Interviews Archives - Chronic Living Therapy

Lilianna Mint – Young Women with POTS

Can you share a little about the onset and how you came to get a diagnosis? I started noticing symptoms in my final year at school while studying for A-levels. … Read More

Insights into text-based therapy

It’s Severe ME Awareness Week now, in early August, and sharing this article seems particularly relevant. People who are most severely affected may find it hardest of all to access … Read More

Women looking at camera in consternation

“Brain Retraining” Merry-Go-Round

In July 2026 the UKs ‘i newspaper’ published an article about a still-to-be-peer-reviewed study of 75 people who claim to be ‘recovered’ from post-viral type conditions. Several organisations and patients … Read More

steep mountain slope in the middle of the picture, with a path going along it into the distance, sea at the bottom of the mountain on the right

Lena – on how hope changes

Lena is in her early forties and has experienced chronic ill health since she was 15. She shares her thoughts with us about the usefulness and sometimes also the difficulties … Read More

LED pillar candle, white, on a wooden table with some white roses and foliage lying next to them

Christine Sweeney – Grieving The Life Unlived

Setting up a ‘Grieving the Life Unlived’ meeting Christine Sweeney created a ‘Grieving the Life Unlived’ meetup for (and with) members of Cambridge ME Group (UK). She shares her inspiration … Read More

fernlike plant, bright green, tenaciously pushing through a crack in some concrete

Hope v Acceptance in Chronic Illness – Kirsty

Kirsty lives in the UK and has had ME for 30 years or so. She writes about ‘hope’ – whether it helps, how it can be misused, and what ‘real’ … Read More

a grey stone/concrete surface, with cracks in it, and a small green plant growing in a narrow crack

Keeping Hope Alive – Dan Wyke

People with difficult to diagnose and ‘psychologised’ illnesses such as ME/CFS understandably struggle to keep their hope (of recovery, of quality research, of support) alive. It’s particularly hard to do … Read More

Dark-skinned woman looking down and reading from a screen, background suggests she's resting in bed. She's smiling.

‘Brigitte’ Special Edition – MECFS

Brigitte, a widely read mainstream magazine with a large circulation in German-speaking countries, has just published a special edition about ME/CFS. It’s great! The researchers and journalists have interviewed doctors, … Read More

Head shot of Bita Nezamdoust gently smiling towards the camera

Bita Nezamdoust: marginalization and neglect in Severe ME

What motivated you to get involved in this work? This was a project born very much organically… I was on Twitter one night reading some emotionally moving Tweets by people … Read More

Natalie Hilliard, a white woman with short hair and glasses, smiling, on a blue and pink background

Natalie Hilliard Physiotherapist (Part 1)

Tell us a little about your professional background… how did you become interested in this area of work as a Physiotherapist? I am chartered Physiotherapist, qualified in 2005, and have … Read More

looking up skywards, at rolllercoaster swooping overhead, people on it looking excited and waving arms in air

A married couple talks about the impact of M.E.

Can you share a little background about how you met and how M.E. started to impact your lives? Michelle When Ian and I got together, we travelled a lot, including … Read More

aerial view of a forest with a winding road going through it

From Scepticism to Understanding – the hard way…

An anonymous person with M.E. explains her journey from sceptic to ‘really getting it’. She shares how she found community online, and how she approached therapy. She takes us through … Read More

Head shot of Katharine Cheston on a blue and pink background. Pale skinned women with dark hair, smiling at the camera

Katharine Cheston: exploring stigma, shame and illness

Thanks very much for writing in to the British Medical Journal (BMJ) when they published an article arguing that beliefs about MECFS substantially shape the course of the illness and … Read More

women in a cafe, seen from behind, holding up a newspaper to read it

#2 – Elsewhere on the web May 2025

Round up of articles spotted online in May 2025 that focus on the experiences of people with ‘psychologised’ or hard to diagnose health conditions. Keith Geraghty on O’Sullivan Writing in … Read More

black and white shot of hand placed on window, rain on window, looking out on part of a building - gives a lonely, 'stuck indoors' feeling.

Past experiences of therapy

In this post we hear from two people, Taylor* and J.E. Barnard, who have searched for support from therapists as they faced chronic ill health and the consequent impact on … Read More

Dan Wyke, head shot on pink and blue background. White man, with glasses and greyish hair.

Therapist Perspective: Dan Wyke

What prompted your interest in counselling or therapy with people who have long-term health conditions? Before I became a counsellor I worked for Age UK where I regularly came into … Read More

hands holding a smartphone, dark background surrounding the image

#1 – Elsewhere on the web Mar/Apr ’25

Round up of articles spotted online in March/April 2025 that focus on the experiences of people with ‘psychologised’ or hard to diagnose health conditions. For Some Women With Serious Physical … Read More

The Ripple Effects of Stigma

This post looks at the effects of ‘psychologisation’ and stigma – in particular as it relates to M.E. (or ME/CFS or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). The effects are far-reaching and have … Read More