Well, I have started my second year on the course. The marking of the passage of time, a new calender year, a new academic year, a new supervision group and a new year tutor was a bit unsettling but such is the nature of change. My new year tutor started the new academic year off […]
Brief therapy: All you need is now Read More »
Therapists are often wondering when it is okay to break silence in the therapeutic relationship or whether there are any times when it is never okay to intervene. The appropriate answer will clearly depend on the therapeutic setting and the nature of the relationship, whether it is a contracted (long term) client, a new client or a
Dealing with silence in the therapeutic relationship Read More »
It was good to get back to my psychiatric placement at an NHS Mental Health Trust today and to a ward review meeting. I have been sitting in on clinic sessions at a university hospital with consultant psychiatrists covering new assessments, outpatient follow up appointments as well as team meetings discussing the management of care. It was two weeks
It is intriguing how some patients can invoke certain feelings and not others. Read More »
My extended interview with systemic psychotherapist, social worker and researcher Dr Marie Keenan, author of Child Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church Gender, Power, and Organizational Culture. The interview was conducted at UCD in November 2011. Specialising in the area of crime, sexual abuse and sexual offending, Dr. Keenan’s most recent research involves a study of
The treatment of depression has been in the news more than normal this past few weeks as a result of some high profile suicides. A new study has found that medication and talking therapy have failed to show any difference to placebo when treating depression. Read further information about the study and the story here. The clinical research
I have been enjoying my psychiatric observational placement and have had a rich environment in which to observe an NHS mental health care setting. I have been shadowing the consultant psychiatrist in outpatient clinics and in (locked) ward rounds as well as attending team meetings of a community mental health team (CMHT). I have also attended a Mental
I have now started my psychiatric observational placement and I have been fortunate to secure a place at an NHS Mental Health Trust where medical students are also on placement. I have been sitting in on clinic sessions at a university hospital with consultant psychiatrists covering new assessments, outpatient follow up appointments as well as team meetings
We have been working on our receptive skills for the main part of the year thus far, how we hold the work of clients. It is important to remember that it is critical to cultivate a degree of restraint in order to be able to reflect back appropriately. Trainee therapists quickly realise that you don’t need
The importance of challenge in the therapeutic relationship Read More »
The different initiations in a relationship was part of the alchemy of relationships weekend. What happens when you first fall in love? You see something of the ideal or you project your ideal. So what is the ideal, what are you projecting? Your own higher self is being projected onto that person. You are idolising
Different initiations in a relationship Read More »
Are you in a balanced relationship? Attraction between two people can be seen through the lens of the elements (air, fire, water and earth) although the shadow can emerge following the get together (which emerges around our limitations). For instance, you might be a balanced fire type, in that you are confident and direct but perhaps get attracted to
The alchemy of Relationships Read More »