When love is a sham

by Lisa Harris1 Comment
Agatha Christie gives this line to Margot Bence, who was adopted at five and sent away at nine when her adoptive mother fell pregnant with her own child. The fury in it sounds like it should be about loss and a child who was loved and then abandoned. But when you read it again, the fury is pointed somewhere else. She's angry about the years she spent being certain she was wanted, and what that certainty cost her once it turned out to be wrong. And then at some point you realised your investment in the relationship was bigger than theirs. We all know some version of this. You trusted someone. A parent or friend, someone you'd have said was safe. And then at some point you realised your investment in the relationship was bigger than theirs. You were organising your emotional life around someone who was keeping you in a drawer. And the feeling that stays longest, much longer than the...
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How to find a supervisor

by Lisa HarrisNo Comments
Finding out if needs, experience, and goals align. As supervisors we all work a little differently, as supervisees, we are all different. This means finding the best fit or right combination might feel like a never ending task - but it doesn't need to. Thinking and reflecting on ourselves and putting this with what we might already know we are looking for, can be an excellent place to start. Communicating this to a potential supervisor can be a great time saver and allow everyone to make effective use of time. Think about your own professional background What is your current Role?Are you a trainee, newly qualified, an experienced practitioner, a supervisor, manager or consultant? What are your credentials, qualifications, Professional Body and supervision arrangements: Are you a member of the BACP, UKCP, NCPS etc. What is your level of training, what particular qualifications do you hold or are you working towards? What are your own achievements and background? What are your current supervision arrangements and how might...
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The unknown soldier.

by Lisa HarrisNo Comments
On November 7th, 1920, in strictest secrecy, four unidentified British bodies were exhumed from temporary battlefield cemeteries at Ypres, Arras, the Asine and the Somme. None of the soldiers who did the digging were told why. The bodies were taken by field ambulance to GHQ at St-Pol-Sur-Ter Noise. Once there, the bodies were draped with the union flag. Sentries were posted and Brigadier-General Wyatt and a Colonel Gell selected one body at random. The other three were reburied. A French Honour Guard was selected and stood by the coffin overnight of the chosen soldier overnight. On the morning of the 8th November, a specially designed coffin made of oak from the grounds of Hampton Court arrived and the Unknown Warrior was placed inside. On top was placed a crusaders sword and a shield on which was inscribed: "A British Warrior who fell in the GREAT WAR 1914-1918 for King and Country". On the 9th of November, the Unknown Warrior was taken by horse-drawn carriage through Guards of Honour...
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Where were you on 9/11?

by Lisa HarrisNo Comments
At times in our lives time stands still. It literally stops. Shock and trauma do that. We can then sit speechless unable to connect to a thought, any thought. Sometimes those moments are unique to us and are a personal experience - sometimes thousands of us share those moments. I've had those personal moments in my life. I also shared hours of moments with milions of others on 9/11. I wasn't there, I was at home, watching it unfold on TV. I watched open mouthed as the news unfolded and I watched live as the second plane hit, as the towers fell, as news of further hijackings and the Pentagon crash came in. I still remember the feelings I experienced that day, and why. I feel them now as I write this, much much less intensely, but my body remembers what happened inside of me that day. I'm writing this today so many years later with much compassion, in remembrance of and with repect...
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My journey to being Lisa Harris

by Lisa HarrisNo Comments
I've always been a people person I've always actively worked with people in one form or another.My first grown-up job in 1993 was as a health care assistant in an old cottage hospital working on long stay care of the elderly wards (as they were known then), often with those impacted by strokes or long-term health conditions. This was my first experience of working with brain injury. Thesekinds of wards don't even exist anymore. I really loved this job. I had so much one-to-one time with my patients to attend to their care and needs and to really listen to them. It was here that I learned that we are all human-first, in very real ways. I progressed to working in a brand-new build hospital working in the diagnostic radiology, the x ray department. I looked after patients' emotional and physical well-being when in the department for any kind of scan, x ray, or investigation. I really enjoyed the personal connection I had...
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