Contents:

• Features
  • Laughing cure

    • She made a successful television career deflating the over-size egos of the rich and famous, and then gave it all up to train as a psychotherapist. Now she’s fronting a new online mental health campaign for the BBC. Ruby Wax talks about her striking career turn

  • Abortion and mental health

    • The Royal College of Psychiatrists has stated that women should not be allowed to have an abortion until they are counselled on the possible risk to their mental health. But is the current provision of abortion counselling in Britain up to the job?

  • Render unto Caesar

    • How can we render unto Caesar without becoming Caesar? A teacher of person-centred counselling
      wonders if the person-centred tradition can continue to exist in current British academic institutions

  • The joy of not knowing

    • Phenomenological thinking promotes uncertainty. For counselling students, trainers and practitioners, this place of ‘not knowing’ can be both challenging and liberating

  • Have you made a clinical will?

    • You think it’s never going to happen to you, but in the event of your death somebody’s going to have to attend to
      the clients, supervisees, trainees and colleagues you leave behind

  • Working with difference

    • Heterosexist models of thinking can inadvertently lead therapists to overlook or marginalise issues specific to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans clients. Consequently, it is crucial that the needs of sexual minority clients are addressed in supervision

  • Non-violent resistance

    • A new report explores the effectiveness of an innovative technique for working with violence in families

  • Cover feature

    • A vast body of empirical evidence exists to support a wide range of psychological practices. But it’s not just what research tells us to do that is important – it’s how it can challenge us to reflect on our personal and theoretical assumptions and be more responsive to our clients

• Regulars
  • News
    • Decline in wellbeing in over 65s

      • Urgent action needs to be taken to curb a decline in mental health and wellbeing amongst the over 65s, according to a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)

    • Emotional pain can really hurt

      • New brain scanning technologies reveal that the part of the brain that processes physical pain also deals with emotional pain

    • One in five MPs have suffered mental illness

      • One in five MPs have experience of a mental health problem but fear disclosing this because of the stigma and discrimination associated with mental health issues

    • Art improves mental health

      • Artistic expression leads to marked improvements in mental health, social inclusion and levels of empowerment for the mentally ill

    • Client responsibility key to CBT success

      • Research published in the British Journal of Clinical Psychology has found that cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) may fail if the client

    • Rethink poll reveals stigma

      • A poll of more than 3,000 people with mental health problems in England carried out by Rethink has found that 90 per cent feel stigmatised

    • Born anxious

      • A nervous disposition may be something people are born with, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin

    • Action on youth crime

      • The emphasis of the Government’s new £100 million youth crime action plan is on a ‘welfare orientated approach’

  • Editorial

    • The problem with counselling and psychotherapy research is that it remains largely inaccessible to most of us

  • Letters
    • Therapy is not a science

      • I was delighted to read in the July issue of therapy today about the forceful argument put forward by Professors Cooper, Elliott, Stiles and Bohart that research evidence for CBT has been unfairly distorted

    • CBT not the only show in town

      • When I first saw Tony Fransman’s letter about CBT in the July issue of therapy today I thought it might be a joke

    • One size does not fit all

      • I am writing in response to Tony Fransman’s letter in the July edition of therapy today

    • Forgotten pioneers in primary care

      • The May issue of therapy today featured an article by Dr Penny Gray, ‘Pioneers in primary care’,

    • Therapy through interpreters

      • I am writing in response to the article ‘Bridging the gap: therapy through interpreters’ (therapy today, June 2008)

    • An elitist practice?

      • Tony Joyce feels strongly about the appointment of Linda Bellos as vice president and about the risk of ‘angry class war politics’ within BACP

    • Thinking outside the box

      • It was good to see Bodhakari’s article ‘The prison of the self ’ in the July issue of therapy toda

    • Facing the great unmentionables

      • The July issue of therapy today devoted several long letters to reviewing Yalom’s latest book – John Rowan even got a whole page

    • Cost efficiency and choice – can we have both?

      • I am concerned at the waste of resources created by the discrepancy between the orientation of the average counselling training provider

    • Regulation and a disunited front

      • I found Sally Brampton’s account of her purgatorial passage through psychoanalysis (‘Journey through therapy’, therapy today, June 2008) highly entertaining, not least because of my own experience of four years of ‘brick wall’ therapy as I coin it

  • Reviews
    • The challenges and complexities of couple counselling

      • Couple therapy: the self in the relationship, Jim Crawley and Jan Grant, Palgrave Macmillan 2008, ISBN 978-1403994905 £19.99

    • Important compilation for palliative care

      • Dying, bereavement and the healing arts, Gillie Bolton (ed), Jessica Kingsley 2008, ISBN 978-1843105169 £19.99

    • Valuable content, confusing layout

      • Windows into today’s group therapy: National Group Psychotherapy Institute of the Washington School of Psychiatry George Max Saiger, Sy Rubenfeld and Mary D Dluhy (eds), Routledge 2007, ISBN 978-0415958431 £37.50

    • A blend of neuroscience, psychotherapy and Buddhism

      • Beyond happiness: deepening the dialogue between Buddhism, psychotherapy and the mind sciences, Gay Watson, Karnac 2008, ISBN 978-1855754041 £19.99

    • A place for prayer?

      • Prayer in counselling and psychotherapy: exploring a hidden meaningful dimension, Peter Madsen Gubi, Jessica Kingsley 2007, ISBN 978-1843105190 £18.99

    • Excellent introduction to assessment

      • Formulation in psychology and psychotherapy: making sense of people’s problems, Lucy Johnstone and Rudi Dallos (eds) Routledge 2006, ISBN 978-1583917008 £18.99

    • Essential guide for trainees

      • The personal development group: the student’s guide, Chris Rose, Karnac 2008, ISBN 978-1855755352 £14.99

  • Noticeboard
    • Supervision

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    • Placements

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    • Research

      • Pin your notice (max 30 words) on our free Noticeboard and website to reach more than 29,000 readers. Email your entry with your membership number to niki.lawrence@bacp.co.uk. All notices published subject to space

    • Networking

      • Pin your notice (max 30 words) on our free Noticeboard and website to reach more than 29,000 readers. Email your entry with your membership number to niki.lawrence@bacp.co.uk. All notices published subject to space

• BACP
  • BACP News
    • News

      • News from your Association

  • BACP Professional Conduct
    • Professional conduct
  • BACP Professional Standards
    • Professional standards

      • Professional standards

  • BACP Research
    • Research

      • News from the BACP Research Department