The monster showed up after midnight. As they do. These are the opening words to Patrick Ness’ 2011 children’s fiction book, A Monster Calls. A recent visit to a book shop ended the way it often does for me – I go in with my thoughts and purse trained towards one particular book or author, […]

Here at SKATTLE, one of the guiding values the team holds onto is the idea we all have an innate need to recognise our unique skills and strengths. When we live in a world that can focus on the problems that we face, we are often left feeling overwhelmed, drained, or even a bit hopeless. […]

You may have noticed from looking around the website that SKATTLE run therapeutic groups for kids and young people going through difficult life experiences.   We call these our Children and Change groups. Whenever we run a kids group, we run a concurrent parent group so that parents can connect and explore how their role as […]

One of the biggest fears and misconceptions that people have when they seek counselling is the idea they are going to have to bear their souls to their counsellor – to delve deep into the past and examine all the bad experiences that have led them to where they are today. The popular concept is […]

At some point in our lives, we all experience times of change. Whether they’re big changes or small, temporary or permanent, sometimes they can throw us right off our game. At SKATTLE, a lot of the things we talk about have to do with change. We’ve had clients speak about the death of a loved […]

Language is a pretty amazing thing. It is what makes humans unique, and without it, we would not be as advanced as we are now. While animals can communicate, we create syntax and semantics in ways that can totally alter how information is received. What many of us fail to realise, however, is that we […]