Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¾«×¼×ÊÁÏ

From the editor

It is often referred to as ‘modern-day slavery’: women, men and children trafficked across and within international borders for exploitation in forced prostitution and forced labour. Human trafficking victims are often beaten, isolated and raped, and many experience prolonged sexual, psychological, interpersonal and physical trauma. As a result, survivors may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety. When these individuals appear in our consulting rooms, we may have no idea of how to recognise them, let alone understand what they have experienced or how we can help them.

This issue of the journal includes two articles which can help us in this difficult but essential process. Siân Oram and Jill Domoney highlight the psychological consequences of human trafficking and provide recommendations on how these can be recognised and addressed. Cate Harding-Jones writes about her first-hand experience of providing trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy to women trafficked into prostitution. Her work in a safe house helped her to understand the importance of combining therapy with other kinds of support, in a holistic approach. As a result of these insights, I hope we can all have a better chance of recognising and helping survivors who may find their way into our therapy rooms.

In an article that was first published in Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¾«×¼×ÊÁÏ Children & Young People journal, Roslyn Law writes about the provision of interpersonal therapy for adolescents (IPT-A) within children and young people’s IAPT services. IPT-A is  recommended as a treatment for depression in adolescents, who often experience less control over many aspects of their world than adults and may experience social and interpersonal difficulties. The IPT-A model has been specifically adapted to take into account the developmental changes that adolescents undergo emotionally, socially and cognitively. It is encouraging to read that this model is gradually being rolled out to more areas across the country, with a national programme set up to establish regional hubs of excellence.

Staying with IAPT, Jasdeep Nagra and Stephanie Fryer write about their first-hand experiences of securing a place for counselling within their IAPT service. Jasdeep and Stephanie outline the solid evidence base for counselling for depression (CfD) within their IAPT service and show how CfD offers a potential pathway to increased recognition for counsellors working in primary care services.

We are pleased to announce that the Third Sector column in this journal will now be written by two Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¾«×¼×ÊÁÏ Healthcare Executive members, Vicki Palmer and Toby Sweet. Both run IAPT services with counselling provision, as not-for profit organisations, and have a longstanding commitment to counselling in primary care. In this month’s column, Vicki reviews the trajectory of counselling in IAPT services and reflects upon how her organisation, Oasis-Talk, has taken part in it. The Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¾«×¼×ÊÁÏ Healthcare Executive team recently received feedback from a member that not enough was being done to support counsellors working in IAPT services in England, and this month’s column is a direct response to this. We are aware that our colleagues in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland don’t have IAPT services, but hope it will also be of interest to them.

Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¾«×¼×ÊÁÏ’s new website is now up and running, and Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¾«×¼×ÊÁÏ Healthcare members can access this journal via the following link: www.bacp.co.uk/bacp-journals/healthcare-counselling-and-psychotherapy-journal/. There is a useful new search facility that will allow you to look for articles from previous issues. Do let us know what you think of the new look.

Finally, we are pleased to announce that Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¾«×¼×ÊÁÏ has arranged a 30 per cent discount for Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¾«×¼×ÊÁÏ members with SAGE publications. This offer will be open until 31 May 2018. Use the code UKÏã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¾«×¼×ÊÁÏ18 at the checkout to get your discount. Visit https://uk.sagepub.com/bacp-offer to see what counselling and psychotherapy books are included in the offer.

Joanna Benfield
Editor
hcpj.editorial@bacp.co.uk

Disclaimer and copyright