In this issue
Features
There by the grace of...
Our responses to disability in training and听in supervision have been difficult to challenge听because of a lack of disabled role models in听our profession, argues Andri White.
Promoting wellbeing through compassion
Compassion focused therapy (CFT) offers听an integration of a number of familiar ideas听and is gaining popularity in the territories听of CBT-type approaches. By Julia Bueno.
The transgender experience: multiple听possibilities
Transgender clients are appearing more and听more in our consulting rooms so it is important听that practitioners have an understanding听about gender identity and sexuality, says听David Hawley.
Regulars
In practice
Kevin Chandler:听Fear and听longing听between听the sheets
In the client鈥檚 chair
Orla Murray: Failing at therapy
In training
Alex Erskine: View from outside the bubble
From the chair
Dr Lynne Gabriel: 香港六合彩精准资料 is 鈥榗onsultee鈥� of choice
Questionnaire
Gladeana McMahon
Fiction
The Wednesday Group
Dilemmas
Working with suicide risk
Day in the life
Shahnawaz Haque
Not all articles from this issue are available online. Members and subscribers can download the pdf from the听Therapy Today听archive.
Editorial
I am grateful to Andri White for her听article about disability; it鈥檚 a personal and听thought-provoking piece that challenges听us to look at our true feelings about clients鈥櫶齛nd supervisees鈥� disabilities, visible or听otherwise, and how we respond to them.听From her own experience, she suggests听that people鈥檚 discomfort and unease in听the presence of disability is so universal听that she has looked into whether this听comes from a hardwired human response听that is out of our awareness.
She asks us to consider whether in听therapy or supervision, we are really in a听relationship with the disabled individual听or with our construct of their impairment听and discusses how the loss of I-Thou听connectedness for the disabled client听or supervisee is emotionally disabling.听Over the 40 years during which she has听progressed from client to psychotherapist听and supervisor, she has had to deal听constantly with 鈥榚xclusions, impingements,听assumptions and interpretations that听threaten to erode [her] sense of self and听invite [her] to create a false self in order to听enter the inner sanctum of our profession鈥�.
The danger in this profession, Andri argues,听is that we think we have got disability covered听because of our training and philosophy of听non-judgmental acceptance but this is very听far from the case. Disabled trainees are still听having to struggle with basic issues like听wheelchair access at course venues; and听supervision arrangements and placements听are much more difficult and expensive to听arrange for disabled and deaf trainees and听therapists, never mind the much more subtle听barriers to inclusion and understanding.
It is not for the trainee or supervisee to听have to educate their counsellor or supervisor听about disability when they are paying them听for a service, any more than it is for black听clients to educate their counsellor about听race or gay clients to educate us about gay听issues.
Sarah Browne
Editor