Expert advice
Michaela Thomas is a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, and managing director of The Thomas Connection. thethomasconnection.co.uk
Dr Marianne Trent is a clinical psychologist, and founder of Good Thinking Psychology Services. goodthinkingpsychology.co.uk
It starts with the person beside me leaning over, peering at what lies in front of me on the long wooden table: smudges of pulped colour on linen. I return the favour, taking in their artistic endeavour. I catch their eye. There’s a pause in which their nostrils flare and their eyes water with the effort of suppressing the snort that makes it out anyway. I answer, not with words, but by collapsing into laughter. A connection made. A surge of joy and a sudden sense of freedom bubbling up. Flashbacks to classroom days full of furtive glances and giggles, checking the progress of others. But I’m not in a classroom; I’m sitting at a table in the open air under wide Norfolk skies, and I’m on a retreat
