Contents:

• Features
  • Rising to the challenge

    • Going through the process of applying for BACP Service Accreditation was beneficial in many ways for the University of Birmingham Counselling and Guidance Service

  • Learning the dance

    • Dance enthusiast Samantha Tarren has been using what she knows about dance to think and learn about group facilitating

  • Improving access, supporting choice

    • As the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme enters its third year, Sara Perren and Louise Robinson explain how BACP is continuing to intervene proactively at all levels to help ensure that patients are offered an appropriate choice of counselling and psychotherapy

  • Toxic childhood

    • With concern about the state of contemporary childhood in the UK running high, a new book argues that therapists could have a potentially powerful impact on the shape of society

  • Cover feature

    • Pornography addiction is being described in the US as ‘our newest and most challenging mental health problem’, but despite the numbers of people suffering serious consequences from habitual porn use, few therapists feel confident addressing their concerns

• Regulars
  • Columns
    • In the client's chair - Ringing the changes

      • The turn of the year is about assessing past achievements and future challenges. At the end of November I said goodbye to my therapist. Do I feel a sense of loss? Not really.

    • In practice - Beginnings

      • To me, beginnings are as fascinating as endings, although I’ll save comment upon the latter for some future column. I find it intriguing how couples meet and, at some point in their first counselling session, I usually ask about that first encounter.

    • In training - You've got to get in to get out

      • There is no obvious or objective link between the postgraduate study of counselling and the Christmas story, but experience is not objective and my early forays into 2010 have allowed me to see a forceful parallel between our journey towards graduation and the journey of the magi!

    • The art of coaching - Seeing the potential

      • Back in the early 90s, as an independent counsellor, trainer and HR consultant, I was asked if I’d do some ‘one-to-one training’ with Michael, a sales director who had had some disastrous results and was, as the MD told me, stressed, burnt out and struggling to regain ground and credibility.

  • News
    • Family conflict a major cause of children’s unhappiness

      • Children’s wellbeing is far more strongly influenced by levels of family conflict than by family structure, according to new research by The Children’s Society

    • Too much choice is making us miserable

      • Modern life is making us miserable because we have too much choice, claims new research. From the foods we eat to the television channels we watch to the schools we send our children to and the career we choose to pursue, society has never offered us so much variety

    • Going to bed early helps beat the blues

      • Early nights are key to helping adolescents feel good, reports a new study by the Columbia University Medical Center. A lack of sleep among youngsters may trigger depression and suicidal thoughts

    • Counselling skills could help clergy

      • Training in counselling skills could help members of the clergy better cope with the emotional demands of their work, say researches from the University of Bedfordshire who examined the levels of ‘emotional labour’, psychological health and job satisfaction of 188 members of the clergy in the UK.

    • Equality in mental health at standstill

      • Figures released by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) show that five years on from the first ‘Count me in’ census, people from black and minority ethnic communities remain three times more likely than average to be detained under the Mental Health Act

    • Running makes the brain grow

      • Neuroscientists at Cambridge University have shown that running stimulates the brain to grow fresh grey matter and has a big impact on mental ability

    • Anti-depressants do little for mild cases

      • Patients with mild or moderate depression may benefit little from antidepressants and may be better treated with alternatives, according to research from the University of Pennsylvania

    • IPT offers obesity prevention for teenage girls

      • A team of scientists at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the National Institutes of Health have piloted psychotherapy treatment to prevent excessive weight gain in teenage girls deemed ‘at risk’ for obesity

    • Magnetic activity in brain diagnoses PTSD

      • A one-minute test appears to diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with an accuracy of 90 per cent, according to a report published in the Journal of Neural Engineering

    • Counselling in top 10 careers

      • Counselling is listed among the top 10 career opportunities in a new guide for people seeking to change their working lives in 2010. The top 10 careers were identified by specialist career management and outplacement consultancy Career Energy.

  • Editorial

    • Over the last 10-15 years I think it is true to say that there has been an explosion in the amount of pornography available to us. What used to constitute soft porn is now commonplace in TV commercials and music videos, while hardcore porn is available at our fingertips anywhere, any time and to anyone. I hadn’t given this a great deal of thought until I read Wendy Maltz’s excellent article, ‘The porn trap’.

  • Letters
    • Raising standards

      • Having arrived with eager anticipation at the recent BACP/AIP Conference, on ‘Professionalism & Regulation’, ably chaired by Nicola Barden, I departed with feelings of extreme disappointment and frustration.

    • Open letter to BACP

      • Given the rising tide of informed criticism and concern about regulation by the Health Professions Council (HPC), now is the time for BACP to work out, in consultation with the membership, what its attitude will be to those conscientious objectors who may wish to enter what has become known as principled non-compliance (PNC) with HPC

    • Response from the Chair

      • Thank you for your letter regarding statutory regulation. You raise concerns about two aspects in particular: register transfer and principled non-compliance (PNC).

    • Boastful claims

      • I am all in favour of the continuing development of the profession and the integration of approaches as well as cross-fertilisation between them. The article on the ‘Human Givens’ approach was therefore of interest to me, following some workshops I had attended at various conferences, and it has prompted me to engage with it more deeply

    • Creative thoughts

      • I read the article ‘The Poetry of Therapy’ by Kate Evans (Therapy Today, December 2009) with mixed feelings. I share the author’s enthusiasm and love of poetry in its manifold and varied forms, and have little doubt that the creative results of those with artistry and talent better express reflections of the human condition than most.

    • The case for reinstating the 40 hours

      • By studying back copies of CPJ and Therapy Today, I found out why 40 hours of personal therapy (PT) was removed from BACP accreditation criteria from May 2005 onwards.

    • Why we should sit in the chair

      • Whilst I read Isabel Gibbard's letter ‘Clients are active agents’ (Therapy Today, November 2009) with interest, and fully acknowledge her academic references, I can't help feeling that if all therapists had taken their own therapeutic journey there would be no need for academic justification for what we do.

    • One size doesn't fit all

      • It seems to me that the ‘arguments’ around regulation, IAPT and the validity of NICE and recommended therapies are very much about the same kind of thing.

    • A new direction

      • I have been following the ‘Client column’ in Therapy Today with interest while sharing the writer's frustrations

    • To cry or not to cry?

      • Andrew Reeves’ Therapist Column entitled ‘Boys don’t cry?’ in the September 2009 issue of Therapy Today really struck a chord with me

    • The long and the short of it

      • With all the current controversy about HPC registration and the distinction to be made between counsellors and psychotherapists, there is an overall concern that Big Brother is dictating what is legitimate to offer ‘the client’

    • Let's move away from stereotypes

      • Having belatedly read my October issue of Therapy Today with the cover headline ‘Treating homosexuality?, I was aghast at the ineptitude of the front cover illustration and the inside illustration

    • Does it add up?

      • I write regarding your news articles 'iAPT gets positive results' (Page 6, Dec 2009 issue)

  • Questionnaire
    • Dominic Davies

      • A pioneer of sexual minority therapy, Dominic Davies considers his greatest achievement is to have brought the Pink Therapy trilogy of textbooks to fruition

  • Marketing Toolbox
    • Attending to the gaps

      • Introducing a new series for therapists that applies marketing strategies to develop their practice.
        
        This month features Helen, who has been employed as a permanent counsellor for two organisations over the past 14 years. She is a specialist in substance misuse, but also sees clients presenting with a broader range of issues

  • Day in the Life

    • A school counsellor for 25 years, Dennis Lines, who also happens to be tetraplegic, is well versed in understanding the complex dynamics of the classroom environment

  • Reviews
    • Psychiatric medication examined

      • A straight talking introduction to psychiatric drugs, Joanna Moncrieff, PCCS Books 2009, £8.99, ISBN 978-1906254179

    • Healthcare research

      • Practitioner-based research: power, discourse and transformation, John Lees and Dawn Freshwater (eds),Karnac 2008, £22.99, ISBN 978-1855755383

    • A call to action

      • Risking human security: attachment and public life, Marci Green (ed), Karnac 2008, £20.99, ISBN 978-1855755970

    • Surviving trauma

      • Words can describe, Abi Grant, Picador 2009, £11.99, ISBN 978-0330505055

    • The value of staff support groups

      • Staff support groups in the helping professions: principles, practice and pitfalls, Phil Hartley and David Kennard (eds), Routledge 2009, £19.99, ISBN 978-0415447744

    • Creative group work

      • Exploring the self through photography: activities for use in group work, Claire Craig, Jessica Kingsley 2009, £17.99, ISBN 978-1843106661

    • Self-help for depression

      • Overcoming depression and low mood: a five areas approach (3rd edition), Chris Williams, Hodder Arnold 2009, £22.99 ISBN 978-0340986059

    • Issues facing interracial couples

      • Understanding interracial relationships, Toyin Okitikpi, Russell House Publishing Ltd 2009, £18.95, ISBN 978-905541539

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• BACP
  • BACP News
    • BACP News

      • News from your Association

    • Why not join a BACP division?

      • There are six specialist divisions of BACP. Here, each sets out its stall and explains the benefits that joining can bring

  • BACP Professional Conduct
    • Updating the BACP Ethical Framework
  • BACP Professional Standards
    • Professional standards

      • Professional standards news

    • Describing rationale needn’t intimidate

      • Part one of a series of guidance articles on completing the accreditation application form.  Assessor Val Allen looks at part of the ‘Knowledge and Understanding’ criterion

  • BACP Research
    • Research

      • Research news and information