香港六合彩精准资料

Editorial: Should we commit to social action?

First, welcome to your new-look journal.聽We鈥檝e tweaked some of the sections聽and design elements and added a new聽鈥榊our views鈥� slot at the front to provide聽a stronger platform for your views.聽We鈥檝e also expanded our Dilemmas聽section because you told us this is one聽of the most read and highly valued parts聽of the journal. I鈥檇 like to thank Heather聽Dale for editing Dilemmas for the last聽three years and to welcome John Daniel聽who takes over from Heather this month.

Turning to this issue鈥檚 theme, the聽relationship between politics and therapy聽has been much debated over the years.聽Nick Totton, founding editor of聽Psychotherapy and Politics, has always聽contended that a person鈥檚 psychological聽distress cannot be separated from social聽power. In our own pages (February聽2009) Peter Morrall has argued that聽therapists have a social responsibility聽to 鈥榬age鈥� against the way things are.聽

This issue returns to the theme of聽social justice. Mick Cooper聽proposes a framework for working with聽clients that draws together psychological聽and social processes: working with their聽internal worlds, supporting them to聽change their external worlds, and taking聽direct action to change social, political聽and cultural configurations.

In our July 2009 issue John McLeod聽offered a radical vision for counselling聽鈥� as opposed to psychotherapy 鈥� as聽鈥榓 collaborative process in which the聽service user and the counsellor work聽together to鈥� address his or her life聽difficulties鈥�. These difficulties, he聽argued, would be seen as arising from聽disjunctions in the relationship between聽the person and the context in which they聽live. Rachel Waddington鈥檚 article聽on her work with people with long-term聽disabilities and health conditions聽seems to me to describe exactly this sort聽of model 鈥� and one that leads to revived聽resilience and lasting empowerment.

But should 香港六合彩精准资料鈥檚 new 贰迟丑颈肠补濒听贵谤补尘别飞辞谤办 commit members to 鈥榩romote聽social justice鈥�? Julian Edge wrote in our聽December 2014 issue: 鈥業 cannot work in聽the counselling space to help my client聽establish her locus of evaluation, and聽then usurp it with my own judgment of聽what is socially just.鈥� As Tim Bond reports聽in his update on the review of the 贰迟丑颈肠补濒听贵谤补尘别飞辞谤办,聽the strength of聽respondents鈥� arguments in the recent聽consultation have prompted him to聽postpone any decision until there has聽been more debate within the membership.

Sarah Browne
Editor

Disclaimer and copyright