In this issue
Features
Addressing depression for people with a chronic physical health problem
The psychosocial aspects of living with a long-term illness or disability are often ignored. Pamela Griffiths argues that it is through the interpersonal attention of counselling that context and meaning can be addressed
Counselling people with dementia (free article)
Mike Fox suggests two key ways to provide this vulnerable and unique client group with the ‘right conditions to thrive’ in therapy
Being kinder to myself
Compassionate Mind Training (CMT) can increase self-compassion in clients who have experienced a trauma. Elaine Beaumont outlines the results of a new study into its effectiveness when combined with CBT
Senior accreditation for healthcare practitioners
Helen Coles, head of professional standards at BACP, introduces a new initiative designed to value and recognise the experience of practitioners in healthcare
Practitioner’s research: The impact of the waiting list
A qualitative study conducted by Elaine Davies revealed the effect that waiting lists can have on practitioners in primary care
Best practice: Healthy minds for deaf people
Hazel Flynn outlines a new IAPT service which aims to increase access to psychological therapies for users of British Sign Language
Regulars
Chair’s report – BACP Healthcare
Tina Campbell: Bringing our members up to date
Development – BACP Healthcare
Louise Robinson: Supporting positive transformation
Brief guide
BACP accreditation
GP viewpoint
John Hague outlines his first acts as a GP commisioner
Third sector perspective
Michael Lilley: A week is a long time in counselling in 2012
Counselling in primary care
Richard Mason: I wish I had spent more time at the office!
Resumé
Geoff Plumb
All articles from this issue are not yet available online. Divisional members and subscribers can download the pdf from the Healthcare Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal archive
From the editor
Talking therapies could play a key role as society moves away from an economic model towards social, emotional, and psychological wellbeing. This greater interest in ‘why things are the way they are’ could lead the way for a greater role for psychosocial approaches which put social relationships at the centre of improving public health – and counsellors and psychotherapists should be making their contributions felt. This was one of the key themes at BAC P Healthcare’s spring conference, Healthcare in transition, which took place in York and welcomed over 90 delegates.
In this issue of the journal, Pamela Griffiths applies this transformation to depression in people with a chronic physical health problem. Concerns regarding the use of diagnosis categories have, says Pamela, meant that the social context of people’s experience is too often ignored. She advocates that the interpersonal attending of an integrated counselling or psychotherapy approach in this client group will allow the context and meaning of a person’s depressive experience to be addressed, and for treatment to be tailored to each person with respect to their circumstances.
Meeting the needs of the changing population was another theme of the conference: how can counsellors and psychotherapists contribute? One of John Hague’s first acts as a GP commissioner, as he outlines in his column, this issue, has been to commission new dementia services in his area. Counselling and psychotherapy will surely be part of this growing endeavour to improve care for older people. In his excellent article in this issue, Mike Fox not only reminds us of the existence of counselling for people with dementia, but also suggests ways to improve the therapy experience for people with dementia.
I have really enjoyed coming into greater contact with other counsellors and psychotherapist members over the past few months, both through your feedback about the redesign of the journal and your contributions to its pages, and through attending the conference. As ever, I would love to hear from you about anything mentioned here or elsewhere in this journal. The Healthcare Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal very much welcomes suggestions for articles from
practitioners: if you have an area of specialism you would like to write about, or an opinion you’d like to share via an article, please get in touch.
Sarah Hovington
Editor
hcpj.editorial@bacp.co.uk