MAY 2024 | VOLUME 35 | ISSUE 4
Therapists can bring positive change into businesses
Page 44
Technological advances and the future of therapy Ready or not… AI is here
Is it time to rehabilitate Freud? // How to help your client deal with a difficult boss Financial issues in the therapy room // Can being humble make you a better therapist?
Contents May 2024
Upfront Welcome From the BACP team
5 6 7
News round-up CPD and events From the Chair Reactions The month Main features The big issue Why Matthias Barker created an AI-enabled therapy bot – then destroyed it Online therapy: what we know now What does research tell us about the experience of remote therapy? Why it’s time to rehabilitate Freud Freud was flawed but he continues to influence thinking, says Frank Tallis The paradox of professional humility Sally Brown explores why being humble makes you a better therapist The difficult boss Clients need help to step into their boss’s shoes, says Michael Skapinker Financial self-sabotage Vicky Reynal describes a psychodynamic approach to dealing with debt Working with dementia Francine Beadsworth explores the ethics of working with clients with a dementia diagnosis Regulars It changed my life My practice From the President Research digest The bookshelf Dilemmas Analyse me Opportunities Classified, mini ads, recruitment, CPD
10 11 12 16
18
24
28
30
36
40
‘There are many ways in which irrational and destructive financial behaviour serves a psychological purpose’ Vicky Reynal (‘Financial self-sabotage’, pages 40-43)
48
34 44 45 46 52 54 74
58
On the cover . The big issue Ready or not... AI is here: we ignore the advances in AI at our peril, says Matthias Barker (pages 18-22)
Company limited by guarantee 2175320 Registered in England & Wales. Registered Charity 298361 BACP and the BACP logo are registered trade marks of BACP
Chair Natalie Bailey Governors Sekinat Adima, Josephine Bey, Punam Farmah, Emma Farrell, Ewan Irvine, Ian Jones, Marc Leppard, Charlotte Venkatraman Chief Executive Officer Dr Phil James Chief Financial Officer Philippa Foster Director of Professional Standards, Policy and Research Dr Lisa Morrison Coulthard Transformation and Digital Director Ben Kay HR Director Jamie Redmond British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy Board and officers
Contact us by emailing: therapytoday@thinkpublishing.co.uk
THERAPY TODAY 3 MAY 2024
Welcome
From the Editor
S caling up your practice as an individual practitioner comes with many challenges, including the risk of burnout. But imagine if you had an avatar that looked and sounded just like you and was programmed with every response you’ve ever given to a client, as well as everything you learned in your training and CPD. Would your potential number of clients then become unlimited? If your gut response to this is that it will never happen you may be misinformed, according to Matthias Barker. In his ‘Big issue’ article, ‘Ready or not… AI is here’, he argues that therapists ignore AI at their peril. He shares his extraordinary story of investing thousands of his own money creating an AI-enabled therapy bot programmed to operate as a virtual version of himself, only to pull the plug on the project at the last minute in what he calls his ‘Oppenheimer’ moment. His concern wasn’t that the AI-enabled therapist wouldn’t be good enough but that it would be too good, and put him, and other practitioners, out of a job. Don’t miss that thought- provoking account courtesy of the fantastic US publication Psychotherapy Networker – thanks to editor Livia Kent for her generosity in sharing it with Therapy Today readers.
Have we as a profession given enough consideration to the consequences of accepting such wholesale changes to the way we work?
We also have a report from a team of UK researchers on therapists’ experiences of the transition to working remotely. Reading their fi ndings, it struck
me how much I have come to accept as the ‘new normal’, such as clients taking their session from a di ff erent place depending on where they are that day, including (if necessary) walking outside. I’m sure I’m not the only practitioner who has had to deal with interruptions, less than perfect signals and restricted views of the client. Often we don’t know what obstacles we may be faced with before the session starts. I tell myself that my fl exibility and adaptability in coping with this is in service of providing the client with a session they need. But the authors of our ‘Best practice’ piece, ‘Online therapy: what we know now’, raise an important issue – have we as a profession given enough consideration to the consequences of accepting such wholesale
changes to the way we work? I’d love to hear your views and experiences of this – email therapytoday@thinkpublishing.co.uk Sally Brown Editor
Contributing to Therapy Today . The content of Therapy Today is made up of submissions from members and other practitioners, and we very much welcome your contributions. For Therapy Today -specific guidelines on the types of articles we are looking for, please email therapytoday@thinkpublishing.co.uk . Please note, we do not publish poetry, blogs or dissertations. • For information about advertising in Therapy Today , please contact cara.termine@thinkpublishing.co.uk Please email bacp@bacp.co.uk to: • Opt out of receiving paper copies of Therapy Today • Inform us of a change of address • Report a missing issue
Editor Sally Brown Art Director George Walker
Copyright Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, or in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Clearance Centre (CCC), the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA), and other organisations authorised by the publisher to administer reprographic reproduction rights. Individual and organisational members of BACP may make photocopies for teaching purposes free of charge, provided these copies are not for resale. © British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
Disclaimer Views expressed in the journal and signed by a writer are the views of the writer, not necessarily those of Think, BACP or the contributor’s employer, unless specifically stated. Publication in this journal does not imply endorsement of the writer’s views by Think or BACP. Similarly, publication of advertisements and advertising material does not constitute endorsement by Think or BACP. Reasonable care has been taken to avoid errors, but no liability will be accepted for any errors that may occur. If you visit a website from a link in the journal, the BACP privacy policy does not apply. We recommend that you examine privacy statements of any third-party websites to understand their privacy procedures. Case studies All case studies in this journal, unless otherwise stated, are permissioned, disguised, adapted or composites, to protect confidentiality.
Therapy Today is published on behalf of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy by Think, 65 Riding House Street, London W1W 7EH. w: www.thinkpublishing.co.uk Printed by: Warners Midlands Plc ISSN: 1748-7846 Subscriptions Annual UK subscription £76; overseas subscription £95 (for 10 issues). Single issues £8.50 (UK) or £13.50 (overseas). All BACP members receive a hard copy free of charge as part of their membership. t: 01455 883300 e: bacp@bacp.co.uk BACP BACP House, 15 St John’s Business Park, Lutterworth, Leicestershire LE17 4HB t: 01455 883300 e: bacp@bacp.co.uk w: www.bacp.co.uk
Managing Editor Marion Thompson Contributing Editor Catherine Jackson Reviews Editor Jeanine Connor Production Director Justin Masters Client Engagement Director Emma Godfrey Executive Director John Innes Commercial Partnerships Executive Cara Termine d: 020 3771 7214 e: cara.termine@thinkpublishing.co.uk Sustainability Therapy Today is printed on FSC® certified paper from sustainably managed forests and produced using suppliers who conform to ISO14001, an industrial, environmental standard that ensures commitment to low carbon emissions and environmentally sensitive waste management. Both the cover and inner pages can be widely recycled.
BACP and the BACP logo are registered trade marks of BACP
THERAPY TODAY 5 MAY 2024
From the BACP team
‘We need to ensure that members experience a welcoming and inclusive organisation’
To support this vision further BACP piloted a mentoring scheme where members volunteered to become mentors to trainee practitioners. The participants of this scheme were invited from ethnic minority backgrounds, and a total of 30 pairs were matched for the duration of nine months, providing support to the students who were able to consult and discuss challenges of becoming a professional counsellor in the context of EDI. In November 2023 we organised an online training to enable training institutions, their programme leadership and the course trainers to learn how to put into practice the learnings from the toolkit produced by the Coalition for Inclusion and Anti-Oppressive Practice, of which BACP is a member and a contributor. This is in addition to a series of anti-racism podcasts, produced in collaboration with Hackney Borough Council, available on the BACP website. This year our focus is on development of EDI criteria in line with the SCoPEd project for our accredited courses and services, and to increase accessibility within our accreditation application assessment services. In addition we are planning to undertake several third sector grant projects to further explore barriers to
For this month’s column our CEO, Phil James, has asked me (Dr Lisa Morrison Coulthard) to update members on what we have been doing across the organisation to deliver our equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strategy. I’ve asked our Project Manager (Designated Funds), Marzena Hunter, who oversees all of the project work under the strategy, to co-write the column. To recap, in early 2023 we launched our EDI strategy outlining key strategic goals and long- term commitments to the improvement of EDI for the profession of the future. Social justice is at the heart of our strategy, and we are fully committed to its promotion and progression. Social justice means many things to many people, but for us it is about ensuring that anyone who needs counselling will be able to access equitable, ethical and e ff ective support. The development of the EDI strategy was a collaborative e ff ort with the input from BACP’s Senior Leadership Team and the specially formed Task and Finish Group made up of BACP members who provided expert advice and practical steps. The full EDI strategy document can be accessed from the BACP website. Fundamentally, the strategy is focused on ensuring that the counselling professions are
welcoming and inclusive organisation that facilitates a sense of belonging, with members identifying themselves as being part of BACP because it re fl ects who they are, what they stand for and their values and beliefs. To con fi rm our commitment to the delivery of the EDI strategy, designated funds of £1.3 million have been ring-fenced for a portfolio of 21 EDI-focused projects to be delivered over the period of fi ve years. The delivery of the strategy is being governed by a number of internal groups such as the EDI Steering Group, Designated Funds Project Board and the steering groups of individual projects whose membership includes external partnering organisations and BACP members. One of the key ongoing projects is the bursaries pilot scheme, which o ff ers BACP sponsorship for students from marginalised and ethnic minority backgrounds to support their training. For the pilot a total of 10 bursaries were o ff ered – fi ve at entry level for students starting their career path into the profession, and fi ve at progression level for students working towards becoming fully quali fi ed. This project supports our EDI strategy vision in removing and addressing barriers to training, entry to the counselling professions and access to paid employment.
relevant to all in our diverse society by removing barriers to the professions so they are re fl ective of the communities we serve. Barriers that prevent the growth and development of therapists also need to be removed, supporting a skilled, competent and diverse workforce to deliver therapy to people from all sections of society. From an organisational perspective, we need to ensure that members experience a
counselling services for people from diverse and marginalised backgrounds within the voluntary sector. These are just a few examples of the EDI strategic projects that BACP is involved with. We are proud to pioneer some of the innovative ways of supporting our aims and our vision for EDI transformation within our
organisation and within the counselling profession. ■
Marzena Hunter Project Manager (Designated Funds)
6 THERAPY TODAY MAY 2024
News round-up Our monthly digest of news, updates and events
School- and college-based counselling in England In response to growing concerns about the mental health of children and young people in England, we have joined Citizens UK, the largest civil society federation across the UK, along with NASUWT – the Teachers’ Union, NAHT – the School Leaders’ Union, The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society and the charity Parentkind, to campaign for a fair, workable and long-term solution. We’re asking the next Government to legislate for the statutory provision of counselling by specialist children and young people counsellors or psychotherapists, to address the mental health needs of pupils in primary and secondary schools, and further education colleges in England, or wherever a child is educated within the state system. Additional funding for early support hubs We’re pleased that the Government has announced an additional £3 million funding for early support mental health hubs. These hubs will provide much- needed support to young people in the heart of their community. In October 2023 the Government announced £4.92 million would be available for 10 early support hubs to fund services for one year. It’s now providing an additional £3 million to expand the number of hubs to 24 across the country. The announcement comes after years of campaigning by the Fund Working for you
Spring budget ‘lost opportunity’ At a time when we’re seeing the cost of living having a negative impact on people’s mental health, and mental health services themselves are struggling and over capacity, we’d hoped to see much more from the Chancellor in helping people access support. The spring budget announcement included an increase in the VAT threshold to £90,000. Although this will benefit some services, ultimately it would be more beneficial to exempt counselling and psychotherapy services from VAT entirely. While this increase will help many third sector services struggling with increasing demands, more complex referrals and spiralling running costs, we’d hoped that there would have been much more about serious investment into mental health services to offset the continued mental health crisis facing the nation. However, we were pleased to see the Chancellor’s pledge for funding (£75 million) to expand violence reduction units across England and Wales, some of which provide counselling services to support people who have been, or are vulnerable to, involvement in violence. You can read our response to the spring budget on our website. ! For more details and to keep up to date with the work of the BACP Policy team, see www.bacp.co.uk/news/ news-from-bacp
the Hubs coalition, of which we’re a member along with many other leading mental health charities and organisations. Mental health strategy review Labour’s mental health strategy review led by BACP Vice President Luciana Berger on behalf of the Labour Party is looking at how Government departments can help with one of its key objectives to prevent mental health issues. As many issues covered are devolved, much of the focus of the review is on policies for England. We’ve included several recommendations in our response to the review, including increasing people’s choice in what type of therapy they can access beyond CBT, and improving and increasing the current mental health provision by using the large number of trained counsellors and psychotherapists available. In February more than 1,400 members in England responded to our consultation on the review, adding their voice and experience to our own analysis of the challenges and opportunities. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts with us. As well as informing our own response to the review, we shared these responses with Luciana and her team.
PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT ¢ BACP’s Public Protection Committee holds delegated responsibility for the public protection processes of the Register. You can find out more about the Committee and its work at
www.bacp.co.uk/about-us/protecting-the-public/ bacp-register/governance-of-the-bacp-register ¢ BACP’s Professional Conduct Notices can be found at www.bacp.co.uk/professional-conduct-notices
MAY 2024 7
THERAPY TODAY
News round-up Our monthly digest of news, updates and events
Workforce mapping survey results 2022-2023 Thank you to everyone who completed our workforce mapping survey between October 2022 and September 2023. The survey helps us to collect data on the sectors you work in, the client groups you work with, your specialisms and your areas of practice. It also helps us better understand our members’ levels of training, income, capacity for additional employment, and demographic characteristics. We use the information to help build an informed picture of your working practice and identify gaps in provision, which helps us to make a stronger case to policy makers and commissioners. We’ll continue to send members our workforce mapping survey once a year at the point of membership renewal. Your response makes sure we have the most up-to-date member information to support our campaigning and lobbying work. It also helps us to see whether our equality, diversity and inclusion work is having a positive effect on diversifying the demographic profile of our members. Your feedback is vital in contributing to our understanding of who our members are, and we encourage you to complete the survey when you receive it at renewal. The most recent findings are available to view now on our website at www.bacp.co.uk/about-us/about-bacp/6-march- 2022-2023-workforce-mapping-survey
Our Scope of Practice and Education (SCoPEd) framework transition period is open. During this time members who wish to will be able to move between our membership categories, which are aligned to the standards of the SCoPEd framework columns, where they have the relevant skills, training, knowledge and experience to do so. Every member represented on the SCoPEd framework is a qualified professional working to high standards of proficiency, professionalism and ethical practice, and changing lives for the better. Whatever your membership category, you’ll still be able to provide the services you currently do and practise competences in other SCoPEd columns, providing you have the right skills, knowledge, training and experience to do so. This is in line with our existing Ethical Framework , which states that BACP members must work within the limits of their competence. We expect the transition period to last until February 2026 when we’ll enter the integration period. At this time: ! Membership category entry requirements will be fully aligned with SCoPEd columns A, B and C ! Additional and permanent accreditation schemes and routes mapped to the SCoPEd standards and competences of columns B and C will open, enabling members to move membership categories should they wish to do so ! New accreditation routes will be available which reflect training and experience gained through practice and CPD. Courses may need longer to integrate any changes into their training programmes and will have until early 2028 to do so. We’ll continue to support members with regular updates and work with partners as we progress these stages. For more information, see www.bacp.co.uk/scoped Transition period open SCoPEd update
8 THERAPY TODAY MAY 2024
" Billie Dunlevy was interviewed by Sky News about the use of AI chatbots to help people overcome grief. This led to widespread coverage on lots of regional news sites and local radio stations including BBC Essex, Planet Radio and Black Country Radio. Cate Campbell spoke to Cosmopolitan and Yahoo! Style UK about why some couples use pet names for each other. Stefan Walters # commented in a Guardian article about people’s different experiences of therapy. " Georgina Sturmer spoke to The Independent about the Government’s launch of baby loss certificates. Georgina’s comments also featured on the HuffPost and Aol websites. Dee Johnson # spoke to Pick Me Up! magazine about the mental health benefits of word puzzle games like Wordle. Our involvement in the Fund the Hubs campaign group was highlighted on lots of online news websites discussing the extra Government funding announcement, including London Reviews , WiredGov , Children & Young People Now and Social Work Today . " Kemi Omijeh and Heidi Soholt # featured in a GoodtoKnow article giving parents advice on how to encourage children to open up about their emotions. GoodtoKnow also featured Amanda Macdonald and Jenny Warwick in an article about building resilience in children, and Rachel Vora and Pete English # on conversation starters for teenagers. Pick Me Up! magazine featured Amanda Macdonald , Natasha Page and " Janey Morrissey as agony aunts in its weekly ‘Dilemmas’ page. Amanda also featured in two Chat magazine monthly specials. Hansa Pankhania # spoke to Metro about how to manage your wellbeing. This was also reported by UK Press24 . Spreading the word Promoting our members and our profession through the media
We believe that research is a vital factor in shaping mental health policies and practices and we advocate for evidence-based policy recommendations. As part of our commitment to supporting the growth of research and evidence for our profession, we publish Counselling and Psychotherapy Research . This is an international peer-reviewed journal dedicated to linking research with practice in counselling and psychotherapy. It aims to promote high-quality, ethical research that influences, informs and develops counselling and psychotherapy practice. Recent articles have covered: ! Therapeutic perspectives on cyberbullying ! Clients’ experiences of online therapy in the early days of the pandemic ! The relationship between secondary traumatic stress, professional identity and career factors in counsellors ! The perceived impact of counselling training on students’ personal relationships. Access to the journal archive is free for BACP members via the Wiley online library. Find out more and read all editions, including the latest, at www.bacp.co.uk/bacp-journals/ counselling-and-psychotherapy-research-journal Check out the Counselling and Psychotherapy Research journal
MAY 2024 9
THERAPY TODAY
BACP events and CPD
This year’s Private Practice Conference is a hybrid event on Saturday 14 September online and in London at etc.venues St Paul’s, and will explore problems that therapists of all modalities can face. We’ll look at unexpected crises that can prove overwhelming, explore how we deal with ethical dilemmas when there seems to be no obvious answer, and look at common issues that therapists and supervisors may struggle with, such as finding effective ways to discuss cultural and other differences in the therapy room. We’ll also help you to understand your own limitations to prevent burnout using practical and self-help measures. For the first time the conference will also include a live panel discussion. The conference aims to help you: • Feel more confident and competent in tackling difficult and sometimes taboo topics in therapy • Enhance your ethical decision- making skills and apply them to complex scenarios • Strengthen self-awareness and personal boundaries as a therapist • Expand your understanding of legal and professional frameworks impacting therapy practice • E ngage in open dialogue and collaborative learning with colleagues on contemporary ethical challenges. For further information and to book, see www.bacp.co.uk/ events/pp2024-private-practice- conference-2024 Private Practice Conference 2024
Making Connections Derry/Londonderry
supervision encounter, including the challenges supervisors might face. It’ll also look at contextual, contemporary and practice-based issues that present in supervision. There’ll be a mix of workshops on offer, along with facilitated discussion groups and opportunities for supervisors to network. The workshops will be split into three strands, with two workshops taking place in each one. Lunch and refreshments are also provided. It costs £120 for BACP members to attend and £170 for non-members. To find out more, see www.bacp.co.uk/events 10 THERAPY TODAY MAY 2024 • Selected presentation slides and recordings from the event available for a three-month period • Light lunch plus refreshments on arrival and during refreshment breaks • Networking with peers, colleagues and BACP staff, who’ll provide key organisational updates. For more information and to book your place, see www.bacp.co.uk/events. Places are limited, so if you do book and can no longer attend please let us know so your place can be offered to another member on the waiting list.
Our free Making Connections events take place throughout the year across the four nations and give you the chance to network with other members and our divisional executive members. This time we’re visiting Derry/ Londonderry on Wednesday 26 June and the event will be hosted by BACP Trustee Sekinat Adima, beginning at 10am. What’s included: • Three CPD presentations • Dedicated live Q&A sessions after each presentation
Robin Shohet on supervision We’re delighted to announce that Robin Shohet will deliver the opening
keynote presentation at this year’s Supervisor’s Event, on ‘Fear and love in supervision (and beyond)’. Robin has more than 30 years of experience in supervision, and will also be joining us for the closing discussion panel. The Supervisor’s Event is designed specifically with supervisors in mind, and will be taking place in person in Bristol this September following positive feedback from our last two events. The event will explore some of the common issues that manifest in the
From the Chair Natalie Bailey, Chair, BACP Board of Governors
‘The trajectory of the counselling professions is constantly being directed by political influences’
governments to in fl uence policy makers, highlighting the underutilisation of counselling and psychotherapy. It lobbies for job opportunities with NHS England, and engages with government departments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, advocating for our members. Last autumn’s budget statement saw £600 million allocated to psychological therapies, and the team has been collaborating with policy makers to in fl uence e ff ective implementation in the NHS and in pilot programmes in other areas. Members have a valuable part to play in the political landscape. Several AGMs have seen calls from members through motions and resolutions to push for VAT exemption on counselling and psychotherapy, and we’re continuing to lobby for this. In February we held a roundtable discussion with BACP Vice President Luciana Berger, which a number of BACP members attended to provide insights on their experiences. In addition, a member consultation that focused on BACP members in England garnered fruitful responses from more than 1,400 members. Thank you to all who took part to support the team’s work on emerging manifestos with all political parties. Policies regarding healthcare funding and mental health parity a ff ect the availability of resources for psychological treatment and support. By advocating for policies that prioritise mental wellness and address the root causes of psychological distress, the work of BACP’s Policy and Public A ff airs team continues to establish the way for a more promising future for members, and for those who might want a career in the public, private and third sector. Members can visit the BACP website to see more on our Policy team’s work, and look out for updates in the BACP e-newsletter on how politics is in fl uencing our profession. ■
Why might a counsellor be interested in politics? I would often ponder this question during my counselling and psychotherapy training. Some may argue that counselling is not a political act, yet the trajectory of the counselling professions is constantly being directed by political in fl uences. I’m cognisant that political decisions ricochet for years to come, and with 2024 being a general election year I’m also alert to how political changes could impact our profession. Looking back at my time on a BACP accredited postgraduate diploma programme in 2009, the political landscape was uncertain, with an imminent election in the UK and murmurs of impending regulation of the counselling profession. Concern and confusion were prevalent among my cohort but we anticipated direct registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) on course completion. We were also aware that practitioners who may have pursued alternative and lengthier routes to achieve their quali fi cation several years earlier, and had more years’ experience, were expressing unease at this. Sound familiar? Some of what I’m saying might even re fl ect the current experiences of some BACP members. I imagine few would have predicted the outcome of the general election in 2010 and what a hung parliament and coalition Government would bring. The result meant that conversations in parliament around regulation were halted. The Government’s decision to close down a number of non- departmental bodies a ff ected any prospect my cohort had of joining the HCPC register, which meant we lost the potential to access a variety of employment opportunities. This illustrated how political decisions can a ff ect personal livelihoods and how legislation directly
impacts the accessibility, a ff ordability and quality of mental health services. My motivation to join the BACP Board of Governors was to contribute to discussions with policy makers around access to services and paid employment for counsellors and psychotherapists. Over the years I have worked closely with the BACP Policy and Public A ff airs team. Its work champions the skills, competence and contribution of BACP members to employers, commissioners, politicians and policy makers across the UK, and it builds support for the sector through stakeholder engagement and public policy campaigns. The team works tirelessly to make the case for the appropriate provision of counselling and psychotherapy across society, and ultimately for increased opportunities for paid employment for our members. The impact of the Policy team’s work extends far beyond the margins of any single election cycle. It works with devolved
MARCH 2023 11
THERAPY TODAY
Reactions Your feedback on Therapy Today articles
We very much welcome your letters – the maximum word count is 350 and letters may need to be edited. NB these pages are dedicated to responses to recent Therapy Today articles only.
Full time and loving it In response to Sally Brown’s article on portfolio working (‘Portfolio working: the future of private practice?’, Therapy Today , March 2024), I want to give a ‘shout out’ to all those counsellors and supervisors who are working full time in private practice and loving it. Portfolio working is great for some but it doesn’t work for us all. Until last year I had been
aligned to my values. It fed into my client work thanks to the life experience it gave me and the personal growth that went with it. The variety in my working week was essential to my own mental health. Everyone is di ff erent, but personally I think that I would not be able to provide the same quality of care and attention to my clients as I do now if I were to practise every day. Reading about other practitioners who also acknowledge this has helped to validate my choices. However, on a less positive note, thanks to SCoPEd, I also feel penalised for those same choices. By not pursuing a traditional therapy career path with its attendant academic milestones, it seems that I have unwittingly positioned myself at a disadvantage. The satisfaction a ff orded by my various activities, the immeasurable learning gained through CPD, from colleagues and supervisors, and from the richness of my client work itself, made further study seem optional, not essential. Now, sadly, it is becoming a Thanks for the article ‘Portfolio working: the future of private practice?’ ( Therapy Today , March 2024). I too was seeing up to 25 or more clients a week, but that didn’t last long as burnout was in the air with such levels. After that I reduced the numbers and later looked at coaching as an option. But my passion for chess gradually took over and now I am a part-time chess coach in one school (three schools was too much!) and see children privately as well. I still see psychotherapy/ counselling as my main profession (I get paid more per hour) but am now down to about 10-12 hours a week. Portfolio working seems to be the way forward for me. Nigel Moyse MBACP (Accred) I’ve been fortunate to have enough clients since I started out in private practice. However, I recognised last year that I was missing the additional psychoeducation work I did at Rape Crisis in a voluntary capacity, and at The Listening Centre, an a ff ordable prerequisite to professional status. Fiona Morrison MBACP (Accred)
LETTER OF THE MONTH
counselling in private practice part time while holding down various counselling teaching projects. I loved teaching but the increased administration involved was sucking up energy I wanted to use in my client work. I’ve stepped back on teaching and now work full time as a counsellor and supervisor. At last I have more fuel in the tank for my clients and supervisees, I have time to engage in research that applies directly to my clients, which informs my work with them, and I have more time for a life outside of therapy. One of the contributors in the article comments, ‘If your whole identity is about being a therapist you will resent it’ and also ‘I wouldn’t want a therapist who didn’t have a life outside therapy’, but since working full time as a counsellor and supervisor in private practice I have more time to embrace my full, vibrant and stimulating life outside the therapy room. The contributor’s comments hit a raw nerve because this month I am renewing my membership whereby I shall lose my senior accredited status. After many sacrifices and hard work to achieve two Level 7 qualifications, a huge piece of work to gain my senior accreditation, and 10 years’ experience of working in services and private practice this feels unjust. I won’t take up the offer to engage in another hoop to jump through, once again, to prove myself to keep hold of my senior accredited status. I know I have skills, knowledge and expertise; my clients know it because they experience it in the room, and I witness their transformation. However, it saddens me that I feel increasingly part of an organisation that devalues the work I do and undermines the contribution I make to the field. Comments in this article made me feel the same. So, to all those who are quietly getting on with simply doing the amazing work of therapy, and no doubt have an identity and a life outside of it – I see you and I salute you! Michelle Higgins , counsellor and supervisor in full-time private practice
Portfolio working Thank you for your article on portfolio working ( Therapy Today , March 2024). It was comforting to see my own experience re fl ected in it. I wonder if any other portfolio workers have felt a slight sense of guilt at not devoting themselves exclusively to a career as a therapist? I know I have. And yet
this article gives a strong rationale for making that choice. I already had a freelance career when I quali fi ed more than 20 years ago and launched my private practice. I assumed that I would give it up eventually and transition to being a full-time therapist but that just never happened. My freelance work was always interesting, challenging and increasingly
12 THERAPY TODAY MAY 2024
Your letters
Everyone is di ff erent, but personally I think that I would not be able to provide the same quality of care and attention to my clients as I do now if I were to practise every day
We are writing in response to Catherine Jackson’s article ‘Adapt and survive’ ( Therapy Today , February 2024). It is distressing to know that many counselling charities are closing while the demand is going up, and also to read that the provision of long-term, low-cost therapy is being questioned. We set up CoCo Counselling CIC in Edinburgh to establish a genuinely a ff ordable service that was accessible to anyone within the community who was able to engage with counselling. We also wanted to ensure that all our counsellors were paid for their work. Having researched and experienced other models of counselling services we realised that, for most of them to survive, they relied heavily on students and quali fi ed counsellors to work as unpaid volunteers. We wanted to create a model of working that worked for the clients and counsellors. To sustain our a ff ordable work we have a fee-paying service where those able to pay the full fee understand that they are helping to support others. It is extremely important to us that counsellors are valued for their skills, experience and time. Historically, counselling has often been viewed as a soft option, something that provides a holding space until clients are o ff ered appointments with a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist. By not paying counsellors for the invaluable work they do we would continue to feed into that narrative and
counselling charity, in a paid role as part of the practice management team. As a BACP spokesperson I love the media work I get to do, but I recognise that there is more creatively I can add to the industry. To this end 2024 is a time where I am choosing to pause taking on new one-to-one clients, as well as sticking to a four-day working week. This will free me up to dedicate some time to create some niche, self-service course content. My husband and I are now self-employed, and we both have a small portfolio of work. Although there is some fi nancial risk in this model, there is also room for great reward creatively. I think this is really important for those of us who thrive on variety as it helps us give back. February 2024), I was heartened to hear that several community-based mental health initiatives are fl ourishing throughout the UK. What seems clear is that there is strength in diversity. One aspect that is mentioned but not discussed is the reliance of many organisations on trainees in order to deliver free or low-cost services. The Department for Business and Trade’s 2017 independent report Good work: the Taylor review of modern working practices names unpaid internships ‘an abuse of power by employers and extremely damaging to social mobility’, yet clinical training hours running into the hundreds go unpaid. The lack of appropriate funding and Susie Masterson MBACP , psychotherapist and coach Unpaid counsellors Reading Catherine Jackson’s article ‘Adapt and survive’ ( Therapy Today , enormous expense of training precludes many underrepresented people from entering and diversifying therapy. To further strengthen our communities, as Toby Sweet is quoted, ‘we have to be realistic and we have to be fair’. Savannah Lambis , trainee humanistic integrative counsellor
undermine the importance of our role within society. Kate Frazer and Shilpa Balaram , Directors of CoCo Counselling CIC The community-based mental health initiatives featured in ‘Adapt and survive’ ( Therapy Today, February 2024) are essential but, as the article explores, increasingly di ffi cult to sustain. As the co-founders of The Mind Tree Café CIC, a community-based project in Wiltshire supporting health and wellbeing, we also know how much hard work it takes to get such an initiative o ff the ground. We are due to open our doors with a low-cost counselling service this spring. Wellbeing is dependent on multiple factors, so we are aiming to take a holistic approach and open a community café and a community shop, and o ff er workshops and opportunities to access crafts, art, exercise, meditation and gardening, as we have a large orchard. We are situated within a supported living community and hope to provide services for those residents. We set our company up in this way to future-proof it by producing income from counselling and other activities – funding has been di ffi cult, particularly as a start-up. We hope that once we open our doors funders will have a better understanding of our concept and realise this type of space ful fi ls a need that isn’t being met elsewhere in our locality. All our sta ff including ourselves are currently unpaid, which is not what we envisaged but it is the only way we can open. We will be o ff ering training and support for our counsellors in a unique setting, access to our orchard and other spaces. Providing a quality placement for students to complete their counselling hours is important to us. Once we access funding we will be able to look at fi nancial rewards. We hope to be in a better position to do so next year. Lisa Newton MBACP and Lisa Gurr MBACP , Directors of The Mind Tree Café CIC
THERAPY TODAY 13 MAY 2024
Reactions Your feedback on Therapy Today articles
Email your views on Therapy Today articles to therapytoday@thinkpublishing.co.uk *Views expressed here are views of contributors, not necessarily those of BACP or Therapy Today ’s editorial team
Self-disclosure Re the discussion on self-disclosure
I don’t have the technical skills to be a professional counsellor. Every single argument that is used to try to justify using self-disclosure merely demonstrates the counsellor’s inability to use appropriate counselling skills. Counselling must be signi fi cantly di ff erent from having a casual chat with a neighbour, otherwise seeking a quali fi ed counsellor will become completely pointless. People who are calling themselves counsellors must be able to create a real bond with their clients, be able to demonstrate a truly empathic connection, be able to build trust and acceptance with their clients, be able to convince their clients of their ability to help them, be able to communicate human sensitivity, be able to build con fi dence in the counsellor/client relationship, be able to get their clients to open up about di ffi cult issues, without using self-disclosure – otherwise they should simply not be counselling. Too many people are already giving our profession a bad name because of their lack of ability in using genuine counselling skills and by trying to cover this by resorting to the use of friendly techniques they have used in the past. Trainers and tutors need to wake up to this problem – if trainee counsellors don’t learn how to avoid using self-disclosure they will continue to undermine the whole counselling profession. Trevor Summerlin MBACP The power of film I agree with Jenny Hamilton and Helen Kemp (‘Watch and learn’, Therapy Today , February 2024) that movies can give us insight and awareness, a di ff erent way of looking at our problems and di ffi culties. They ask us to use our imagination as they access our unconscious wishes and dreams, our unspoken fantasies. A fi lm can release our hidden emotions, bringing to the surface feelings of hope and joy, desire and longing, suspense and tension, concern and awareness, release
(‘Reactions’, Therapy Today , March 2024), as an eating disorders specialist I always ask clients if there is anything they would fi nd useful to know about my training and expertise with eating disorder treatment but also about my own relationship with food. Assumptions about a counsellor, such as ‘you wouldn’t understand me’ or ‘I expect you eat perfectly so would fi nd my behaviour shameful’ interfere with the therapy alliance. I have known recovery groups disintegrate because the counsellor declines to share their own eating history while expecting others to tell the truth. I am not talking here about dumping it all into the room – disclosure needs to be brief enough without going into details while motivational for the client. This is why the therapist who still has problems with body image and with eating control ideally must seek help for their own issues before taking on the eating disorder client. If the client asks about past issues the therapist must be able to congruently say, yes I did once have issues but now I don’t think too much about food, I am content with how I eat, I have a wide diet and I am able to take care of myself, and so on. This both confers hope and lets the client know that they are in safe hands. Deanne Jade , Director of National Centre for Eating Disorders I have patiently endured the recent discussion in Therapy Today around the topic of self-disclosure but feel that I can no longer refrain from making a point that seems to have been completely overlooked. I have been quali fi ed as a counsellor for more than 40 years and am acutely aware that everything about me automatically contributes to some form of self-disclosure. However, I am absolutely convinced that any and every attempt at sharing my personal experiences with my clients constitutes a grave dereliction of duty. Furthermore, it demonstrates that
Like a therapy session a fi lm provides a timed space with de fi ned boundaries, a safe place for exploring psychological processes
and relief – in a word, catharsis. Films don’t just depict characters and events, they may ask us to think about our moral values, how we make choices and decisions, how we live our lives. The experience of watching a fi lm is both inclusive and exclusive, shared and private, popular and elitist. A fi lm is nothing without the viewer. It only asks that you watch it, yet it is uniquely interactive. Like a therapy session it provides a timed space with de fi ned boundaries, a safe place for exploring psychological processes. Movies place our personal issues in a wider context. We can take a short break from our own reality and enter the illusional reality of the fi lm we are watching. Our personal problems are put into perspective. We see the characters in a fi lm transformed by their experiences, and we can fi nd comfort in the hope that we too can be transformed by what we ourselves are going through. Movies are accessible to everyone. You don’t have to be literate, well educated or intellectual. You just have to show up. Films are magic. Go to the movies, be a hero for a while, live it for a moment. Carol Martin-Sperry FBACP
14 THERAPY TODAY MAY 2024
Your letters
OBITUARY Mary Godden
into private practice. She worked with Cruse and also with local faith organisations to increase counselling skills across a wide range of professionals and volunteers. Her work on the use of counselling skills as part of another role was widely respected. Throughout the e ff orts to professionalise counselling her focus was always the clients, and her concerns included keeping access to counselling available to all, irrespective of fi nancial resources. This made her passionate about the voluntary sector, and in 2016 she was still writing to Therapy Today asking BACP to support charities in making counselling available. She also felt that individual counsellors should take on pro bono work, a view which did not always make her popular but which she lived out in her own life. As an individual Mary was clear-sighted, determined, warm and generous, with a sense of humour that eased many tricky situations. For her the future was always more important than the past. She expressed her views forthrightly, staying true to her principles while respecting those of others. When you were with Mary you knew you were with a force to be reckoned with. In December 2021 Mary moved from the home in Margate where she had raised her three children, Mark, Ruth and Karen, and took up residence in a care home in Reigate to be nearer to the family. She made this move with her usual determination and vigour, pronouncing herself satis fi ed with the place and taking a keen interest in everything around her. Even at 92 her death was unexpected as she was so fully engaged with life. Many people – family, friends, past clients and supervisees and colleagues – will be saddened by her passing. She is remembered with love and respect. Dr Nicola Barden FBACP , Professional Fellow, University of Winchester, BACP Chair 2005-2008
(13 July 1931 to 18 February 2024) Mary Godden was a founding member of BACP, and its Chair from 1980-1983. Her role in developing counselling began before BAC existed, with the Standing Conference for the Advancement of Counselling, formed in 1971. From this emerged the British Association for Counselling Working Party, leading to BAC’s formal inauguration in 1977. Mary was on the fi rst Executive Committee, representing the Personal-Sexual-Marital- Family Counselling division, and worked on the Association’s fi rst Code of Ethics. She became Vice Chair of BAC in 1978, simultaneously chairing the Development Committee and being a member of the Finance Committee. In September 1980 she became the third Chair of BAC. In her fi rst year in this role she brought forward the initial proposal for a system of counsellor accreditation. Mary was a believer in the need for transparency and accountability, most importantly to clients: ‘We must be ready to say what our standards are and to live up to them individually in our practice and corporately in what we o ff er to the community,’ she wrote in her fi rst Annual Report. She wanted to raise the pro fi le and professionalism of counselling for the bene fi t of clients fi rst but also for counsellors themselves. She was determined that members should be involved in the Association, contributing to its operation and direction and, as part of maintaining accessibility, preferred to focus on recruitment rather than fee increases. When she completed her term as Chair membership stood at 1,700, with over 100 organisational members. This seems small compared with today’s fi gure of more than 65,000 members but counselling was a very new profession,
Mary was a believer in the need for transparency and accountability, most importantly to clients: ‘We must be ready to say what our standards are and to live up to them individually in our practice and corporately in what we o ff er to the community’
and Mary’s own membership number was 10! Following her time as Chair Mary continued to support the Association on professional conduct and accreditation committees, and as a representative to the UKCP. Mary’s counselling career started with the National Marriage Guidance Council (now Relate), and moved through teaching
THERAPY TODAY 15 MAY 2024
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter maker