We can see that feeling “depressed” is often associated with specific things; that is to say, feeling dejected is not random, but it is caused by a situation in your life. This depressive mood doesn't last long. When the tough situation is over, our depression usually wanes. Robert de Board's engaging account of Toad's experience of counselling will capture the imagination of the growing readership of people who are interested in counselling and the counselling process. Written as a real continuation of life on the River Bank, Toad and his friends come to life all over again. Robert de Board's engaging account of Toad's experience of counselling will capture the imagination of the growing readership of people who are interested in counselling and the counselling process. In this sequel to the story of life on the riverbank, Toad and his friends come to life all over again. A delightful book which... offers a gentle introduction to transactional analysis and much more." - Relate News Over 3 million copies sold worldwide and translated into seven languages! For over 25 years Counselling for Toads has provided readers with a warm and engaging introduction to counselling, brought to life by Toad and his friends from Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows . Over the course of ten sessions, which correspond to chapters of the book, a very depressed Toad learns how to analyse his own feelings and develop his emotional intelligence using the language and ideas of transactional analysis. He meets his ‘rebellious child’ and his ‘adult’ along the way and by the end of the book, Toad is setting out on a completely new adventure – as debonair as he ever was. Readers will learn about the counselling process and themselves as they join Toad on his journey from psychological distress to psychological growth and development. A must-read for anyone approaching counselling for the first time, whether as a student or as a client, or for the professional counsellor looking for something to recommend to the hesitant. Counselling for Toads by Robert De Board – eBook Details

When we are feeling negative emotions or experiencing a mental conflict, we tend to turn to friends for guidance. We believe that close friends will have a clear understanding of our personal problems, so they can propose effective solutions. The attention and care we get from our friends can also make us feel comforted in those dark moments. First, Toad habitually ignores his true feelings. When Heron asks him how he is feeling today, Toad blurts out, “Quite well, thank you.” This automatic response robs Toad of a chance to really get in touch with his feelings. In fact, Toad never faces his emotions. He always subconsciously avoids self-reflection. When he goes to a party, regardless of his current mood, he immediately adopts a polite social mode, and his opening line is always the same: “Hello, friends, you'll never guess what I've been up to,” or “Come, my friend, look at this.” No one gets a chance to ask, “Are you okay?” No one asks, “How are you?” So he seldom examines his own feelings. Heron, the counsellor, uses the language and ideas of transactional analysis as his counselling method. Through the sessions, or chapters of the book, Toad learns how to analyse his own feelings and develop his emotional intelligence. By the end of the book, as debonair as ever, he is setting out on a completely new adventure. These are the effects of Toad's family environment, and they are the source of his current depression.

Wellness

Counselling for Toads begins with Toad plunging into one of his periodic bouts of depression, but this time he cannot seem to snap out of it. His friends become so concerned about his mental state that they arrange for him to see Heron. Toad reluctantly agrees to go, but at first he is rather uncooperative with Heron's attempts to get him to talk about his feelings. Gradually, however, Toad begins to open up. Someone who chooses the “I’m okay; you’re not okay” position often holds a status of power and authority. These people get angry easily, and they always feel that others have let them down, like Toad's strict father and Badger, who often criticize Toad. Another example can occur when someone makes a mistake in a work environment. That person’s boss can make a mountain out of a molehill and shout at their employee to prove their philosophy of “I’m okay; you’re not okay,” that others are fundamentally incompetent and unreliable, and that it is their duty to reprimand and punish others. However, people in this position never feel depressed, because they always blame others and rarely feel guilty themselves. Heron, the counsellor, uses the language and ideas of transactional analysis as his counselling method. Through the dialogues which make up the ten sessions, or chapters of the book, Toad learns how to analyse his own feelings and develop his emotional intelligence. He meets his 'rebellious child' and his 'adult' along the way, and by the end of the book, as debonair as ever he was, is setting out on a completely new adventure. As readers learn about Toad, so they can learn about themselves and be encouraged to take the path of psychological growth and development. Toad', the famous character in Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows is in a very depressed state and his good friends Rat, Mole and Badger, are 'worried that he might do something silly'...

Appropriate for anyone approaching counselling for the first time, whether as a student or as a client, or for the professional counsellor looking for something to recommend to the hesitant, Counselling for Toads will appeal to both children and adults of all ages. Best-selling author, Robert de Board says: 'Toad's experiences are based on my own experiences of counselling people over a period of twenty years. Counselling for Toads is really an amalgamation of the many counselling sessions I have held and contains a distillation of the truths I have learnt from practice.'

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Now look here Toad, this can go on no longer', he said sternly. 'There is only one thing left. You must have counselling!' First they nursed him. Then they encouraged him. Then they told him to pull himself together... Finally, Badger could stand it no longer. That admirable animal, though long on exhortation, was short on patience.

Before we begin, we need to distinguish between a depressive mood and clinical depression. Despair is a common emotion. For example, if we plan to go hiking with our friends, and they tell us before we set out that they have to cancel, we may feel upset. Or, we may have secretly worked out for a month, in an effort to impress our friends, but they say they don't see any change, and we feel depressed as a result.To make matters worse, Toad finds himself suffering from low self-esteem and suicidal impulses. His family is very famous in the area. Toad's grandfather had been a Fellow of a college in Cambridge, and later became the Suffragan Bishop of Blewbury in Oxfordshire, known as “The Bishop.” Toad's father had owned a large local estate with great halls for feasting, a large tract of land, and a distillery. Toad's mother is a traditional housewife, taking care of the whole family. When his father passed away, Toad became the heir to the estate and inherited a large fortune. But ever since then, Toad has felt inferior. He feels that he does not deserve it, that he hasn't done a decent job, and he has made a mess of his life. He feels that his life is a joke. This feeling of worthlessness and helplessness once caused Toad to consider suicide. Fortunately, Toad's friends recognized that he was acting strange and advised him to seek psychological counseling in time, otherwise the consequences could have been unimaginable. The difference between psychological counselling and friendly advice mainly lies in the professional nature of therapy. Secondly, Toad had no close friends and no one to confide in. One time, Toad was being chased by a group of thugs. When he managed to escape, he fell into a river and almost drowned. But, his good friend, Rat, got him out in time. Toad was eager to share the excitement and danger with his friend, but Rat reacted coldly, which extinguished Toad's enthusiasm for sharing. Toad’s mouth fell agape briefly, but then closed again without a word. Following this incident, Toad's heart became closed off to the world. Clinical depression, or major depression, is a mental illness that is very different from a depressive mood. We will discuss the symptoms and causes of clinical depression in part one. In this article, when we use the word “depression,” we are referring primarily to clinical depression, not to a depressive mood. If the issue is only a small mood swing, counseling from a good friend can be effective. For example, when our declaration of love doesn’t turn out the way we had hoped, receiving guidance from our good friends may help us return to normal.