By now, you’ll have well and truly immersed yourself in the first semester and hopefully adjusted to whatever hybrid way of working you have at your institution. This academic year will present us with new challenges, and it will be anything but ‘business as usual’. We’ve had to learn to adapt continually, as part of our new normal, when most of us are screaming out for some stability.
I know there are some active BACP-UC communities, and the JiscMail forum can provide a haven of sanctuary, support and advice. The Executive Committee is also a great way to get involved and help develop our sector. It connects you to what’s happening, engages you with key strategy, provides excellent CPD and is always a great addition to the CV. Chair of BACP-UC Mark Fudge is keen to recruit to this committee, so if you are interested, please email him at the address left.
In this issue, I’m delighted to welcome Dr Sonia Kalsi, whose PhD research explored the challenges involved in counselling suicidal students. She raises some crucial points and concludes with recommendations which all practitioners will appreciate. Congratulations, Sonia, on your well-deserved PhD!
Allie Scott and Jane Darougar present a fascinating article on reflective practice groups as an invaluable means of support. They demonstrate how these can be highly effective when teams are involved in complex case discussions. These groups aid both personal and professional development as we examine and authenticate our practice. Many thanks to Allie and Jane.
I’m also really pleased to introduce Michael Pearson, from the University of Bristol. Michael has conducted research into his institution’s adoption of the one-at-a-time (or single-session therapy) model of counselling provision. His findings present a very positive perspective on this modality and provide powerful evidence to back up the approach. It’s great to have this research, and I hope more will emerge from the sector in due course.
Thanks also to Amy McCormack, Editor of BACP Spirituality’s journal, Thresholds, who recently interviewed Kathryn Lock-Giddy about working with faith and spirituality within a university counselling service. While this was published in the July 2021 issue of Thresholds, you may not have seen it, so I thank both Amy and Kathryn for permission to republish this, in full. Student support encompasses many teams, and I think it’s important to recognise the value of faith and spirituality as one of them.
Finally, I’d like to say how much I enjoyed interviewing Rotimi Akinsete for this issue’s Profile. He is a very committed and talented person, who’s enjoyed a fascinating career journey.
I hope you get a breather over the Festive break, and we can all tip-toe into 2022 with renewed optimism and hope for the future.
Rick Hughes
ucc.editorial@bacp.co.uk
