Contents:

• Features
  • The therapy show

    • In Treatment, the unlikely smash hit series about therapy that took America by storm, at last comes to these shores. Kevin Chandler is hooked

  • Question time

    • At last month’s BACP Annual Conference, a panel of speakers discussed the future of the profession, the value of RCTs, the impact of regulation and IAPT and much more...

  • The business of therapy

    • The indecision and infighting currently besetting our profession could lead to commercial suicide, argues Val O’Dea

  • Healing broken bonds

    • Emotionally focused therapy uses the power of attachment to rebuild broken bonds and help clients to attain enduring relationship change

  • Working when pregnant

    • No event in a female therapist’s life will impact as powerfully on a therapeutic relationship as her pregnancy

  • Safeguarding vulnerable groups

    • As a result of the inquiry into the Soham murders, new legislation is being introduced to safeguard children and vulnerable adults. Barbara Mitchels considers how these changes will affect therapists

  • Cover feature

    • A winner of this year’s BACP Award for Innovation in Counselling and Psychotherapy, Relate’s new Responsive Model is a new way of working with perpetrators and victims of domestic violence and abuse

• Regulars
  • Columns
    • Therapist column - About cats and dogs

      • Newcastle is a lovely city. The people are friendly, the bars interesting, the restaurants a-plenty, the Metro a breeze, and the accent really quite fantastic; even when being shouted by a group of 15 young, drunken men running up an escalator the wrong way. How do I know this?

    • Client column - Tricks of the trade

      • I feel it is time for my therapist to let me in on the tricks of the trade. I rehearse what I am going to say over and over again

    • Student column - Missing you already

      • So we are in our second ?and final year as diploma students now, and it does ?feel different; we are no longer beginners. There ?is not the blind panic about finding a placement or ?getting to know each other

  • News
    • Legal threat to HPC regulation

      • Lawyers for six psychoanalytic organisations (Association for Group and Individual Psychotherapy, Association of Independent Psychotherapists, Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research, The College of Psychoanalysts-UK, The Guild of Psychotherapists, and The Philadelphia Association) have written to the HPC stating they will order a judicial review over the council’s ‘unlawful’ failure

    • Gamblers seeking help – up by 20 per cent

      • The number of people seeking help for gambling problems rose by more than 20 per cent last year

    • City blues cure

      • City dwellers living near parks and greenery are less depressed than urbanites

    • Young girls get stuck in victim role

      • According to a new study of hundreds of children at 17 primary schools in Hertfordshire and north London, young girls are far more prone than boys to get stuck in the role of bullying victim

    • New guideline may harm patients

      • BACP has issued a warning that the new guideline published by NICE on the treatment and management of depression in adults with chronic physical health problem

    • Researchers investigate retrovirus link as cause of ME

      • Scientists say they have made a dramatic breakthrough in understanding the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome. The researchers have discovered a strong link between chronic fatigue syndrome, which is sometimes known as ME or myalgic encephalomyelitis

    • ‘Assisted self-harm’ approach

      • Patients who self-harm are being allowed to cut themselves in hospitals and mental health units as part of a ground-breaking approach to help them hurt themselves more safely.

    • Regulation may affect care

      • Research by King’s College London and Royal Holloway, University of London, has found that regulation may distract NHS professionals and organisations from providing safe and effective patient care, raising questions about the future regulation of psychotherapists and counsellors by the Health Professions Council (HPC)

    • Women cry more than men

      • According to the German Society of Ophthalmology, which has collated different scientific studies on the phenomenon, women shed tears on average between 30 and 64 times a year and men six to 17 times

    • New findings on placebos

      • Scientists have solved the mystery of why some people benefit from remedies that do not contain any active pain-relief ingredients.

  • Editorial

    • Last month’s BACP annual conference was a good event with excellent speakers and much important debate about the crucial issues of the day. During the awards ceremony – which gets more like the Oscars every year – speaker after speaker movingly described innovative work being done by dedicated practitioners across a wide range of community settings

  • Letters
    • An imposed ethic

      • I read with great interest John Daniel’s article ‘The Gay Cure?’ (Therapy Today, October 2009) based almost exclusively on Professor Michael King’s views.

    • Freedom of sexual expression

      • John Daniel’s article ‘The Gay Cure?’ raised a number of questions in my mind. I do not argue with any of Mike King’s objections to those who claim to be able to effect a ‘cure’.

    • Culturally sensitive therapy

      • I was delighted to see John Daniel’s article in last month’s Therapy Today entitled ‘The Gay Cure?’ I find myself extremely worried by the large numbers of therapists willing to engage in attempts to reduce or eliminate same-sex attractions, especially as Professor King believes this to be the ‘tip of the iceberg’

    • LGB Christians

      • Having been surprised by the Guardian exposé of British therapists offering treatment to ‘cure homosexuality’, I was interested to read John Daniel’s article exploring this area (Therapy Today, October 2009). Within John’s article a link is made between religion and clients wanting to change their sexual orientation.

    • More IAPT bashing

      • I was dismayed at aspects of what I feel is an inaccurate viewpoint of IAPT waiting lists in Lynda Spain’s letter in the October issue.

    • Accumulation of experience for counsellors

      • In response to the letter by Fiona Ballantine Dykes in last month’s Therapy Today, regarding the lengthier training/greater experience of psychotherapists compared to counsellors, I want to say that, whilst I don’t have much experience of the psychotherapy world, the experience I do have indicates:

    • The politics of power

      • There is little room for solace amid the anguish caused by the move towards statutory regulation and the identification of HPC as regulator.

    • Time for a real consultation

      • In the October issue of Therapy Today Sarah Browne said that the letters page ‘is again bursting with your critiques and views about the current HPC consultation; I have yet to receive one letter in support of the process’.

    • Splitting the atom

      • After reading Andrew Reeves’ column in the October issue, I am convinced he picked his metaphor of ‘splitting the atom’ with care – that or the psychodynamics of the current regulation arguments pushed themselves unconsciously to the fore.

    • Clients are active agents

      • I am writing to thank Emma Munro for her client column in Therapy Today.

    • Making our position clear

      • As the training team of a counselling and psychotherapy training organisation that is accredited with both the BACP and UKCP

    • Playground squabbles

      • In October I attended my first BACP annual conference and found the experience highly informative and enjoyable, particularly the keynote speaker, Dr Scott Miller

  • Questionnaire
    • Maria Gilbert

      • Nicknamed  ‘The Velvet Exocet’ by some of her students, Maria Gilbert is committed to saying it as it is

  • Marketing Toolbox
    • The trusted therapist

      • Having created a website to market your service, your next challenge is to keep your prospective clients interested. Clare Jones explains how

  • Day in the Life

    • WHCM Forrest is an open-access counselling service in Newham, a pilot area for the IAPT roll out. Nikki Schuster
      is the Adult Counselling Co-ordinator

  • Reviews
    • Developing compassion

      • The compassionate mind, Paul Gilbert, Constable 2009, £20.00, ISBN 978-1845297138

    • Empowering the patient

      • A straight-talking introduction to caring for someone with mental health problems, Jen Kilyon and Theresa Smith (eds), PCCS Books 2009, £8.99, ISBN 978-1906254186

    • Breaking the silence

      • In the grip of desire: a therapist at work with sexual secrets, Gale Holtz Golden, Routledge 2009, £24.99, ISBN 978-0415991575

    • Understanding child mental health

      • A straight talking introduction to children’s mental health problems, Sami Timimi, PCCS Books 2009, £8.99, ISBN 978-1906254155

    • Supporting bereaved families

      • On the death of a child (third edition), Celia Hindmarch, Radcliffe Publishing Ltd 2009, £24.99, ISBN: 978-1846194030

    • Treating BPD

      • Schema therapy for borderline personality disorder, Arnoud Arntz and ?Hannie van Genderen, Wiley-Blackwell 2009, £29.99, ISBN 978-0470510810

    • Development links between child and adult

      • Infant losses; adult searches: a neural and developmental perspective on psychopathology and sexual offending Glyn Hudson-Allez, Karnac 2009, £29.99, ISBN 978-1855754690

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    • Research

      • Participate in research

    • Networking

      • Find a group in your area

• BACP
  • BACP News
    • BACP News

      • News from your Association

  • BACP Professional Conduct
    • Findings, decisions and sanction
    • Withdrawal of membership
    • Sanction compliance
  • BACP Professional Standards
    • Professional standards

      • Newly accredited counsellors/psychotherapists

  • BACP Research
    • Research

      • From the BACP Research Department

    • Train the trainers

      • To learn more about how to incorporate research into counselling and psychotherapy courses, 26 delegates met at the University of Leicester for the second annual five-day ‘Training the Trainers’ summer school in July