Author : Gary Kennedy

Escaping the Drama

The Drama Triangle, with its roles of **victim, persecutor, and rescuer**, creates a cycle of dysfunction where no one truly wins, but by shifting to the Empowerment Triangle, we can foster growth, creativity, and positive change, with the roles of **creator, challenger, and coach**.

The Psychology of Resolutions

Why We Make Them (and Why We Break Them) Introduction It’s January 1st. The air is filled with optimism, and many of us are armed with a list of resolutions. But by February, many of those lists are gathering dust. Why? New year is traditionally the time (at least in the West) for setting resolutions. […]

Why Pausing Isn’t Optional

Mastering Mindful Communication We’ve all had those moments of impulsive reactions, where emotions take the wheel and lead to regrettable words or actions. It’s a common human experience, rooted in our primal instincts to fight, flight, or freeze. However, in today’s complex social interactions, these instinctual responses can often hinder effective communication. The key to […]

Beyond the Surface

Responding to Emotional Outbursts In my previous post, we explored the importance of acknowledging and naming our emotions accurately. Today, I’m shifting our focus to how we receive and respond to the emotions of others. Facing the Outpouring Few of us relish being on the receiving end of a verbal outburst, whether it’s anger, frustration, […]

Why More Precise Language Helps

Understanding Your Emotions We often resort to broad terms like “happy,” “sad,” and “angry” to describe our emotions. While these labels offer a basic understanding, they fail to capture the nuances of our emotional experiences. By employing more precise language, we can gain deeper insights into ourselves, communicate more effectively, and negotiate life’s challenges with […]

Unleashing Your Imagination

A Path to Positive Change Renowned therapist and NLP co-creator Richard Bandler emphasised the transformative power of imagination. He believed that envisioning a desired future is crucial for achieving it. By painting vivid mental pictures of our dearest wishes, we can identify the necessary steps to turn our dreams into reality. This isn’t about magic […]

The Power of Our Stories

Rewriting Narratives for a More Fulfilling Life From the earliest days of humanity, storytelling has been a fundamental aspect of our existence. Around campfires, we shared tales of heroes, villains, and mythical creatures, weaving narratives that shaped our understanding of the world and our place within it. This tradition continues today, with stories shaping our […]

Rewriting Our Stories

A Journey of Transformation There’s a certain magic to reading aloud to children. It’s like sharing a secret world, a place where dragons roar and princesses save the day. These stories seep into young minds, shaping dreams, fears, and aspirations. But it’s not just children who are influenced by narrative; we adults are storytellers too, […]

Finding Home

The Challenge and Beauty of Belonging in a Moving World COVID-19 taught us a lot, or if it didn’t teach us, it hammered it home. One of those things is our deep craving for connection and belonging. Remember the news reports of people on balconies in high-rise apartments singing together? There was an incredible sense […]

Don’t Get Defensive, Get Defective

How to Turn Feedback into Your Superpower In my last blog post, I wrote about giving feedback and how to make it useful and to the point.  In today’s piece I want to look at the other side of the coin: how to receive feedback or criticism.  This includes performance reviews at work, critiques from […]

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