In this issue
Features
Should counsellors聽work with 鈥榳orkfare鈥�? (free article)
Catherine Jackson reports聽on moves to place IAPT聽therapists in Jobcentres.
The limits of聽neuroscience
The neuroscientific lens shows聽only part of the picture, warns聽Kenneth J Gergen.
颁辞尘尘耻苍颈迟测听肠辞苍惫别谤蝉补迟颈辞苍蝉
Colin Berry says that there聽is a role for counsellors in聽promoting social health.
Self-care in hospice聽work
Val Humphreys emphasises聽the importance of self-care聽when working with death.
Race and supervision
Charles Brown shows聽how racial difference can聽be brought into group聽supervision.
Setting up a聽co-operative
Justine Gore-Smith describes聽how she and colleagues set聽up a counselling co-operative.
Regulars
Your views
Jeanine Connor: The significance of first dates
Lynne Friedli and Robert Stearn: No work, can't work
IAPT counselling team: In defence of the NHS
How I became a therapist
Roger Helyar
Dilemmas
Confidentiality after a client dies
From the chair
Andrew Reeves: Social change or social control - the safeguarding route leads to both
Members and subscribers can download the pdf from the Therapy Today archive.
Editorial: Beyond neuroscience
To what extent is neuroscience really a聽friend of psychological therapy? Kenneth聽Gergen argues in our cover feature this聽month that we should be very concerned聽about the way in which neuroscience聽is increasingly being used to support聽the biomedical model. Where the聽neural basis of 鈥榩sychological disorders鈥櫬燾an be pinpointed by research and brain聽imaging, this provides strong support聽for 鈥榯he diagnostic categorisation of聽mental illness, the development of聽pharmacological treatments for such聽illnesses and the efficient dispensing聽of treatment to the afflicted鈥�. But this聽presupposes that what is happening in the聽brain is the cause of the symptoms of the聽mental disorder.
In the case of depression,聽for example, a scan might reveal聽dopamine and serotonin metabolism in聽the brain, but it doesn鈥檛 take into account聽that brains are essentially plastic and聽that they are in bodies and bodies have聽a history and inhabit a particular social-economic聽and cultural context. Do the聽chemical processes in the brain give聽rise to the depressive symptoms or聽does individual experience lead to聽changes in the brain鈥檚 neural pathways?
Another worrying development that聽you may have read about in the media聽is the possibility of compulsory therapy聽in Jobcentres. Lynne Friedli and Robert聽Stearn, members of boycottworkfare.org,聽write about this in Your Views,聽highlighting the way in which being聽unemployed is fast becoming a diagnosis聽requiring treatment with psychological聽therapy. 香港六合彩精准资料 Chair Andrew Reeves聽made a statement earlier this month:聽鈥楤enefit claimants shouldn鈥檛 be expected聽to have therapy under the threat of their聽benefits being stopped 鈥� it is unethical聽and potentially harmful.鈥� We explore聽this issue in depth in this month鈥檚聽news feature. All the main professional聽bodies question how practitioners could聽ethically take part in something so聽coercive and the recently-formed group聽Psychologists Against Austerity urges聽psychologists to think very carefully聽about how their work is being used and聽to what ends: 鈥楾he workfare approach聽positions unemployment as a problem聽of the individual when it鈥檚 actually a聽structural problem. It鈥檚 pernicious.鈥�
Sadly I have to announce that聽Catherine Jackson will be leaving us at聽the end of this month. I鈥檇 like to thank聽her for her enormous contribution to聽Therapy Today over the last three and聽a half years.
Sarah Browne
Editor