Self and Society Volume 34 Issue 1

The following lists the contents of Self and Society, Volume 34 Issue 1.
Each article can be downloaded as a PDF, but only if you are logged in as an AHP subscriber.
The table of contents for this issue can be downloaded as a PDF file.


Editorial:
Author: Maxine Linnell
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Article:
‘Searching for the Right Spoon or Finding Paradise in Reality’
Author: Nick Duffell
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Abstract:

Gender is such a controversial subject. I like to remember Michael Meade's warning that talking about it inevitably evokes trouble. Gender is about difference, and difference is never easy. You cannot separate gender from politics, from society, nor from the most intrinsic constituents of all life forms. You cannot have one-size-first-all approach, and you cannot sidestep the nature-nurture dilemma.


Me Jane, You Tarzan: gender and its relevance to transforming democracy
Author: Susana Piohtee
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Abstract:

During a period of life when exploring ‘feminism’ enabled me to release my need, until that point unconscious, for male approval to validate my sense of self worth, I came across many hitherto little known teachings and writings by women and men of great wisdom. One saying in particular has come to mind as being particularly relevant to the subject of this essay: ‘The bird of the spirit of Humanity cannot fly with only one wing’. This quote from Vivekananda was referred to by Helena Roerich when she spoke of a ‘new Epoch of spiritual cognition that must manifest due respect to the Mother of the World, to the Feminine Element’. Equally it could be said that ‘The Bird of Democracy cannot fly with a broken wing’.


Gender in psychotherapy: controversies, impacts and healing
Author: Andrew Field
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Abstract:

Issues related to gender have enormous impact on every facet of human existence and relationship. Psychotherapy could be defined as the co-enquiry into the experience of human existence and relationship, and as such is massively affected by gender difference and the allied and inseparable issue of sexuality. My personal experience has been that gender issues have been central in every aspect of psychotherapy through being a client, in training and in working as a therapist. At times, however, this was unclear and confusing. The territory often went unexplored and unspoken because of taboos and sensitivities. Issues of gender have felt unworkable because they constellate a filter through which all experience passes in a deeply held unconscious and numinous manner, almost too close to bring into focus. Gender is like a blackboard onto which our experience is scored.


Masculinity and Counselling
Author: Geoff Lamb
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Abstract:

I want to start by assuming that there are qualities with which more men than women identify, and vice versa. Individuals will develop and maintain a balance of these qualities which is unique. I am also assuming that some of these gendered qualities are rooted in biology, i.e. the shape of our bodies, balance of hormones etc, some are societal and some are the complex result of our up-bringing. It is certainly important for us, as psychotherapists and counsellors, to spend time thinking, as Reich did, about the complex interaction between biology, the family and society (Reich 1973 pp 186–188), particularly its consequences for us as individuals. However, this is not my focus here. I'm interested in looking at the role of what are commonly perceived to be masculine qualities in counselling and psychotherapy, regardless of the biological gender of the therapist, and how these qualities could be more positively valued.


Fit for Purpose: The Organisation of Psychotherapy Training
Authors: Keith Tudor, Paul Lewin
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Abstract:

Compared with the libraries of literature on the practice and theory of therapy (psychotherapy and counselling), there is surprisingly little on the theory or practice of teaching or training therapists. Few of the founding fathers and mothers of psychotherapy wrote about the pedagogy of psychotherapy. A major exception to this was Carl Rogers, the founder of client-centred therapy, now more commonly referred to as the person-centred approach, who wrote a chapter on the training of therapists in his seminal work Client-Centered Therapy (published in 1951) and, later, a book on his philosophy of and approach to education, which is summarised in its title, Freedom to Learn (Rogers, 1969). He himself later revised this for a second edition (in 1983) and, after his death, a colleague, H. Jerome Freiberg, made further revisions for a third edition (published in 1994).


Not Special but Different – The Only Child experience
Author: Bernice Sorenson
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Abstract:

As part of a doctorate in psychotherapy, I have been researching the experiences of adult only children. As an only child I was curious to know if other adult only children had comparable experiences to myself and if these were in any way peculiar to only children. During my research, experiences emerged that were common to only children though not exclusive to them. By using in-depth interviews as well as message boards and chat rooms on the internet, I began to notice that these experiences were important to both men and women and appeared true of adult onlies in the UK, the US, Canada and Australia. I also interviewed therapists who worked specifically with this group, to see if their clinical experiences reflected similar themes. Finally, I co-facilitated workshops, with an only child male therapist, on issues such as surviving the stigma engendered by the cultural stereotype of the only child. The following article gives a flavour of my findings so far and their significance for therapeutic practice.


the regular COLUMN
Author: Mike Fitter
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Shelf Life
Author: Nick Duffell
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AHP(B) Chair's Page
Author: Tony Morris
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Book Review:
Reviews
Author: Mike Berry
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Letter:
Letters
Authors: Petruska Clarkson, John Nutall, Rita Cremona
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