult to address. It’s as if we feel there are acceptable and unacceptable emotions. There are recognisable stages to the grieving process. These include denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. But the stages don’t necessarily follow neatly in order - they may be experienced more like a pinball machine, bouncing back and forth for a while. If you’re struggling with your grief, counselling can offer a safe, empathic space for you to explore your loss whilst coming to terms with a ‘new normal’. Book an Initial Consultation Ask a Question Grief & Bereavement Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) OCD is a common condition which has two main parts: 'obsessions' and 'compulsions'. Obsessions are unwelcome and irrational thoughts, images or urges, that repeatedly come into your mind. They cause you to feel anxious or uncomfortable. Compulsions are repetitive activities that you carry out to reduce the anxiety caused by the obsession. These may be things like repeatedly washing your hands or checking a door is locked, repeating a specific phrase in your head or checking how your body feels. OCD is no laughing matter. It can disrupt your daily life, your relationships and cause you to feel ashamed. It’s often accompanied by anxiety and depression. It’s often not diagnosed because it can be accompanied by other mental health conditions. The good news is that counselling can help OCD sufferers a great deal. Book an Initial Consultation Ask a Question Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Professional Support Is Just A Click Away Take your first step toward positive mental health Book an Initial Consultation Panic Attacks A panic attack comes on suddenly. It is a feeling of intense anxiety and can include shaking, sweating, feeling disoriented, nauseous, irregular heartbeats, breathlessness and dizziness. It can be very frightening. People sometimes feel like they’re going to die. Most panic attacks last between five to thirty minutes. If you feel you are suffering a panic attack, try this... (1) Breathe in as slowly, deeply and gently as you can, through your nose. (2) Breathe out slowly, deeply and gently through your mouth. Some people find it helpful to count steadily from one to five on each in-breath and each out-breath. (3) Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. (4) You should start to feel better in a few minutes and you may feel tired afterwards. If you’ve had more than one panic attack and you’re struggling to deal with them, do seek help for your anxiety. Book an Initial Consultation Ask a Question Panic Attacks Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Trauma occurs when there is a shock to the body or mind, or to both. It results from a deeply distressing or disturbing experience and although armed services personnel are commonly diagnosed with PTSD, it can occur in all walks of life. The symptoms of PTSD are varied and can include flashbacks, nightmares, mood swings, panic attacks, avoidance of things that trigger memories of the original trauma, difficulty sleeping, difficulty concentrating, eating disorders, cognitive delays (sluggish mind) and lowered verbal memory ability (forgetting words). Symptoms start within 3 months of an incident but they may not be particularly discernible until years later. Without treatment, it can remain with you for life. The best way to treat PTSD is a fast trauma-reduction method called EMDR, a therapy discussed in more detail in the EMDR section of my website. People can also suffer from a condition called Complex PTSD. This a psychological disorder that can develop in response to prolonged, repeated experience of trauma in an environment in which the individual has little or no chance of escape such as an abusive childhood featuring physical, emotional, mental or sexual abuse, neglect, ongoing intimate relationship abuse, prolonged school bullying, victims of kidnapping, slavery, trafficking, unhappy boarding school experiences, cult membership. Such experiences can include protracted feelings of terror, worthlessness, helplessness and loss of a sense of identity. Treatment for C-PTSD requires longer-term therapeutic work, as a good therapeutic relationship needs to be built, trust issues will need addressing, EMDR will need to be used to reduce the more debilitating symptoms of trauma before work can be done on helping the client to work on unresolved issues from the past, to establish good boundaries, a support network of trusted people and more. Book an Initial Consultation Ask a Question Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Relationships Couples counselling is a specialised form of therapy where two people meet with a couples counsellor to discuss their relationship difficulties. You may feel your relationship is on the rocks for some reason — perhaps there has been infidelity or betrayal of some kind — or just going stale, or other stresses. Perhaps you feel that your attempts to communicate either escalate into arguments or go nowhere. With willingness on both sides, I can help you learn to listen to each other, and much more. Couples counselling can save relationships. It surely has to be worth a try? You can book a 12-week course with me, after which, whatever your decision, you will both be equipped with some communication skills and insight into relationships that you didn’t have prior to therapy, which will either enhance your current relationship or at least stop you continuing to make the same mistakes over again! Book an Initial Consultation Ask a Question Relationships Your First Step Toward Professional Support Take your first step to a life of positive mental health Book an Initial Consultation Stress The most common signs of stress are low energy, recurrent headaches, pains, tense muscles, diarrhoea, constipation and nausea, chest pain, rapid heartbeat, insomnia, frequent colds and infections, loss of sexual desire or ability to ‘perform’ sexually, anxiety, a feeling of being overwhelmed, an inability to motivate yourself, racing thoughts...and the list goes on...and I know we could all tick these boxes at times! Long-term stress is however extremely debilitating and finding ways to deal with it can feel like pushing a rock uphill. Often, people who’re suffering from stress have fallen into particular ways of thinking or behaving which they think are helpful, but are actually not. There are ways of dealing with stress and exploring alternative, helpful ways of dealing with it which are proven to be extremely helpful. If your car isn’t working properly, you take it to a mechanic. If you are not functioning well under pressure, counselling can definitely help you. Book an Initial Consultation Ask a Question Stress The Chakras Before you’re tempted to dismiss this as 'new-age nonsense', have a read of this... The chakra system originated in India between 1500 and 500 BC recorded within some of the oldest written texts called the Vedas. The chakras have been described as centres of organisation for the reception, assimilation, transformation and expression of life energy (known variously as chi, ki, prana, the life force and so on). The ancient chakra system can be used as a map for the process of becoming whole. The chakras are formed throughout childhood and traumas occurring during childhood can cause imbalances in the chakra system. When the chakras are out of balance, the currents of the life force can be blocked, which means we become stuck in repetitive patterns of behaviour, either focusing excessively on a particular type of energy or spending a lot of time avoiding it. Although I don’t force any type of system of learning on my clients, I do lean on the chakras as a map to understand what’s going wrong and why, and in twenty or more years of practice, this wonderful theoretical model has never failed me. My chakra courses are open to both professional colleagues and the public. See my Workshops page for further information. Book an Initial Consultation Ask a Question The Chakras New Book In her first book, psychotherapist Lynn Somerfield explores the subtle processes through which change begins to take root in our lives. Through reflection and insight, she considers how moments of awareness, courage, and compassion can gradually shape meaningful personal transformation Explore the Book

Recognising mental health issues and then finding a counsellor sometimes isn’t an easy process. With this in mind, my website is designed to provide an understandable overview of the world of psychotherapy and counselling to help you take the first step towards a life of positive mental health. Professional Psychotherapy and Counselling for adult individuals and couples across London and Bedfordshire Book an Initial Consultation Welcome Welcome to Lynn Somerfield Psychotherapy, providing therapy services across London and Bedfordshire. People seek support from a therapist for many different reasons. You may be struggling with anxiety or depression. Your relationship may be in trouble due to an affair, communication difficulties, or family stress. Perhaps you’ve experienced a bereavement or are coping with a serious illness. Maybe you struggle with OCD, and it’s affecting your relationships and work. Alternatively, you may be experiencing insomnia, panic attacks, or flashbacks related to a traumatic incident. You may have an eating disorder. Perhaps you find it difficult to form relationships with others. Perhaps you’re anxious in relationships, or too distant. Perhaps you have a problem with dependency on alcohol or drugs, maybe even an addiction. Believe it or not, none of these things is abnormal. They are the things that make us human! Recognising your own mental health issues and then finding a counsellor or psychotherapist is not always easy. I have designed this website with that in mind... On the following pages, you’ll find information to help you better understand psychotherapy, learn more about my background and training, and discover my approach to therapy. If there’s a topic I haven’t covered or you’d like to arrange an initial consultation, please contact me . I look forward to hearing from you. In her first book, psychotherapist Lynn Somerfield explores the subtle processes through which change begins to take root in our lives. Through reflection and insight, she considers how moments of awareness, courage, and compassion can gradually shape meaningful personal transformation Explore the Book Specialities As a transpersonal and integrative psychotherapist, I am able to support clients with a broad range of mental health worries. Below I have provided a summary of my primary specialist support areas. You can find more information by clicking through on the 'Learn More' buttons, or by simply contacting me . Abuse Issues Learn More Addiction or Dependency Learn More Anger Issues Learn More Anxiety Learn More Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Learn More Depression Learn More Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR) Learn More Grief & Bereavement Learn More Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Learn More Panic Attacks Learn More Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Learn More Relationships Learn More Stress Learn More The Chakras Learn More Reach For A Helping Hand Take your first step toward positive mental health Book an Initial Consultation

Recognising mental health issues and then finding a counsellor sometimes isn’t an easy process. With this in mind, my website is designed to provide an understandable overview of the world of psychotherapy and counselling to help you take the first step towards a life of positive mental health. Contact Me Contact Me There are a number of ways to contact me so please choose your preferred method from the options below and I will respond to you at my very earliest opportunity! Email You can email me directly using my email address lynn@lynnsomerfield.com . Alternatively, contact me via one of the contact forms I have provided below. Phone You are welcome to telephone me. My mobile phone number is 07762 738 238 . Location I tend to work at different locations throughout each week. I have a Central London clinic as well as a clinic in Lidlington, Bedfordshire . Contact Forms I have made two Contact Forms available on this page. Please select the one you require from the list below. Ask a Question Book an Initial Consultation Ask a Question Ask me anything, but please keep in mind that my expertise will be best utilised if your questions are related to Psychotherapy and Counselling! First name* Last name* Email* Phone Your Question* I consent to you processing the information I provide (which may include health information) for the purpose of responding to my enquiry * Submit your Question Ask a Question Book an Initial Consultation The first step in any therapy journey is for us to meet for an initial consultation and get to know each other a little. At this first meeting, I will be asking you questions about the issues you’re struggling with right now and what you’re hoping to address in therapy. If you would like to book an initial consultation with me, please complete the form below. First name* Last name* Email* Phone Please describe what you would like help with...* I consent to you processing the information I provide (which may include health information) for the purpose of responding to my enquiry * Please subscribe me to future communications and offers. Your personal details will remain confidential and will never be shared with any party outside me therapy practice Submit your Request Book an Initial Consulation

Photo by Warren on Unsplash Being cast out by a community is a particular kind of wound. It doesn’t only hurt socially. It can feel as if something much deeper has been disturbed — as if the circle that once held you has closed its gates, leaving you standing outside, trying to understand what has happened. In Jungian terms, this is the territory of the exile or the outcast. Although that can sound bleak, it is worth remembering that, in myth and fairy tale, the one who is sent away is rarely at the end of their story. More often, they are at the beginning of an initiation. When you have been banished, scapegoated, misunderstood, or pushed to the village's edge, it may be because you are carrying something the group cannot yet bear: a truth, a difference, a sensitivity, a disturbance, or a new possibility. This does not make the pain acceptable. It does not romanticise rejection or excuse cruelty. But it does suggest that more may be at play than simple exclusion. Sometimes the community casts out the very thing that sustains life. The work, then, is not necessarily to force your way back in or to spend a lifetime begging to be understood. The deeper work may be to ask: What part of me was exiled with me? What did I come to believe about myself when the group turned away? What truth, gift, or tenderness needs to be gathered back now? From a transpersonal perspective, belonging is not only about belonging to a group, family, school, church, profession, or tribe. There is another belonging too — belonging to the soul, to the Self, to the earth, and to the mystery of being alive. When human circles fail us, we may need to remember the older circle: the trees, the breath, the body, the ancestors, the night sky, and the quiet presence within. There is a belonging that no committee can withdraw. It cannot be voted away. It does not depend on approval. The wound says, I have been rejected. The soul may eventually answer, But I have not been abandoned by myself. A simple inner exercise Imagine yourself standing outside the gates of the community that cast you out. Not to plead. Not to argue. Not to make a case for your innocence or your worth. Simply to witness. Then notice who, or what, is still standing there. Is it the ashamed child? The angry one?The loyal one?The bewildered one? The part still waiting to be called back in? Now imagine walking towards that part of yourself and saying: You do not have to stand here any longer. You do not have to keep proving your worth to people who cannot see you. You belong with me now. Come home. You might imagine wrapping that part of yourself in a cloak — a cloak of dignity, warmth, and protection — and leading it away from the gates. Not back into the old community, but towards an inner place of refuge: a fire, a garden, a chapel, a forest clearing, a shoreline. Somewhere the soul can breathe again. Being cast out can leave you feeling ashamed, contaminated, or somehow wrongly named. But banishment is not the same as truth. The group may have rejected you. That does not mean your soul rejects you. The group may have falsely named you. That does not mean your true name has been lost. But another threshold may be opening — quieter, deeper, more honest — where belonging is no longer bought at the price of self-betrayal, but grows from becoming more fully who you are.

Some symbols arrive quietly, like a feather found on a path. The peacock is not one of them. The peacock enters like an opera singer in full costume, having apparently missed the memo about humility. It does not sidle into the symbolic imagination. It fans itself open. It shimmers. It says, in no uncertain terms: look at me. And that, of course, is where the trouble begins. Because many of us are deeply uneasy about being seen. We are taught, often very early, not to show off, not to take up too much space, not to be “too much”. We learn to tuck our brightness away. We trim our colours to fit the room. We become experts in being acceptable, useful, and manageable. Then along comes the peacock, dragging behind it a fan of blue, green and gold, asking: What if your beauty was not a problem? At one level, the peacock is a symbol of display. It is associated with vanity, pride and self-importance. To “peacock” is to show oneself off, usually with a touch too much confidence and perhaps a jacket no one asked for. We all know that version. The inflated self. The person who cannot quite leave a room without making sure everyone has noticed their departure. But symbols are rarely so simple. The peacock also carries a deeper message about visibility. Its magnificent tail is not merely a decoration. It is a revelation. It shows what has been hidden. It fans out the inner world into colour and pattern. In dreams, myths and inner life, the peacock may appear when something in us is ready to be seen. Not the polished persona, not the performance, but the deeper radiance of the self. The part of us that has survived shame, comparison, criticism and the long, grey education in self-doubt. There is also something extraordinary about the “eyes” in the peacock’s feathers. They seem to look back at us. In symbolic language, eyes often suggest awareness, perception and consciousness. The peacock may therefore speak not only of being seen by others, but of seeing ourselves more fully. This is not always comfortable. To truly see ourselves is not simply to admire the attractive parts. It is to recognise the whole pattern. The beauty and the awkwardness. The longing to shine and the fear of being judged. The genuine gift and the temptation to use that gift for applause. The peacock asks us to notice where healthy self-expression ends, and performance begins. In this sense, it is a surprisingly useful therapeutic symbol. Many people arrive in therapy with their colours faded. They may not describe it that way, of course. They might say they feel flat, anxious, invisible, stuck, or strangely disconnected from themselves. But somewhere, often hidden beneath years of adaptation, there is a lost brightness—a way of moving, speaking, creating or loving that has been subdued for too long. The peacock reminds us that healing is not only about reducing distress. It is also about recovering vitality. There is an old spiritual association between the peacock and transformation. In some traditions, it is linked with immortality and renewal, partly because of the way its feathers are shed and regrown. Symbolically, this gives us another layer. The peacock does not merely dazzle. It renews its splendour. It knows how to lose and regrow. That feels important. Because the beauty we recover in later life is often not innocent. It is not the untouched brightness of childhood. It is something more weathered, more truthful. It has passed through grief, disappointment, embarrassment, ageing, loss and the occasional deeply unflattering photograph. It is not perfect. It is alive. And perhaps that is the real teaching of the peacock. Not vanity, but permission. Permission to unfold a little more.Permission to stop apologising for the colour in us.Permission to be visible without becoming inflated.Permission to recognise that modesty, when overdone, can become another hiding place. Of course, there is a balance. The peacock can warn us against empty display. It can ask where we are performing rather than expressing, seducing rather than relating, dazzling rather than connecting. But it can also challenge the opposing wound: the belief that we must remain small to be loved. So, if a peacock appears in a dream, an image, a sudden fascination, or even on a cushion you find yourself oddly drawn to in a shop, it may be worth asking: Where am I hiding my colours? Where am I afraid to be seen? What part of me longs to unfold? And where might I be confusing visibility with vanity? The peacock is a flamboyant teacher, admittedly. Not everyone’s preferred guide. Some of us might prefer a wise old owl or a discreet little robin. But symbols do not always arrive in the outfit we would choose for them. Sometimes the psyche sends a peacock. And when it does, it may invite us to stand a little more openly in our own lives. Not to strut, necessarily. Though on a good day, why not? But to remember that the soul, when allowed its full expression, is rarely beige. As I explore in The Seeds of Change: How Therapists Cultivate Personal Growth, healing often begins when something hidden finds a form: a word, an image, a gesture, a dream, a symbol. The peacock, with all its impossible colour and beauty, reminds us that what has been folded away may not be lost. It may simply be waiting for the right moment to open.

Photo by Curology on Unsplash The toilet may not be the most glamorous symbol in the gallery. It does not have the majesty of a tree, the mystery of a snake, or the poetic shimmer of a river. It is unlikely to appear on a greeting card alongside the words “follow your dreams”. And yet, symbolically, the toilet has a great deal to say. In dreams and the inner life, toilets often appear when something needs to be released. Something old, unwanted, toxic, embarrassing, private, or simply no longer useful. The toilet belongs to the part of life we prefer not to put on display, which is precisely why it can be such a powerful image. It may speak of the need to let go. Old shame. Old grief. Old resentment. Old stories. Other people’s expectations. Emotional material we have been carrying for far too long, possibly with the same determination we use when refusing to throw away a drawer full of cables that fit nothing we own. Toilets are also about privacy. We need a safe place to deal with what is most basic, bodily and human. So when toilets appear in dreams, especially if they are exposed, dirty, blocked, missing a door, or impossible to find, they may point to feelings of vulnerability, lack of boundaries, shame, or not having enough private space to process what is going on inside. In therapy, the toilet might invite us to wonder: What am I ready to release? What am I still holding onto? Where do I need more privacy, dignity or space? And what has become blocked because I have not been able to let something move through me? A blocked toilet is rarely subtle. Symbolically, it may suggest that something is backing up. Feelings, needs, anger, grief, fear, perhaps even words that have not been spoken. As with all symbols, the meaning is never fixed. For one person, a toilet may feel comic. For another, shameful. For another necessary cleansing, exposing, or oddly liberating. This theme of releasing what no longer serves us is also part of the deeper work explored in my book, The Seeds of Change: How Therapists Cultivate Personal Growth. So perhaps the question is not, what does the toilet mean? But: What am I ready to stop carrying? What needs to be flushed from my life? And where might I need a little more privacy, compassion and decent plumbing? @routledgebooks#TheSecretLanguageOfSymbols#TheSeedsOfChange#HowTherapistsCultivatePersonalGrowth#TranspersonalPsychotherapy#InnerLife#SymbolsAndMeaning