Contents:

• Features
  • Features
    • Emotional needs and group therapy Chris Rose

      • Our search for intimate relationships in adult life is often framed by a longing to be the centre of the emotional universe, the unique focus of adoration. Does the format of group therapy, irrespective of its quality, inevitably fail to meet this need?

    • Dementia: 'a death of the mind' Paul Terry

      • Helping carers to understand more about projective identification can be a means of enabling them to understand and communicate with dementia sufferers, especially those in the advanced stages of the illness for whom language is no longer available, writes Paul Terry

    • The agony and the ecstasy Kevin Chandler

      • Kevin Chandler is utterly engaged by the sweet and sour agonies of human interaction explored in Mike Leigh’s new film, which features an NHS counsellor as one of its main characters

  • Cover feature
    • Boundaries and boundlessness Nick Totton

      • The developing concept of appropriate boundaries increasingly forces therapists into defensive practice and to work in ways that are based not on giving the client the therapeutic environment best suited to them, but on avoiding vulnerability to misconduct hearings, argues Nick Totton

• Regulars
  • Columns
    • In practice - Not just another day Kevin Chandler

      • I read of some research indicating that most clients prefer their counsellor to be of similar age to themselves, or a little older. If so, maybe I need to amend my directory entry and specify that middle-age anxieties are now a speciality.

    • In the client’s chair - Writing about therapy Orla Murray

      • Obviously we needed to talk about me writing this column. I was really nervous about discussing it – heart-racingly nervous. I’m often anxious in therapy, but not full-on, fight-or-flight scared.

    • In training – Ready for training clients? Alex Erskine

      • There’s nothing like an ethical dilemma scenario to focus the mind. And right now, with just weeks to go before I meet my first training client, my mind is feeling pretty focused. No, scrub that, I’m alternating between feeling focused, enthused and scared witless.

  • News
    • New study claims ADHD down to nature not nurture

      • A new study claims, controversially, that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a genetic condition.

    • Partners of breast cancer patients at risk of mood disorders

      • A new analysis finds that men whose partners have breast cancer are at increased risk of developing mood disorders that are so severe that they warrant hospitalisation

    • Many fathers get depressed after having children, new study shows

      • One in five men become depressed after becoming fathers as they juggle lack of sleep, extra responsibilities and a changed relationship with their partners, new research shows

    • Supporting effective transitions to services for young adults

      • The National Mental Health Development Unit (NMHDU) and National CAMHS Support Service (NCSS) is working in partnership with the Social Care Institute for Excellence to support services to improve the experience of young people moving on from services for adolescents to adult services.

    • Car journeys more stressful

      • Commuters who travel by bus suffer a third less stress than those making the same trip driving a car, a study has found

    • Sleep-deprived teens ‘triple chances of mental illness’ by spending nights online

      • People who sleep less than five hours a night are up to three times more likely to become mentally ill than those sleeping eight or nine hours, according to a report by researchers from George Institute for Global Health in Sydney

    • It’s good to think – but not too much, scientists say

      • People who think more about whether they are right have more cells in an area of the brain known as the frontal lobes. UK scientists, writing in Science, looked at how brain size varied depending on how much people thought about decisions.

  • Editorial
    • Editorial Sarah Browne

      • In the last few years I have noticed how the word ‘boundaries’ appears in discussion of counselling and psychotherapy practice with increasing frequency

  • Letters
    • Kink awareness Dominic Davies

      • How fantastic to see such a wide range of letters in the September issue of Therapy Today commenting on Su Connan’s excellent article ‘A kink in the process’ (Therapy Today, July 2010). The editor must have felt vindicated in her courageous decision to publish this article, as it is clearly ‘on target’ as a hot topic for therapists to arouse such passion in the readership, and I wanted to share my own reflections on a couple of the letters.

    • Research and reality Geoff Boutle

      • Articles by economists in The Times do not usually invite thoughts on current counselling issues. Nevertheless Anatole Kaletsky’s recent critical comments (Times 29/09/10) in which he highlights with apparent regret, the need for any new economic ideas to be underpinned by ‘equations and not words’, may also be read as a comment on what appears to be a growing trend in counselling work.

    • Regulation debate Ruth Phillips

      • Thank you for giving valuable space to Steve Cox’s article ‘Defining moments’ in the July issue of Therapy Today. I found it to be balanced, well written and with well-contained passion, alongside valuable use of literature analysis and examples of research.

    • Technology as a tool Lindsay Dobson

      • I would like to address some of the comments made by Sue Whitlock (Therapy Today, Letters, September 2010) regarding my article entitled ‘The net generation’ (Therapy Today, May 2010).

    • Online ethical boundaries Anne Brockbank

      • I approached the article ‘Rapport in cyberspace’ (Therapy Today, July 2010) with interest as I conduct a small proportion of my therapeutic work online. I began to wonder when I saw the phrases ‘state of rapport’ and ‘building rapport’, and immediately began to suspect Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP).

    • Self-knowledge for all Linda Barnsley

      • Reading in the September Therapy Today about the qualities that make a good therapist and what makes us want to become counsellors, Kevin Chandler just reiterated my own beliefs that curiosity and the thirst for knowledge are of paramount importance and can make the difference between a good counsellor and a mediocre one.

    • Standards in supervision Sue Canon

      • I am writing in response to Karen Twyford’s letter: ‘Are we in danger of devaluing accreditation?’ (Therapy Today, July 2010). I am concerned that in reducing the supervisor’s experience to just 30 hours – which implies he/she could just supervise one therapist for an hour and a half per month – that accreditation could be awarded to someone without any experience of supervising across a range of therapist abilities, therapeutic orientations, differing training backgrounds and in particular work settings.

    • Evidence of experience Carole Neill

      • I have just read ‘Are we in danger of devaluing accreditation?’ in Therapy Today telling me that the new pilot scheme for supervisor accreditation requires that applicants have completed a minimum of just 30 hours’ experience as a supervisor as opposed to 180 hours’. I wish to echo Karen Twyford’s curiosity as to what the current thinking is around what it means to be BACP accredited.

    • Withdrawal of trainer accreditation Noreen Emmans

      • I wholeheartedly concur with Dr Penny Rawson’s sentiments (Therapy Today, Letters, July 2010) regarding withdrawal of ‘Trainer Accreditation’. As one of those who has worked hard and paid fees for the privilege of acquiring recognised status for the high standard of training I work diligently to uphold, I am disappointed that the ‘prizing’ which I strive to offer clients and model for students, is not modelled by the professional body of which I am a member.

  • Questionnaire
    • Gregor Henderson

      • An advisor to various government departments, charities and companies, Gregor Henderson looks forward to a world in which wellbeing is the driving force

  • Day in the life

    • Aaron Sefi counsels young people from his house on the Cornish coast

  • Reviews
    • Instructive memoir of a laid-back professional

      • The gossamer thread: my life as a psychotherapist, John Marzillier, Karnac 2010, £19.99, ISBN 978-1855758056

    • Essential research guide

      • First steps in practitioner research: a guide to understanding and doing research in counselling and health and social care Pete Sanders and Paul Wilkins, PCCS 2010, £18.99, ISBN 978-1898059738

    • Developing person-centred psychotherapy

      • Person-centered psychotherapies, David J Cain, American Psychological Association 2010, £22.00, ISBN 978-1433807213

    • Psychoanalysis: arguments for and against

      • The problem with psychoanalytic psychotherapy, Kirsty Hall, Nicola Godwin and Iain Snell, Karnac 2010, £12.99, ISBN 978-855758353

    • The history of reflective practice

      • Reflective practice in counselling and psychotherapy, Sofie Bager-Charleson, Learning Matters 2010, £18.00, ISBN 978-1844453603

    • Reference tool for busy coaches

      • 101 coaching strategies and techniques, Gladeana McMahon and Anne Archer (eds), Routledge 2010, £16.99, ISBN 978-0415473347

    • Artful journey from psychosis to recovery

      • Diary drawings: mental illness and me, Bobby Baker, Profile Books 2010, £15.00, ISBN 978-1846683749

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  • Dilemmas
    • Managing boundaries

      • You supervise a counsellor who is not managing boundaries appropriately. He is responsive when challenged, but his behaviour with clients appears to be getting worse. What do you do?

    • Dilemma response (online only)

      • I am a student member of BACP and was interested in the ethical dilemma, and found it a good opportunity to develop further skills for 'self supervision'; how would I self supervise if I were Jason?

• BACP
  • BACP News
    • BACP News

      • News from your Association

  • BACP Professional Conduct
    • BACP Professional Conduct Hearing
    • BACP Professional Conduct Hearing
    • Withdrawal of membership
    • Withdrawal of membership
    • Withdrawal of membership
  • BACP Professional Standards
    • BACP Professional standards

      • Newly accredited counsellors/psychotherapists

    • Supporting and enabling access for accreditation

      • The Professional Standards team recognises that the application process for accreditation may pose particular challenges for some applicants with certain disabilities. BACP is committed to ensuring equality of access to all its products and services for all members and to making reasonable adjustments to aid this.

  • BACP Research
    • BACP Research

      • Research news and information from BACP