In this issue
Here and now
News feature: Tap and talk听(free article)
Sally Brown asks if counselling is reaping the听whirlwind of the digital revolution
Letters
The big issues
Waiting for the Southsea bus
Finding meaning in life is just as important听as we near its end, says Helen Kewell
Women at the edge
Sophie Livingstone describes her work with听women with sexually compulsive behaviours
Rethinking human suffering
Stephen Joseph sees a place for person-centred counselling with people in severe mental distress
I write, therefore I think
Liz Cox explains how reflective writing can听power professional development
Regulars
This much I don鈥檛 know
Wisdom from experience
Research into practice
Liddy Carver discovers how creative arts can help听people with depression express their feelings
Dilemmas
Matias鈥檚 difficult client wants to see his notes
Talking point
How do you feel about working online?
Self-care
Teddy bears with issues
Analyse me
What does your counselling room听say about you?
Your association
A pdf version of this issue is available from the听Therapy Today听archive
Editor's note
I love the way articles with no immediately apparent connection resonate with each other. Take March鈥檚 article on Redeen, the asylum seeker who could see no point in the future, and Helen Kewell鈥檚 article this month about her work with elderly people at the very end of their lives.
It is shocking that the emotional needs of older people are so frequently and thoughtlessly bypassed by the NHS, and that they are so rarely offered counselling. The assumption is that it鈥檚 too late now and, anyway, they don鈥檛 want it: 鈥楾hey would rather talk to the vicar/each other/have a nice cup of tea.鈥� What struck me is this article鈥檚 message that 鈥榠t is still possible鈥� 鈥� that it is, indeed, crucial 鈥� to hold onto the belief that we can 鈥榗hallenge long-held life narratives and [...] dare to write new ones鈥�, even, and perhaps especially, in very old age. The self-acceptance needed for change to occur can still be achieved at the end of life, and person-centred counselling can be the catalyst for that process.
This marries well with Stephen Joseph鈥檚 article on person-centred counselling with people in severe mental distress, for whom it is widely assumed to be useless. Not so, he argues: the Rogerian image of the potato seedlings in the cellar, growing towards the far-off light 鈥� that understanding of the damaging effects on the human psyche of thwarted and distorted potential 鈥� can explain most, if not all, forms of human distress. As Emmy van Deurzen points out in 鈥楾his Much I Don鈥檛 Know鈥�, you have to be willing to enter the client鈥檚 world (get on that bus to Southsea with them), ask them what stopped them going there before, and, by doing so, help them get there now.
Catherine Jackson
Editor
The rapidity of the digital revolution has left therapists running to catch up. Are these wonderful new channels for communicating with clients, or a threat to our profession (and, indeed, to our own and our clients鈥� mental health)?
My own stance on technology is 鈥榣ove it, hate it, wouldn鈥檛 want to work without it鈥�. Whatever we think, it鈥檚 here to stay, and the contributors to this month鈥檚 News Feature and Talking Point offer some interesting perspectives on how to use it so that it doesn鈥檛 use us.
A natural follow-on feature would be about how the so-called digital natives 鈥� our young adult clients 鈥� have been affected by growing up 鈥榦n-screen鈥�. How has this fast-paced, 鈥榓lways-on鈥� culture affected them? Has it changed how we relate and mate? Did the noughties, and the rise of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter et al, make us more narcissistic? Has the selfie generation become too self-focused? We know that anxiety and anxiety-related issues are increasing, especially in the younger generation. Has the digital revolution affected human evolution? Let鈥檚 press 鈥榩ause for thought鈥�..
Rachel Shattock Dawson
Consultant editor