In this issue
Features
My practice
Time for action
Claire Thomas goes into action to create the private practice she wants
Business matters
No website, no business
Sue Christy and John Bennett caution against old web thinking听in a new web world
Ask an expert
Getting to the top
James Rye talks you through how to get a website and ensure听it comes high up the search engine rankings
My story
I wanted to live (free article)
Eina McHugh on life on and off the couch in Belfast during the Troubles
My perspective
After the Troubles
Julia Greer reflects on the personal and collective legacy of 30 years听of armed conflict in Northern Ireland
My story
All about the Tom
Michael Stott thinks civilian therapists have an important role to play听in helping veterans adapt to life after the military
My perspective
Soldier, veteran, survivor
Mervyn Wynne Jones offers an insight into life in the armed forces and听the challenges for civilian therapists engaging with this client group
Interview
Dubious diagnoses and the medicalisation of distress
Alan Pope talks to James Davies about his new book听Cracked: why psychiatry is doing more harm than good
Practice matters
The coach trip
Carolyn Mumby profiles seven practitioners who, like her, journey听through the territory of therapy and coaching
Regulars
From the chair
Wendy Halsall: Rating success
All articles from this issue are not yet available online. Divisional members and subscribers can download the pdf from the Private Practice archive.
听
From the editor
There are an estimated five million听military veterans in the UK, more than听a quarter of whom (27.2 per cent)听have a common mental health听problem.1 An investigation of the听physical and psychological health听of UK armed forces personnel by听the King鈥檚 Centre for Military Health听Research finds that veterans are at听high risk of anxiety, depression,听suicide, alcohol abuse and drug听addiction.2 Research also finds that young British men who have听served in the armed forces are three times more likely to have听been convicted of violent offences than their civilian peers.3
Following more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan,听Combat Stress, a charity specialising in the support of veterans听with mental health problems, has seen a 10 per cent increase in听the number of veterans seeking its help.4 And, as operations wind听down in the Middle East, coupled with increasing redundancies in听the military, the charity is expecting more veterans to seek its听help as greater numbers of armed forces personnel transfer from听military to civilian life.
This growth in the provision of mental health support for听former armed forces personnel by charities like Combat Stress听reflects difficulties experienced by veterans when accessing听appropriate services in the NHS. A primary obstacle often cited is听the lack of understanding of military life within a civilian system.听The same, of course, is the case for military veterans seeking听access to civilian therapists in private practice.
The multiple challenges facing armed forces personnel as they听leave the military and negotiate the transition to civilian life are听explored in two complementary articles in this issue. Michael Stott,听who served in the Royal Army Physical Training听Corps and now provides emotional support to veterans, provides听a personal insight into life in the military. Mervyn Wynne Jones, who had a career as a civilian UK armed forces听press officer and 20 years鈥� service as a military reservist, considers听the challenges for civilian therapists interested in engaging with听this client group.
Among the more serious mental health problems experienced听by veterans is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which affects听an estimated 4.8 per cent of veterans.1 Combat Stress warns that,听of the 20,000 service men and women who leave the armed forces听each year, around 1,000 are at risk of developing PTSD, and these听often do not present themselves for treatment for a decade.4听Combat Stress still gets referrals from men who served in听Northern Ireland, 15 years after the end of the armed conflict听there. Julia Greer, a psychotherapist in private practice in Northern听Ireland, contributes an informative article on the听legacy of 30 years of armed conflict in her home country. I was听shocked to learn that the highest recorded rate of PTSD in recent听history is in Northern Ireland.5 As a companion piece to听Julia鈥檚 article, I am very pleased to be publishing听an extract from To Call Myself Beloved,听Eina McHugh鈥檚 fascinating account of therapy from a听client鈥檚 perspective and a thought-provoking insight into听the trauma of life in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.
I hope you will find these and other articles in this issue听of interest. If you have any feedback or thoughts of your听own on these or any other subjects, please do get in touch.
John Daniel
Editor
privatepractice.editorial@bacp.co.uk
References
1. NHS Confederation. Briefing 210: Improving mental health services for听veterans. London: NHS Confederation; 2010.
2. Hatch SL, Harvey SB, Dandeker C et al. Life in and after the armed forces:听social networks and mental health in the UK military. Sociology of Health听& Illness 2013. DOI: 10.1111/1467-9566.12022.
3. MacManus D, Dean K, Jones M et al. Violent offending by UK military听personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan: a data linkage cohort study.听The Lancet 2013; 381(9870): 907鈥�917. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60354-2.
4. Ingham J. Veterans face a mental health time bomb. Express. 26 February听2013. http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/380351/Veterans-face-a-mental-health-time-bomb [accessed 22 August 2013].-
5. Bamford Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing at the University of Ulster in听Partnership with the Northern Ireland Centre for Trauma and Transformation听and Compass. Troubled consequences: a report on the mental health impact听of the civil conflict in Northern Ireland. Belfast: Commission for Victims and听Survivors; 2011.