Stimmung Therapy Services

Stimmung Therapy Services Specialist in Psychotherapy & Skills Coaching for Creatives; Existential, DBT & RO DBT; ADHD, ADD, PD Walking-And-Talking Therapy also offered.

Who knows what “feeling funny” means? When I was a kid, a friend’s mum explained to me once, “She wasn’t in school today...
20/02/2026

Who knows what “feeling funny” means? When I was a kid, a friend’s mum explained to me once, “She wasn’t in school today because she’s got the collywobbles.” Another way of saying “feeling funny”?

Maybe. Sometimes “having the collywobbles”, or “feeing funny” suffice as descriptions when vocabulary is lacking. “Not feeling myself” is another phrase for it. But what is “it”? Weird. Funny. Collywobbles. Not myself.

What’s your phrase?

Sad? Angry? Indifferent? Envious? Curious? Surprised? In love? Content? Jealous? Guilty? Ashamed? Who knows? Some people...
17/02/2026

Sad? Angry? Indifferent? Envious? Curious? Surprised? In love? Content? Jealous? Guilty? Ashamed? Who knows? Some people don’t want to be read, and if this fellow is one of those people, then a flat affect is a sure fire way to fend people off.

A flat face will invoke loneliness, or at least aloneness. The former may not be welcome, the latter may be. To connect with others you need to be easier to read, so get those eyebrows waggling and your lips smiling. An eyebrow waggle is universally friendly, and signals a welcome to those who would like to approach.

The death of legendary clown, teacher and theatre practitioner Philippe Gaulier prompted nostalgia for something lost an...
13/02/2026

The death of legendary clown, teacher and theatre practitioner Philippe Gaulier prompted nostalgia for something lost and unattainable: a memory of undergraduate studies in acting with Gaulier’s former student and mentee, the co-founder of Complicité, and fiercely talented Simon McBurney.

The depth of my emotion baffles me me, since I didn’t work or meet Gaulier. An average bunch of would-be actors immersed all green and unknowing into working with the intimidatingly talented McBurney, who we didn’t really know then from Adam, and was passionate about imparting his superior physical theatre techniques and practices. He must have carried with him and transferred some energy, passion or spirit of his mentor Gaulier. Yet I didn’t realise it back in 1986.

McBurney praised me in front of the rest of the class for my accomplished ex*****on of a double-take. Not bad for an AmDram girl from Basingstoke who just wanted to be the lead in any musical going, and had no real aspiration to become professional. I was majoring in music. The acting bit was…well, why not? There’s the happy bit.

Awareness of aging, the loss of youth and facing death is the sad aspect, I suppose.

And a happy/sad memory is prompted also since some of the photos of Gaulier remind me of my former business partner who was never an intentional clown, but definitely, often risible, and with whom I enjoyed relative success.

Feeling saudade for my younger years of first not caring what came next; and then reaping reward whilst simultaneously looking forward with curiosity and optimism to what may come.

RIP Philippe Gaulier

If you easily perceive criticism, find a tease hard to laugh about, are overly empathic or feel keenly, you’re probably ...
12/02/2026

If you easily perceive criticism, find a tease hard to laugh about, are overly empathic or feel keenly, you’re probably thin skinned.

You don’t necessarily have to change a thing. A thicker skin stops you listening, and thin skinned people listen better than most. Just be present with those that hear you, and that give you space to be who you are. Limit your time with the incessant teasers and non-listeners. That may mean backing off from family members too, sadly, and may be much more easily said than done.

A long overdue visit last weekend to mum’s got me thinking.English paediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott enco...
10/02/2026

A long overdue visit last weekend to mum’s got me thinking.

English paediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott encouraged caregivers to be “good enough”. Mum’s just been diagnosed with mild dementia, and my “enough” doesn’t feel “good enough”. But I can only do what I can do.

Sometimes your own emotions can get in the way of good judgement because something doesn’t feel enough. So when it comes to family duties, my tips are to check with others who aren’t familial, bear in mind your own values, and also know the capacity of your limitations. You can only do what you can do.

Maybe this tells us something about me. I don’t know. What are your thoughts on the matter?

Excited to share that I just got recognised as one of Jacob Collier's top fans! 🎉
03/02/2026

Excited to share that I just got recognised as one of Jacob Collier's top fans! 🎉

Welcome to my new series Feelings In February. So, first off, let’s talk about me. For the past few months it transpires...
03/02/2026

Welcome to my new series Feelings In February. So, first off, let’s talk about me. For the past few months it transpires that I’ve been going about my business with an oversensitised nervous system, so currently as well as an elevated pain system, I am super sensitive to other people’s emotions.

Some people are born this way and it’s bio temperamental. You may even have a label for yours - Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). Whatever it’s called, or not, and whether you were born with it, or whether you developed it from a virus (as I did), an oversensitised nervous system does not serve you well when it comes to the contagion of other people’s emotions.

Try to remember this: their anxiety is their anxiety, not yours; their anger and frustration is their anger and frustration, not yours; their guilt shame or embarrassment is theirs, not yours.

If you can remember that, here’s the beautiful thing: as an adult, you can always choose not to take it on, or at least remove yourself, or duck! Or you can choose to immerse yourself in the Other’s emotions, and let’s face it, if it’s joy or happiness, then maybe you’d welcome a bit of fallout, thank you very much!

Whether you were born sensitive or not, as an adult, there is always a choice. You may indeed need skills coaching to effectively steer clear of the freight train coming straight at you from the Other. But first, recognise it as their stuff to feel.

Therein lies your liberation.

The last of my Try January posts. Alas, I shall mourn the loss of this little series and wish I’d started it even earlie...
30/01/2026

The last of my Try January posts. Alas, I shall mourn the loss of this little series and wish I’d started it even earlier in the month.

Anyway, clients this week brought to me variations on a theme of procrastination, which are rumination, brooding, perfectionistic
thinking, analysis paralysis, inertia, inactivity and avoidance, also known as “duvet diving”.

As I said to each of my clients, do all of the above but just for a little bit, and then try pressing your “F**k It!” switch.

“Be bloody, bold and resolute!” was the witches’ plea to Macbeth.

And look where that got him, you may retort.

Yet being always careful breeds hyper vigilance; waiting for perfect stifles vitality; avoidance leads to loneliness; brooding harbours neurosis; rumination feels productive, but in reality it’s just you trying super hard to stay the same.

Every now and then, try pressing it.

Go on.

F**k it!

Try customisingThis one’s for psychologists, and those that deliver psychological/behaviour therapies or directive thera...
27/01/2026

Try customising

This one’s for psychologists, and those that deliver psychological/behaviour therapies or directive therapy. If prescriptive skills and tools don’t suit your client’s temperament or personality, it’s no good sticking mindlessly to the text book.

Try instead to customise and tweak the prescriptive therapy to fit your client’s personality. You might even try laying off the directive stuff if your ADHDers refuse to do the skills and coping mechanisms that they know will work, and instead customise your approach to get to the root of the refusal.

Any decent psychologist or behaviour therapy practitioner will do this anyway. But I thought it worth putting out there. It’s probably why many NHS Crisis Teams and some Counsellors hit a brick wall - it could be that the prescriptive therapy is failing the patient or client.

And clients - don’t throw out the directive skills all together. Try customising them to make them relevant to you. Just as each Celtic family line has their own tartan, each person’s Safety Cue is individual: speak up, don’t give up! Help your therapist work with you to customise the therapy for your unique fit.

Try surpriseSurprise doesn’t get much band width in psychotherapeutic sessions, and yet I’d argue that it’s as valid an ...
22/01/2026

Try surprise

Surprise doesn’t get much band width in psychotherapeutic sessions, and yet I’d argue that it’s as valid an emotion as any other.

In fact, I’d go further and say that it’s important for good mental health to experience surprise.

It’s even relationship enhancing.

Actually, surprise only generally comes into the therapeutic space in the context of clients expressing a need for control, for certainty and that they “don’t like surprises”.

But shaking things up, introducing novelty, doing things slightly differently are steps out of stuckness and even depression.

But when I say, “Try surprise,” what I mean here is this: try surprising someone by doing something you know they’ll like or even love without having a reason. Not because it’s a significant date or anniversary, or because they’ve asked you. But because you think they’re great, or because you love them.

It doesn’t have to be a big gesture, and you know best if they’re one of those people that desire control, so maybe don’t go over the top!

Try surprise, just because.

Let us know what happens.

Hello to my continuing series of Try January.This post is about acknowledging your blind spots. We all have them. As soo...
19/01/2026

Hello to my continuing series of Try January.

This post is about acknowledging your blind spots. We all have them. As soon as you give yourself permission to stop listening - there’s one enveloping you, right there. When you automatically dismiss, refute or counter a suggestion or something asked of you, there’s another one, right there. When your spontaneous response is a thought that there’s nothing for you to learn here, Bam! You hit a blind spot, right there. When you answer with, “I’ve tried that,” and close your mind based on your prior experience, Bosh! Your blind spot, right there!

If you refuse to recognise your blind spots, or your potential blind spots, it won’t kill you, but it could kill relationships, which matters when the relationship matters.

So try harder.

Ask yourself, is it possible I missed something the first time?

Ask yourself, might I need to revisit my take on this?

Ask yourself, if I wasn’t defending myself, is there something for me to learn here?

Ask, is it possible I may have a blind spot?

Try harder.

Welcome back to Try January, folks.Here’s today’s musings.It’s often worth revisiting all those things you’ve tried befo...
16/01/2026

Welcome back to Try January, folks.

Here’s today’s musings.

It’s often worth revisiting all those things you’ve tried before when returning to an enduringly irresolvable problem. This is particularly appropriate after a considerable break from it.

I have in mind those returning to therapy, perhaps even to a different therapist. Your experiencing and living continued away from “planet therapy”, and you will inevitably bring with you new meaning to that irresolvable problem or that unresolved trauma when you come back. So never close your mind to trying again in therapy to talk about that time, the trauma, that problem because now, the looking back will inevitably be different. A decent therapist will tell you this.

Liken it to climbing a spiralling hillside path: as you come to the same side of the hill the view to ground level is the same spot, but from a different perspective. So far, so obvious.

But also, and maybe not so obvious, when you arrive back down having reached the summit, looking up at the top will never be experienced the same as when you looked up having never yet reached it. It’s the same perspective but with new meaning.

Apply this to other areas of your life, for example, you could be reawakening a dormant business plan, reassessing your life and relationship priorities, reevaluating your career, revisiting a funding application. Try again with new meaning.

That’s modern day hermeneutics, that is. It’s all about the interpretation of meaning. Don’t be closed to it.

Try again.

What do you reckon?

Address

11 Golden Square
London
W1F9JB

Opening Hours

Tuesday 2pm - 8pm
Wednesday 2pm - 8pm
Thursday 2pm - 5pm
Friday 2pm - 8pm
Saturday 1pm - 5pm

Telephone

+447812674741

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Stimmung Therapy Services posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Stimmung Therapy Services:

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share via Email
Share on WhatsApp Share on Instagram Share on Telegram

Category

"Our openness to the world is constituted by Stimmung..." Martin Heidegger

Specialist Psychotherapy and Skills Coaching for musicians, performers, artists, DJs, designers, theatre practitioners, and those in the creative field.

Stimmung is Britain's only private practice to offer specialist skills and therapy for this client base. I work flexibly to accommodate your irregular and sporadic working hours as necessary. You may be on tour, in the studio, on stage, teaching or studying. I work across music genres, including classical, pop, contemporary, rock, jazz, grime, electronic. You may be a singer, composer, producer, DJ, instrumentalist, dancer, orchestral player, actor, artist, writer, theatre practitioner or poet. If you're a "night" person, then I will do my best arrange sessions accordingly. If you live or work overseas, then instead of face-to-face sessions, I do online video sessions on Skype, Whatsapp, FaceTime, or Messenger.

British Association Of Performance Arts Medicine

I am listed in the BAPAM directory, which may be how you found me in the first place. If you are a member of the Musicians' Union, Equity, the Incorporated Society of Musicians, or if you are a student, then you may be eligible for funding for short term therapy. If needed, I can endorse your application. I also offer bursaries on a case-by-case basis.