Obviously some judgments in life are irreversible. These tend to be the ones you make about people and your relationship with them, for once the judgment is made and, in any way shared – discursively or in the form of an action to change the relationship – you alone are not in control of the … More I can’t rememember who gave me the advice, if anyone, but it is: “Never make a judgement that cannot be changed or revised’.

Baz was a rescue dog, aged 10 years when we first got him from a shelter at Darlington, he is often loving, intelligent and joyous dog but stricken with phases of extreme anxiety and what looks like depression.  He backs himself into corners where he cannot be disturbed, freezing into an attitude of non-engagement and … More Baz and his sad eyes.

When I taught social work, I very quickly learned that you cannot rely on the empathy presupposed in people who go into such professions, and that empathy can be co-learned. I use that term co-learned because one of the most damaging assumptions in education is that educators (teachers if you prefer) are often in deficit … More The statement, ‘Maybe I need to find out more before I jump to a harsh judgment’, is not necessarily the result of an inborn trait in human beings that think like that, and usually needs to be learned. It relates to ’empathy’ and empathy can and should be taught in schools.