The dodo became extinct because it wasn’t adaptable enough said a researcher on the TV the other night.

After years living on Mauritius this bird had developed a large chest and no longer flew. It nested upon the ground and when man arrived could not adapt quickly enough to the changing environment to survive. Millions of years of evolution were powerless when the bird had to deal with a changing habitat.

About fifty percent of all animals that are now extinct lived on islands. Does this have a message for us human beings?

Often a person’s anxiety and depression will have its roots in a fixed view of the world. Seeing the world through a narrow lens stops people being creative and thinking ‘outside of the box.’ If we live life believing that our view is the only way to be, like the dodo we are asking for trouble. Because when change comes along it hits hard!

On our Diploma of hypnotherapy and psychotherapy, we teach our students how to help ‘reframe’ peoples unhelpful negative viewpoints.

Seeing a new perspective is often enough for the client to begin to feel much better. The solution focused therapy skills the students develop allows them to help clients to see areas of grey, think in a more creative and flexible way.

We laid the foundations of solution-focused therapy and reframing last weekend, and will continue to build their knowledge next weekend. I can’t tell you the amount of times that past, present students have said how thankful they have been to have the knowledge of reframing, and solution focused therapy. Because when hardship comes they sure are mighty powerful tools for survival.