In this issue
Features
Pluralism: towards a new paradigm听for therapy
Is it time to move beyond schoolism?听How a pluralistic approach could provide听therapists with a greater appreciation of听all potentialities.
Hope 鈥� the neglected common factor
An essential ingredient in therapeutic听change, hope nevertheless figures least听prominently amongst the four common听factors in research and training.
Becoming a counsellor
How does professional training 鈥榗hange鈥櫶齮rainee therapists? The results of a study.
A therapeutic prison service?
The Government鈥檚 changing stance听towards the rehabilitation of offenders.
The frame is the therapy
Boundaries and our internalised sense of听the counselling and psychotherapy frame.
Regulars
In practice
Kevin Chandler: Words and labels
In the client's chair
Orla Murray: Left behind
In training
Alex Erskine: Walking the line
Questionnaire
Jeremy Clarke
Day in the life
Jacqueline Ullmann
Dilemmas
The counselling-coaching interface
Articles from this issue are not yet available online. Members and subscribers can download the pdf from the听Therapy Today听archive.
Editorial
For several years now I have been of the view听that when it comes to creating psychological听change or emotional wellbeing, some things听work for some people some of the time: this听could be psychoanalysis, group therapy, a听self-help website or a walk in the countryside.听Arguing over which single therapy is the most听effective in general seems ridiculous and futile.
This is the gist of what Mick Cooper and听John McLeod are saying in their new book听on the pluralistic approach to counselling听and psychotherapy. As they describe in their听article in this issue, 鈥楥BT can be helpful, and听person-centred therapy can be helpful, and听psychodynamic therapy can be helpful鈥� 鈥� a听both/and as opposed to an either/or approach.
One crucial distinction between the听pluralistic approach and the integrative or听eclectic approach seems to be that the former听is much more client centred, ie the decision听as to what will best help the client will emerge听from consultation with that client. Cooper and听McLeod also distinguish between pluralistic听practice and a pluralistic perspective and听suggest that we can hold a pluralistic听perspective whilst still practising a single听or specialised orientation. Here the pluralist听approach again differs from the integrative听in not considering multi-orientation ways听of working as necessarily superior to single-orientation听approaches.
I was intrigued by Denis O鈥橦ara鈥檚听exploration of hope in therapy, which seems听particularly poignant in our present economic听climate. We know that it is one of the four听common factors across approaches which听contribute to therapeutic change, but of all听these factors, hope is the least researched听and the least understood. What is the nature听of hope and how do therapists help clients听rediscover it? O鈥橦ara argues for practitioners听to make hope a focus of discussion and听research, and even a topic in its own right听in counselling training.
Sarah Browne
Editor