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From the editor

You might be wondering why there’sÌýa woman playing the ukulele on theÌýfront cover of this issue. What couldÌýthat possibly have to do with theÌýserious work of counselling andÌýpsychotherapy? Well, the woman inÌýquestion is Liz Bentley who, whenÌýshe’s not practising psychotherapy,Ìýworks as a stand-up comedian, poetÌýand musician. I hope you will findÌýLiz’s story of how she channels herÌýpersonal experience into her creativity inspiring.

Liz’s story brings to my mind Jung’s concept of theÌý‘creative illness’: the ways in which personal breakdownÌýand crisis can precipitate self-growth and healing. In myÌýinterview with Christopher Hampton, who wrote theÌýscreenplay for A Dangerous Method, the recently releasedÌýbiopic of Jung’s relationship with his first analytic patient,ÌýHampton talks about how such crises tend to come toÌýcreative people; perhaps particularly to people who workÌýin the field of the mind.

It seems to me that as mental health professionals weÌýare not always open and honest in talking about our ownÌýexperiences of mental and emotional distress – perhapsÌýbecause we fear what our clients might think of us if we do.ÌýI am grateful to Liz for her honesty, and also to two otherÌýtherapists – Marion Brion and Susan Utting-Simon – whoÌýshare their stories of coming to terms with personal crises.ÌýMarion writes about the challenge of living with IrlenÌýsyndrome, and Susan shares how her experience of trainingÌýto run a half-marathon helped her find the inspiration to putÌýthe legacy of a violent marriage behind her.

I think these three contributors have taken a risk to writeÌýabout themselves so honestly – to allow their vulnerability toÌýbe seen. They also each demonstrate, in their own differentÌýways, the means by which they attend to their own self-careÌýas therapists. Their articles are also stimulating becauseÌýthey raise some pertinent questions about self-disclosure;Ìýsometimes considered to be the ultimate no-no for therapists.ÌýInterestingly, despite the fact that Liz has a public profile as aÌýperformer – clips of her performances are widely available onÌýYouTube – as a psychodynamic therapist, as she explains inÌýher article, she nevertheless holds strict boundaries aroundÌýsharing personal information in the room with her clients.

I wonder about the possible dilemma we find ourselves inÌýas therapists now that technology allows so much personalÌýinformation about us to be potentially so readily available toÌýour clients via Google. I’m sure that many of you might not feelÌýso comfortable about making personal aspects of yourself soÌýpublicly accessible and I would love to hear your thoughts andÌýopinions on the matter if they differ. Throughout this issue IÌýmake regular appeals to you to interact with us: to tell us whatÌýyou think of the opinions expressed in these pages, and toÌýcontribute your own stories and articles. It was lovelyÌýto receive your emails responding so enthusiastically to theÌýnew look of the journal following its relaunch in December –Ìýplease do keep your feedback coming. This is your journal andÌýit relies upon your participation to keep it lively and relevant.

John Daniel
Editor
privatepractice.editorial@bacp.co.uk

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