Inside Your Head Episode 7

In the introduction, I talk about one of my passions – the wonders of language – speculating on how language came into being at all. After all, without language, almost nothing else in modern life would be possible and language has been called ‘the tool that unlocks all other tools’. I venture into neuroscience, pinpointing which parts of the brain are responsible for handling language, and I take a brief look at the study of how language – even just little grunts and ‘non words’ – can be crucial in the way we communicate with each other, as an introduction to the subject of Conversational Analysis.

The main interview is with Deidré Wallace, a Harley Street psychotherapist and relationship counsellor. She explains how she doesn’t offer relationship advice, but offers relationship knowledge instead. She explains how problems in relationships can usually be traced back to our childhoods and how our parents behaved and their values. I found particularly valuable information on her blog about abandonment issues, and how that can affect us in numerous ways in later life. These issues can begin in very early childhood, and Deidré explains the concept of “The Gaze”, and how as soon as the immediate mother/child bond is broken, this can potentially initiate a series of behaviours between mother and child that can have lifelong effects. We also discuss how we need to be aware that these issues can affect our career choices, as well as our relationship choices. Deidré has an extensive blog at https://relationshipknowledge.com where you can find out a great deal more about these topics.

Finally, our Relaxation on the Beach guided meditation focuses on gratitude, and how even the little things in life can inspire us to feel better about ourselves and the world.