A Wooler-based psychotherapist has released a revised, illustrated book to guide people on understanding the emotional weight behind anxiety, depression, anger, grief and the feeling of being stuck.

Stefan Charidge – also a counselling supervisor, trainer and author – created The Penny Model to help people recognise how small, unresolved emotional experiences can accumulate over time and affect how they feel, think and behave.

At the centre of the model is a simple idea: emotional weight can build like pennies. One penny may feel insignificant, but many pennies carried over time can become difficult to bear.

A ‘penny’ can be something as simple as saying yes when we mean no, swallowing an objection or ignoring a feeling. Each moment may seem small, but over time those emotional compromises can accumulate.

Wooler-based psychotherapist Stefan Charidge.

placeholder image — Wooler-based psychotherapist Stefan Charidge.

The revised edition reflects how The Penny Model has continued to develop through Stefan’s more than 26 years of therapeutic experience and insight.

It builds on the original book with a fuller, more visual and practical exploration of emotional experiences.

Stefan said: “I help make difficult emotions easier to see, understand and talk about.

“Many people know that they feel anxious, angry, low or overwhelmed, but they do not always have a clear way to understand what is happening beneath the surface.

“A picture or metaphor can give people a shared language when ordinary words are difficult to find.”

The revised edition also has strong local creative roots. Stefan first discovered local artist Anthea Wood’s work through the popular Wooler Life Calendar.

Working through Amwood Art, Anthea created illustrations that bring the book’s metaphors to life and make complex emotional ideas easier to see and remember.

Stefan’s motivation for creating The Penny Model was shaped by both lived experience and his therapeutic work. Having experienced difficulties with learning and dyslexia himself, he understood that complex written explanations do not work for everyone.

He added: “We are emotional beings, yet many of us were never given a simple language for our emotions.

“The Penny Model is not about telling people what to think. It is about helping them recognise what they feel, understand the weight they may be carrying and begin a different conversation.”

The book is available through selected online booksellers and can be found using ISBN-10 180764104X.