Contents:

• Features
  • On being open and letting go

    • In anticipation of her name appearing on the list of members not renewing accreditation, Celia Hindmarch shares some reflections on the personal journey that has led her to resign her membership

  • From practice to publication

    • The experience of writing a self-help book on anxiety has given Emma Fletcher cause to review some of her assumptions about the respective places of counselling and self-help

  • Work is good for you

    • Psychological as well as physical health continue to be high on the Government’s agenda; this autumn sees the first National Strategy for Mental Health and Employment

  • Getting the most from supervision

    • Do you get the most out of your supervision? Some thoughts on supervision and how to prepare for it

  • The end of an era

    • Counselling is in grave danger of becoming dominated by a medicalised view of the person, argues Barbara Shannon, and through increased delivery in healthcare settings will be severely restricted by the restraints of the public purse

  • Cover feature

    • Given the evidence against them, why do one in six therapists still see fit to offer gay clients treatments that aim to make them straight?

• Regulars
  • Columns
    • Client column - What are we doing?

      • Often I leave the therapy room in tears. Last week I arrived in tears. I had had an emotional conversation with my lover on the hands-free as I drove to the appointment.

    • Student column - The power of suggestion

      • It is that time of year. For teachers, parents and students there exists a shadow calendar where the year takes off, not in January, but in late summer/early autumn.

    • Therapist column - The limits of training

      • Having received my copy of the recent letter from the Chair of BACP, Dr Lynne Gabriel, regarding the proposed differentiation between counselling and psychotherapy in the lead-up to statutory regulation, I thought I might use this space to reflect further on whether there is a difference between the two activities, and if so, the nature of that difference.

  • News
    • Doctors demand action on ‘pro-ana’ sites

      • Urgent action is needed to tackle the soaring number of websites encouraging adolescent girls to starve themselves, doctors say. The proliferation of ‘pro-ana’ and ‘pro-mia’ websites, which promote anorexia and bulimia, is encouraging growing numbers of young women to wage war on their bodies, they say.

    • Mental health patients do not feel safe

      • The first ever official survey of NHS mental health inpatients has revealed high levels of dissatisfaction with services, with only a minority of respondents saying they ‘always felt safe’ on the wards.

    • Non-drinkers more prone to depression

      • People who spurn alcohol tend to be miserable social misfits, researchers have suggested

    • Treatment via instant messaging

      • Online instant messaging helps those suffering from depression and anxiety, according to a study published in The Lancet

    • Hairdressers to spot suicidal clients

      • The north Belfast-based Public Initiative for the Prevention of Suicide and Self-harm (PIPS) has recruited hairdressers and barbers in Northern Ireland to help spot vulnerable people

    • Dementia sufferers set to double every 20 years

      • The latest research contained in the World Alzheimer’s Report 2009 published by Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), estimates that the number of people with dementia and Alzheimer’s will almost double every 20 years

    • Facial expressions are not universal

      • A new study casts doubt on the idea that facial expressions are culturally universal

    • New blogring for students

      • Students Against Depression website have launched a new blogring on their award-winning website www.studentdepression.org

    • The hidden army in UK prisons

      • The number of former servicemen in prison or on probation or parole is now more than double the total British deployment in Afghanistan, according to a new survey

    • New strategy for mental health at work

      • People with mental health problems will receive extra support to manage their conditions and help them hold on to their jobs, the Government has announced

    • Narrative therapy

      • The UK’s first institute for narrative therapy has been established to support therapeutic practice, training and research into narrative therapy

  • Editorial

    • Our lead feature is a response to a survey published earlier in the year which found that a small minority of therapists, some of them BACP members, had helped at least one client to try to reduce or change his or her feelings of same-sex attraction.

  • Letters
    • Regulation by title or function?

      • The current controversy about the definitions of counselling and psychotherapy by the HPC illustrates in my opinion just how effortlessly ‘mission creep’

    • Lower level of training

      • I have just read Lynne Gabriel’s letter urging members to help ‘force a change’ in the recommendations currently out for consultation by HPC regarding the statutory regulation of counselling and psychotherapy.

    • Medical model

      • I find myself in profound agreement with Peter Flowerdew’s view (Therapy Today, July 2009) that BACP is failing to represent many of its members

    • Distinction is in the paradigm

      • In response to Graham Music’s contribution to the debate over counselling and psychotherapy as reported in ‘Splitting the profession?’

    • Educational model

      • Thank you for your excellent coverage of the debate on the HPC’s so-called ‘consultation’

    • Esoteric mysticism

      • I read with some interest Brian Thorne’s recent article ‘A Collision of Worlds’ (Therapy Today, May 2009)

    • Equal pay for equal value

      • I feel compelled to name what is not being spoken explicitly about in the current debate about regulation and that is money

    • The right to have counselling

      • If the profession is split as the draft plans for regulation propose, I believe it is absolutely vital to protect the right of all citizens to come for counselling

    • Informed choice

      • So, counsellors are not deemed competent to assess a client’s mental health situation

    • The therapeutic market place

      • Martin Halifax gives voice to some familiar pleas. (Therapy Today, September 2009)

    • Cynical perspective

      • I was interested to read a comment in the Professional Conduct section of the July issue

    • IAPT waiting lists too long

      • I write to you of my experiences from the private practitioner’s perspective of IAPT, having received referrals from GPs and self referrals

    • Feminised view of men’s problems

      • It was interesting to read the article ‘The Trouble with Men’ (Therapy Today, June 2009)

    • Overeaters Anonymous

      • I have just read Karen Brown’s article in July’s Therapy Today, Emotional Eating

  • Questionnaire
    • Andrew Samuels

      • Since beginning his analytical training at the age of 25, Andrew Samuels has integrated a unique blend of Jungian, humanistic and relational psychoanalytic approaches

  • Marketing Toolbox
    • Developing your online presence

      • Pick up some website tips by looking at how coaches market themselves online, says Clare Jones

  • Day in the Life

    • In his work with families Jim Wilson tries to expand possibilities and not get hooked into a certain definition of a problem or protocol for practice

  • Reviews
    • Writing as therapy

      • The dark threads, Jean Davison, Accent Press Ltd 2009, £7.99, ISBN 978-1906373597
        House of bread, Amanda Nicol, Anthony Rowe Publishing 2009, £7.99, ISBN 978-1905200764
        The secret scripture, Sebastian Barry, Faber and Faber 2009, £7.99, ISBN 978-0571215294

    • Essential reading for white therapists

      • Being white in the helping professions: developing effective intercultural awareness, Judy Ryde, Jessica Kingsley 2009, £19.99, ISBN 978-1843109365

    • Ethics in practice

      • Relational ethics in practice: narratives from counselling and psychotherapy, Lynne Gabriel and Roger Casemore (eds),
        Routledge 2009, £19.99, ISBN 978-0415425926

    • Systems for change

      • Organizations connected: a handbook of systemic consultation, David Campbell and Clare Huffington (eds), Karnac 2008, £20.99, ISBN 978-1855756694
        

    • DVD introduction to CBT

      • An introduction to CBT (DVD), Frank Wills with Jan Gray, University of Wales, Newport 2009, £59.13

    • Diverse approaches to supervision

      • Supervisor training: issues and approaches (guide to supervision volume 2), Penny Henderson (ed), Karnac 2009, £20.99, ISBN 978-1855754027

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