Contents:

• Features
  • Psychological Therapies in the NHS – a landmark conference

    • The Government has committed for the first time to state-funded psychological therapy services for all who need them. A conference last month debated how to put this grand plan into practice

  • Boy zone: notes on men and therapy

    • The thorny and complex issue of how to be a man – never mind a therapist too – affects the I-Thou relationship and hence congruence itself

  • Gender differences in help seeking

    • Traditional hegemonic masculinity militates against both help-seeking and being able to use psychotherapeutic help. Yet this is what we have to work with

  • On struggle, study and success

    • The inability of students to acknowledge the reality of the learning process leads to a high level of dropout in both the academic and counselling environments

  • Polarising or embracing?

    • In considering whether counselling should become a healthcare profession, it is important not to put forward another absolutist view, but rather embrace what is there and work with it. Our clients, for instance, often bring a medical-model view of themselves

  • Four vicious circles: Third Sector commissioning

    • ‘There is considerable scope for the expansion of psychological therapy in the UK at present,’ argue Heather Hurford and David Seward in therapy today, May 2007. In this dawning era of an open market in health and social care provision, there is also an increasing emphasis on the importance of preventative and early-intervention services, such as community-based counselling. But Third Sector agencies that deliver many of these vital front-line preventative services may experience even greater financial pressure from the new market in commissioned contracts unless there is further balancing of the dynamics within that commissioning marketplace.

  • Completing – not competing

    • The person-centred approach and the cognitive-behavioural therapies should not oppose or negate one another but jointly bring about the client’s greater sense of choice and tendency to flourish

  • Back to the 1980s

    • Insights into the context and development of supervision and supervision training – garnered from tracking back to some early work in the arena

  • Regulation matters: update

    • There have been several months of silence since the publication of the White Paper ‘Trust Assurance and Safety’ in February 2007, in which the Government stated its intention of regulating psychologists, counsellors,  sychotherapists and other psychological therapists. However, behind the scenes there has been much activity, says Sally Aldridge

  • Psychosis in the group

    • Psychosis is slippery – difficult to grasp and understand. What does it feel like to be plagued by thoughts, voices, imaginings and reality coupled with a sense of fragility? To not be able to trust anything?And can group therapy offer help?

  • The dating game

    • Choosing your partner when you start formal counselling is every bit as serious as choosing a spouse! In the spirit of seasonal helpfulness, we present ‘How to find the perfect placement’

  • Supervision: viewed from a distance

    • The use of webcam and headset can leave a sense of existential loss but also stretch boundaries and enhance creativity when you’re 800 miles apart

  • Bibliotherapy for anxiety

    • We continue with our ‘tried and tested’ series highlighting imaginative and creative tools that have proved both simple and effective for therapists and clients

  • Cover feature

    • We deceive ourselves if we believe that current denial and numbness about the state of our planet has nothing to do with our work as counsellors and psychotherapists – clients may become suddenly very afraid

• Regulars
  • Editorial

    • We mark the 30th anniversary of BACP in this issue by reproducing an article that appeared in The Times in 1977, written by the first Chair Nicholas Tyndall.

  • Letters
    • Common sense at last

      • I am grateful to Nick Totton (‘Therapy has no goal: a radical model of practice’) and to Pete Saunders (‘Decoupling psychological therapies from the medical model’) in the November 2007 issue of therapy today.

    • Elitist writing

      • I have been considering for some time whether to write to express my dissatisfaction with the content of many recent issues of therapy today. The October 2007 edition has finally impelled me to do this, containing as it does some of the elements to which I object.

    • Therapists, politics and humanitarian principles

      • I applaud Gabrielle Rifkind’s article, ‘Western diplomacy and psychology’, in the November issue of therapy
        today. Its inclusion is very important, as many therapists do not realise they have the psychological knowledge and experience to equip them to play a vital role as guardians of humanitarian principles.

    • Obituary, Chad Varah (1911-2007)

      • The Reverend Chad Varah was an unorthodox ordained minister who founded the first secular listening service

    • Sexual and gender identity again

      • I find Nick Duffel’s letter (therapy today, October 2007) on the ‘Question of gender’ to be a question of bias, as he presents his theory of gender development and identity in a somewhat simplistic and reductive way.

    • Of jobs, fees and futures

      • have just read the letter by Barbara Lee in November 2007 therapy today entitled ‘Employers, give us a chance’.

    • Ever heard of Gestalt?

      • Two authors in your October 2007 issue – Steven Hayes (‘Hello darkness’on developments in the field of CBT), and John Rowan (‘The dialogical self’ on personification) – offered their topics as new.

    • Third Sector funding plea

      • As a diploma counsellor working largely unpaid in the Third Sector, I was sympathetic to the plea for recognition expressed by Nantwich Area Network Group

    • Obituary, Sue Copeland (1946-2007)

      • Sue Copeland embraced her counselling career in the same manner as she managed other aspects of her life: with integrity, courage, wisdom and warmth.

    • Obituary, Mary Jiggins (1945-2007)

      • Mary came to work as a therapist in the health service in the West of Ireland in July 2005.

  • Reviews
    • the reading group

      • What books stick in your mind and why? You might have found them riveting, boring, baffling, illuminating or life changing. Whatever you think about these memorable reads, we would like to hear from you. Here, we feature short subjective accounts – to stimulate conversation and debate, such as you get in a reading group. Email readinggroup@bacp.co.uk to find out how to contribute to the reading group

    • The footprints of genocide

      • Sociodrama and collective trauma, Peter Felix Kellerman, Jessica Kingsley 2007, ISBN 978-1843104469 £18.99

    • Practical guide for therapists

      • Psychotherapy and counselling for depression (3rd ed), Paul Gilbert, Sage Publications 2007,  ISBN 978-1412902779 £22.99

    • Psychological aspects of peace

      • Love in danger: trauma, therapy and conflict explored through the life and work of Adam Curle, Barbara Mitchels, Jon Carpenter Publishing 2006, ISBN 978-0954972769,  £19.99

    • Working effectively with people on the autism spectrum

      • Counselling people on the autism spectrum, Katherine Paxton and Irene A Estay, Jessica Kingsley 2007, ISBN 978-1843105527, £15.99

    • Support from shared experience

      • Alone together: making an Asperger marriage work, Katrin Bentley, ?Jessica Kingsley 2007, ?ISBN 978-1843105374, ?£12.99

    • Attachent narrative therapy

      • Attachment narrative therapy, Rudi Dallos, Open University Press 2006, ISBN 978-0335214174, £18.99

    • Therapy in a in wider context

      • Words and symbols, Nicola Barden and Tina K Williams, Open University Press/McGraw-Hill 2006, ISBN 978-0335213610, £18.99

    • Diagnosis and treatment of caretaker personality disorder

      • Removing the mask of kindness, Les Barbanell Jason Aronson 2006,  ISBN 978-0765704108, £23.98

  • Noticeboard
    • Supervision

      • Find a supervisor in your area

    • Placements

      • Search for a placement

    • Research

      • Participate in research

    • Networking

      • Pin your notice (max 30 words) on our free Noticeboard and website to reach more than 28,000 readers. Email your entry with your membership number to niki.lawrence@bacp.co.uk. All notices published subject to space

• BACP
  • BACP News
    • BACP News

      • News from your Association

    • 30 years of BACP

      • As this extract from The Times of 1977 shows, BAC(P) was formed amid uneven levels of training and supervision – and a concern to improve client care. The author Nicholas Tyndall (deceased) was the first chair

  • BACP Professional Conduct
    • Re-entry to membership
  • BACP Professional Standards
    • Professional standards

      • Newly accredited practitioners

  • BACP Research
    • Research

      • The research year in review