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SelfSOC IETY£4.50 where sold Volume 36 Number 4 Jan - Feb 2009

p u b l i s h e d b y

The Association for Humanistic Psychology in Britain - AHPBwebsite: www.ahpb.org.uk

AHPB Summer Festival 2008 issue

Soul Esteem, RadicalHealing and the CreativeImaginationAHPB Festival KeynoteLecture: July 18, 2008.Dr. Dina Glouberman

A Storyteller’s StoryJoy Pitt

The AHPB SummerFestivals – 2008 and 2009Julian Nangle

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Editor: Neill Thew

Administrator: Julian Nangle

Reviews Editor: Geoff Lamb

Founder Editor: Vivian Milroy

Editorial Board:

David BrazierAlexandra ChalfontYvonne CraigGaie HoustonDavid KalischJohn Rowan

AHPB is an organisation devoted to exploring the scope of human capacity and potential so asto enhance both the individual and society. It publishes Self & Society and other activities includelectures, workshops, conferences and special events. See the back of the magazine for amembership application form.

Self & Society publishes articles in the field of contemporary and humanistic psychology,particularly those concerning issues of personal development. The views expressed in Self &Society are not necessarily those of the editor or of the AHPB. We welcome contributions, soplease contact Neill Thew for an information sheet on preparing a manuscript for publication.Self & Society also welcomes advertising; see the back of the magazine for details.

For general enquiries, advertising in S&S and for AHPB membership so as to receive Self & Society contact:

Julian Nangle, BM Box 3582, London WC1N 3XX Tel: 01243 781342Email: [email protected] • websi te: www.ahpb.org.uk

AHPB Chair: Professor Chris Beaumont, Bohemia Counselling Centre, 133a Bohemia Road,St Leonard-on-Sea TN37 6RG • Tel: 01424 722823 / 07947 102620 • [email protected]

Andrew SamuelsRobin ShohetNazreen SubhanAlyss ThomasNick Totton

Send articles, letters, conference reports toNeill Thew

36 Petworth House,Davigdor Road, Hove, BN3 1WG.

Tel: 07515 516 540email: [email protected]

Books and reviews to:Geoff Lamb

28 Manning Close,East Grinstead RH19 2DR

Tel: 01342 315640email: [email protected]

Humanistic Psychology Practitioners

The UK Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners is closely associated withthe AHPB and provides a directory of accredited therapists. UKAHPP is an

independent, non-profit organisation for the accreditation of humanisticpractitioners, leading to UKCP or UKRC registration. UKAHPP members retain

freedom of choice and self-direction in their professional development.

More information about UKAHPP, including the Handbook and the Directory, canbe obtained via their website www.ahpp.org or from

Box BCM AHPP, London WC1N 3XX. Tel: 0845 766 0326

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&SelfS O C I E T YVo l ume 33 Volume 36 Number 4 Jan - Feb 2009N u m b e r 1 July-August 2005

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A Note on Self & Society Contents

Copyright remains with the authors, who take fullresponsibility for the accuracy of their contributions.The editors and AHPB can take no responsibilityfor any loss arising from any action taken inreliance on information provided in Self & Society.Whilst every effort is taken to ensure that the contentin Self & Society is accurate, on occasion theremay be mistakes and readers are advised not torely upon its content.

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AHPB Summer Festival2008 Issue

Soul Esteem, Radical Healing and the Creative ImaginationAHPB Festival Keynote Lecture: July 18, 2008.Dr. Dina Glouberman

A Storyteller’s StoryJoy Pitt

The AHPB Summer Festivals – 2008 and 2009Julian Nangle

Into the WildCrisis & opportunity on the edge of timeHuw Wyn

Exploring Shadow and Transparency in Psychotherapy TrainingInstitutes: Implications for the design and implementation ofinstitutional complaint procedures (Part 2)Dr Sue Jones

Zazen and Person-centered Psychotherapy: Deepening theRelationship to SelfHugh Ransley

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4 Self & Society Vol 36 No 4 Jan - Feb 2009

&SelfS O C I E T YEditorial Neill Thew

[email protected] 516 540

My life is full, and so I rush. Due to what I have learned from andthrough my illness, I rush far less than once I did - yet still, habitually,I rush. Balancing job, partner, clients, son: I am not always attentive,not always fully present. Of course, the irony is that by trying to fiteverything and everyone in, what’s important is always missed. Well,today, I am not rushing. I am wrapped in my duvet. My body - with itsusual (sometimes irritating!) wisdom - has stopped me in my tracks,and is requiring a pause. I’m reminded of the American poet, AmyClampitt, who suggested that the poet’s job is to notice when the time isright, and then to drop absolutely everything else in order to ‘attend tothe coming of the poem’.

The theme of stopping, of consciously creating a personal space andtime to allow for the coming of wisdom, runs right through this month’sedition of Self and Society.

Last July, we enjoyed such a space at the second of the ‘revived’ AHPBFestivals. A wonderful time to step out, step back, recharge. To celebrate(it is a Festival, after all!) ourselves and each other. It was a real occasionto have - and let’s not under-estimate the importance of this - a goodtime! Festival goers enjoyed dancing, music, good food and company,and a wide variety of stimulating, nurturing workshops. We were alsovery fortunate to enjoy two excellent keynote sessions, delivered byAndrew Samuels and Dina Glouberman. I have received a great video-tape of Andrew’s participative session, and promise to write a full accountof it for the next edition. (I regret that my health and energy-levelsstopped me doing so for this edition.)

One of the particular joys of editing Self and Society is that I am obligedto read every article several times. To be honest, this makes me readthem more slowly and carefully than I ever did as a regular subscriber!And what a richness and a joy it has been to read the articles this monthwith slow attention. I have felt extraordinarily well fed by them.

Dina’s article on Soul Esteem, Radical Healing and the CreativeImagination formed the basis of her keynote lecture at the Festival.She really speaks to my own experience of burning out. Her definitionof radical healing as the kind of healing when you’re not just trying toget the old show back on the road, but rather you’ve understood thatthe old show is over, and you need to create or discover that which isyour next show is as thrilling as it is challenging. Reading Dina reminds

5Self & Society Vol 36 No 4 Jan - Feb 2009

me of reading Pema Chodron’s The Wisdom of No Escape. Dina speaks tothe wisdom and growth of being stopped in our tracks - if only we are able toface up to it.

Joy Pitt’s joyous article - A Storyteller’s Story - dances in exuberantcounterpoint to Dina’s. She writes of the wisdom and delight of followingyour path as it unfolds unpredictably; of allowing yourself to discern honestlyand bravely what your ‘next show’ might be, and then allowing that ‘show’ tomanifest through you.

In his article on going Into the Wild, Huw Wyn writes - among other things -of the deep wisdom of the wild land and of the pressing need for us all to re-enter a right relationship with our landscapes and land. He lives right now inthe Sussex Weald - itself originally named for being ‘The Wild (Place)’ - andtalking to him at his home made me see that ancient, beautiful landscape ina completely new, enriched way. Drawing from Tibetan Buddhist andindigenous Mayan wisdom teachings, Huw also writes about the theme ofthe wild wisdom of the attentive pause.

Hugh Ransley’s article on Zazen and Person-centered Psychotherapy:Deepening the Relationship to Self highlights another of the themes runningthrough this month’s magazine: that of allowing the cribbed, ego-clutchingself to expand and relax into the wonder of encountering the Self. I foundmyself nodding agreement time and again as I read his piece, for he hasmanaged to put into words the often unspoken experiences of deepmeditation, and I found the parallels he draws between the experiences ofmeditation and therapy to be both convincing and illuminating.

This month also sees the second installment of Sue Jones’ timely investigationinto the shadow sides of our therapeutic training organizations. Her conclusionsare sobering, and set the debates about regulation in what I think to be theirmost genuinely important context: how properly we offer service and supportto our clients, trainees and peers.

A number of shorter articles, book reviews and regular columns round outan edition of Self and Society that I have found truly nurturing to edit. I hopeit is equally as good to read!

I need to sign off with a plea! We are presently rather short on writers andcontributors for Self and Society. Have you ever thought of writing for us?Have you thought you might fancy it, but weren’t sure you could? Please dobe in touch if you would like to write, or if you would like to discuss thepossibility of writing! For what this is worth, my own relationship to writingwas changed the day an experienced colleague, for whom I had the greatestrespect, said to me, ‘You know, Neill, I never really know what I think until Imake myself write it down.’ Revelation! Suddenly I saw that writing is asmuch a process as it is a final product. And that process of writing – frustrating,difficult and scary as it can sometimes be – is also one of liberation, growthand discovery. Writing, too, is a kind of pause, a space through which oft-times unexpected wisdom emerges. I invite you to embrace it!

With love and best wishes for the winter months,

Neill.


Soul Esteem, RadicalHealing and the CreativeImagination

AHPB Festival KeynoteLecture: July 18, 2008.

Dr. Dina Glouberman

Dear friends and colleagues and fellow seekers,

It is a great honour to be here with you today. It is fascinating to metoday to remember that when I first was applying to college, myfather, who was a very forward thinker, wanted me to go to BrandeisUniversity because there was a guy named Abraham Maslow whohe thought was great. As most of you know, Abraham Maslow wasthe founder of Humanistic Psychology. I went to Brandeis and Inever did take a course with Abraham Maslow. One of my friendswho did was shocked that when he set an essay question and shehanded in an essay on a different topic entirely, he refused to acceptit. In those days of the sixties, I thought this an unforgivable offense.When I became a lecturer myself, I felt differently. At that time, Itook against him and didn’t sign up for his course. But nevertheless,all of Brandeis University was imbued with his spirit.

I want to talk today about what I call Radical Healing.

What is Radical Healing? It’s the kind of healing when you’re notjust trying to get the old show back on the road, but rather you’veunderstood that the old show is over, and you need to create ordiscover that which is your next show, your new way of living thattakes everything up a register to a new reality.

To accomplish radical healing, it helps, in my view, tounderstand the other two components of this talk: soulesteem and the creative imagination. Soul esteem providesthe power and direction behind radical healing, and the creativeimagination is the road we can travel on in order to heal.

I’ve been involved in health and healing all my life, as apsychotherapist, a teacher, and a creator of healing environments,be they a weekend group in London, or a fabulous holiday on aGreek island. I have come to see the soul as the control roomthat can direct our lives if we listen to it. But listening to it issometimes our biggest challenge.


Soul has many meanings. When I speak of soul, at the simplestlevel I am talking about our highest or deepest and mostloving truth, and the way in which we connect to somethinglarger than ourselves. To get an image of it, I sometimes suggestthat you imagine a big light in back of you, imagine that it is breathing,and then allow yourself to breathe with it. While I pause, try imaginingthat.

We usually have the opportunity to begin radical healingwhen we have some kind of crisis in our mental, emotionalor physical health. Most recently I have specialized inburnout, because I burnt out myself, and it has taught me agreat deal about radical healing. This is because burnout is anillness or a break in one’s health that clearly has its origins in thepsyche or soul. So in my view do all illnesses, in an ultimate sense,but it is so clear with burnout.

I’m not saying necessarily that stress or unhappiness cause illness,but there is no question that they can trigger illness if we arepredisposed for other reasons. So the factors of pollution, genetics,and so on, are all relevant, but the soul cannot be ignored becauseoften it sets the illness process into action

What I found when I studied people who were burnt out was thatthere was this very typical pattern: we start off full of energy,committed, responsible to the point of over-responsibility, giving tothe point of over-giving, spending very little energy on self care.This works as long as we are wholehearted and everyone marvelsat us. But then something changes either in us or the situation, andour heart goes out of the situation. At this point we need to stepback and listen. Our soul is whispering that something needs to shift.But we don’t shift because of some fear connected to our identity.And then we drive ourselves – like a house divided against ourselves– with the accelerator and brake on at the same time, until we reachburnout.

I have an important caution here: not to turn responsibility for ourlives into blame. It is not our fault that we are ill or disturbed – weare doing our very best. It may however be a signal that gives usinformation about how we can take responsibility for honouringourselves in new ways. There is not something more wrong withpeople who get ill than with those who don’t. In fact, I often findpeople who have done a lot of work on themselves are getting illwhen they weren’t before. In the case of burnout for example, theover-responsibility and over-loving that people do is a real expressionof an ability to love that may be quite extraordinary. But we alsoneed to learn how to give in a way that honours ourselves as well.Someone who doesn’t love or give that much might not get ill fromover-giving, but that doesn’t make them a better or healthier person.Perhaps they haven’t faced this challenge because they haven’t gotthere yet.

The power of becoming ill is that it can force us to go beyond gettingthe show back on the road and to engage in Radical Healing, which is


a total reorientation on every level from the spiritual to the physical.Lothar Himeise, head of People against Cancer in Germany, foundafter interviewing hundreds of people who survived what wasconsidered end-stage cancer that the one area of common groundbetween all of them was a major mental or spiritual shift, after agreat deal of emotional and spiritual stocktaking.

The way to Radical Healing, which many people we know do naturally,has a few important components:

Give up hope and keep the faith: this means that we have togive up holding it all together, stop hoping for whatever future it wasthat we thought we had to have, and yet trust that we will be okay,no matter what the form.

Give the soul a good home: rather than the hovel we may havebeen living in. In the old story of the goose and the golden eggs, thismeans that we have to start caring for the goose, rather than thegolden eggs.

Live truthfully: putting truth first and everything else second. Thisis because the road to burnout is always characterized by denial.

Reach out to a soul community: friends, networks, teachers, evenbooks and CDs which help us to be accepted for who we really areand not what we produce or deliver.

Don’t leave your joy behind: when we do start going back to anormal life, we need to do it a new way that lets us continue to havejoy.

The result is someone who is not so much wholehearted, but rathermoving towards wholeness and joy…

One of the most important ways of making these spiritual shifts isthrough imagery or visualization – what I call Imagework. Whilewords are the language of our rational mind, images are the languageof the body, emotions, heart and soul. This language of images hasa direct effect on our autonomic or unconscious nervous system. Itis difficult just to try to increase your saliva, but if you picture alemon and imagine tasting it, you’ll see the difference. Throughimages we can locate our deep seated pictures of the world (thatcome from the past and from society) and also find new ones thatdirect us towards health and wholeness. You might for example allowan image to emerge of an animal, plant or object that is a metaphorfor your life and your relationship to it. Try this now.

Then you work with that, rather than with your conscious rationalthoughts, to get to your truth and your possibilities. Or go to a Houseof Truth. Or time travel to a future when you are happy and healthyand see how you got there.

In my experience, these challenges to people often lead us to feelgrateful for the physical or emotional health breakdown we suffered,


Dina Glouberman, Ph.D, is the best selling author of the classicLife Choices, Life Changes and of The Joy of Burnout. She is alsoco-founder of Skyros Holistic Holidays and an international trainerand coach. Her website can be found at www.imagework.co.uk

no matter how much we paid for it. The simple fact is that we wereunable to turn around our life until we had no choice, or indeed untilwe had nothing to lose.

And as we turned our lives around, and began to live in a way thathonours the best in us, the life that we are leading, no matter howlong or short it is, became full of a deep faith that all is well, a senseof living well in our body, an honesty, a feeling of meaning andpurpose, a loving community, and above all, a joy in being alive,and a wonder about what comes next. All of these have been foundto be correlated with a better health prognosis and a longer life. Forexample, a recent study by Professor Andrew Steptoe shows thathappier people have lower levels of fibrinogen, a clotting factor whichincreases the risk of heart attacks, and of cortisol, and consequentlyhave fewer heart attacks. But above all, we are creating a life thatis worthy of us. And this is after all what humanistic psychology hasalways been about.

This is where I would like finally to introduce the concept of soulesteem. We often talk of self esteem as a positive predictor of somuch. One day when I was giving a talk at Skyros, our Greek islandholistic holiday centre, I found myself saying that when I startedSkyros I had no self esteem but I did have soul esteem. What issoul esteem? It is the willingness to listen to the soul’s whispers, nomatter what the cost, and without even considering whether you areworthy or not, or even whether you can do it. You do it.

When I started Skyros with my ex husband Yannis Andricopoulos, itwas at a time that I had a full time job in which the work atmospherewas quite killing, as well as clients, weekend groups, two babies andno self esteem. But I had soul esteem. This means that I was readyto jump into creating this vision with all my heart and soul, anddidn’t think about what it would cost me, nor did I consider whetherI had the time and space to do it, or whether I was worthy of thechallenge or whether there was someone who could do it better. Wedid listen to these whispers of my soul, and started one of the greatestadventures of our lives.

My book on Burnout has recently been translated into Greek. Theygave it the title – Burnout: Danger or Opportunity. This challenge ispresent in all crises, as we know. In the case of a psychological orphysical health crisis there are many different kinds of danger, butthe opportunity is, I believe, to undertake a path of radical healing.

Building Soul Esteem by learning to listen to and respectthe whispers of our souls seems to me to be an essentialstep on the path of Radical Healing.


A Storyteller’s Story

Joy Pitt

I was born in 1958 in a large, damp Victorianhouse in Portsmouth which belonged to mygrandparents, and we lived with them until Iwas ten.

My grandfather, Edward Pitt, hadfought as a boy soldier in thefirst world war, been a firewatcher in the blitz during thesecond, and had travelledextensively through India andChina in between. During thedark winter afternoons of mychildhood, he would sit in hisfavourite chair by the fire and Iwould sit on the hearthrug at hisfeet and he would tell me storyafter story. I was utterlyenthralled and enchanted. Heheld me in the palm of his handand there was no other place Iwished to be. When he wasn’ttelling me stories, my mother ormy grandmother were readingto me; Winnie-the-Pooh, Wind inthe Willows, William, Milly-Molly-Mandy, Hans Christian Andersonand the Brothers Grimm.

When I was about seven, I wasallowed (if I had beenparticularly good and my handswere clean) to look at mymother’s treasured pre-warpictorial knowledgeencyclopedia. This was awonderfully illustrated set ofabout ten hefty volumes and in

them I discovered the Arthurianlegends, Robin Hood and theOdyssey. It was an almostreligious experience. I felt asthough I had glimpsed the faceof God.

There were books everywhere inour house, and we went to thelibrary almost every day. I livedin stories and magic crackled inthe air. My mother at one pointtried to curtail my reading on thegrounds that too much wasunhealthy… ‘Put that book downand come and watch telly! BennyHill’s on..!’

But I was unstoppable. I alreadyknew that stories are the fabricof the universe and that I wasborn to be a storyteller.Therefore it was obvious to methat my life would beextraordinary. How could it beotherwise? Life always is instories.

And so through life I havefollowed the golden ball of threadwherever it has led me. I havealways taken the path thatseemed most magical and


exciting, gathering stories on theway.

When I left school I spent threeyears at art college, then trainedas a nurse. I worked as amosaicist and mural painter fora while, became a Marie Curienurse, ran a well woman clinic,was a school nurse for childrenwith special needs, trained andpracticed as a healer and hadmy own business as a costumedesigner.

I have lived on a boat for sevenyears, without running water ormains electricity, grownvegetables in a clearing in thewoods, eaten pike and eels(poached from the river), dancednaked in the rain, made love inthe sea and in the mountains,traded stories with a gypsy forpeacock feathers and a recipefor cooking hedgehogs, and livedby selling home-made bread,carvings and paintings from myboat.

I have held the dying and thenewborn in my arms, andbreastfed my 3 children for nineand a half years. I have loveddeeply and been deeply loved. Ihave walked my life bare footon the earth with my head in thestars. My life has indeed beenextraordinary.

I have been a professionalstoryteller for around fifteenyears now, ever since I realisedthat one could actually do it fora living! It had never occurredto me that such a thing waspossible, and once I knew thatit was and people did, there wasno going back.

I have told stories all my life foras far back as I can remember.To me they are the distillation oflife itself, our link as humanbeings to the past, the present,the future and to each other.They are the light in thedarkness, and the darknessoutside the circle of light that thecampfire makes on the snow.They can be funny, beautiful,tragic and haunting. They can betrue or they can be purestfantasy. They can be vehicles forhealing and they can change ourlives.

Stories are food for the soul andfuel for the imagination. They area way in which we can makesense of life and of our feelings.I have witnessed their magic andcurative powers again and again.

In 2004, I formed, together withmy husband David (storyteller,woodcutter and chainsawsculptor), a small company calledTales from the Heartwood, whichlinks storytelling and puppetrywith arts and crafts. We work inschools, libraries and in a widerange of community settingsfrom prisons to hospices and arich vein of our work lies inreminiscence with the elderly.One of our great loves and mostmagical experiences has to bestorytelling for adults with specialneeds and mental healthproblems.

We have not yet found the pot ofgold at the end of the rainbow,but life is rich, and we makepeople happy… Everyone lovesa good story!

You can see more pictures of Joy’s wonderful puppets atwww.talesfromtheheartwood.co.uk


The AHPB SummerFestivals – 2008 and2009

Julian Nangle

I never saw myself as an organiser of conferences orfestivals but a few years back I fell into it, challenged bythe past Chairman of AHPB, Tony Morris, to put my energywhere my mouth was. I had been moaning about the lackof anything happening through AHPB, except Self &Society.

I was only moaning because ten years earlier I had somuch enjoyed the conferences at Dartington, Leicester,and elsewhere. My worry was that the magic of thosetimes represented the ‘heyday’ of AHPB - but I shouldn’thave worried. Our first ‘revived’ festival, held at Greenand Away near Worcester, proved a big hit, withcontributions from across the therapeutic and humanisticconstituencies; and this despite the unbelievable mud andfloods.

Then last year we had a second revival which wentwonderfully with Andrew Samuels and Dina Gloubermanas our guest speakers. The number of delegates was downon the previous year, but that was as much sod’s law (alot of people wanting to come but who had previousengagements or a variety of illnesses) as it was theeconomic downturn.

This year the economic downturn is really biting ateveryone’s heels - but I’ve found a marvellous antidote toit all: treading water. Planning is out, living is in! And thuswe - yes, we - have an Events Core Group this yearcomprising myself, Pauline Elwell, Tyagi and Brigitta Mowat.We shall let everyone know as often as it takes that thisyear we are having our festival again, at The Leela Centreagain, in July again (10th – 12th 2009), and that this yearwe are asking delegates to arrive after lunch on the firstday. One other thing that will be different this year – it willbe cheaper! Our planned fees are £130 for members ofAHPB and £150 for non members. This is for camping.The cost of special accommodation such as pine lodges,static caravans etc will be the same as last year.

So you see much of the planning is done - now we justneed to do the living. We have a keynote speaker linedup; we have many workshops l ined up - includingdrumming (but please try to bring a drum with you this

Self & Society Vol 36 No 4 Jan - Feb 2009


time, as we cannot guarantee drums), recreational therapy, singing, chikung, yoga, meditation, shamanic journey, drama therapy, Trauma IncidentReduction (TIR) workshop and demonstration, dreams, psychophysicalintegration, creative writing … And we shall be inviting delegates to offertheir wares in whatever guise they choose, also.

One innovation this year will be to have an Open Art Space where delegatescan go to chill out whenever they wish to, and where they can connectwith their creative side. All materials, paints and brushes will be suppliedfree of charge.

These are early days, of course, and while most of the planning for thefestival is already done it still needs the official blessing of the AHPBBoard which we anticipate coming shortly. As usual the Association’sfinances are at the heart of this decision, so if you feel like signing upNOW (for attendance only – we can sort out accommodation later) youwill facilitate the Board’s decision no end.

I look forward to seeing you there next summer – something cheerful tothink about in these rather dark winter days.

And to tempt you still further – here are further details of some of theworkshops we have lined up for July:

This year’s keynote session will be delivered by Henry Whitfield. Henryworks with Traumatic Incident Reduction. As Henry writes:

This decade has witnessed a number of mindfulness-based, Zen-informed, therapies achieve empirical validation. This recognitionarguably gives weight to other mindfulness-informed experientialtherapies such as Gendlin’s Focusing, and Gerbode’s TraumaticIncident Reduction (TIR). TIR is a versatile methodology for applyingmindful observation to specific case-formulations and thoroughlyoperationalises mindfulness to great effect in brief therapy practicefor trauma. The broader subject of TIR also applies mindfulness togeneral counselling practice and long term psychotherapy.

Henry will also be offering a workshop and a demonstration – so, threeevents for the price of one!

Money Workshop – Julian Nangle.

‘Money, money, money’. It’s been on our minds this past year more thanmost. My workshop will require you to bring as much money to the venueas you feel comfortable with, given that you might leave the venue withoutit!

We shall explore our attitudes to money and its energy, through experientialexchange and bartering.

Equine Assisted Psychotherapy Workshop – Josephine and BrianSellers.

The workshop will involve a short Power Point presentation to explain thefundamentals involved in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. This will be


followed by time spent out in the paddock with our small bonded herd offour horses.

Eight people at a time will be invited to interact with the herd to experiencethe potential of this work.

Dreamspace – Dr. Els van Ooijen.

When dreaming we inhabit a bizarre and apparently meaningless space.

However, when we bring this dreamspace into our physical world, meaningsmay emerge that surprise and excite us.

In this workshop we will explore ways of mapping the inner space ofdreams onto the world of everyday reality.

Psychophysical Integration – Brigitta Mowat and Glen Park.

Psychophysical integration comes from both Eastern spiritual traditionsand research on the use of touch in the therapeutic relationship. In thisworkshop participants will be introduced to chakra work throughexperiential exercises and relational touch based on the principle of ‘nondoing’ - thus experiencing this subtle bodywork on an intrapsychic levelas well as relationally. The use of chakra work combined with touch offersa unique space for working with early trauma.

Raggedy Boy - All life is here – Pauline Elwell.

Working with a Guatemalan Big Myth we will explore the themes of thejourney from life through to death and eventual rebirth. Working throughMyth, Movement, Enactment and Art we will seek to bring forward intoconsciousness the unconscious patterning of our own lives. Within thisexperiential workshop there will be time to reflect on the role of theDramatherapeutic process within education and other therapeuticmethods.

I booked the AHPB Festival because I wanted to do something different and

to spend some time with other humanistically minded practitioners, but to be

honest I approached the weekend with great trepidation. I was too young to

have done the hippy thing, and I’m not really a festivals or camping kind of

gal. As the date drew closer, I began to think I must have signed up in a

moment of complete madness! The worst part was walking in at lunch on the

first day and thinking everyone else seemed so much more - well - self

actualised than me …. !!

In reality, however, my fears were groundless. It was a really nice venue -

the community couldn’t have been more welcoming - and I thoroughly enjoyed

the organic, home-grown food. I shared a dormitory with four lovely women

who made me laugh and helped me feel at home. The workshops, talks etc

were excellent and the gig on Saturday night was fantastic fun!

So it was different - but in a good way - and I’m very glad I overcame my

nerves and went for it!From one of this year’s participants


Into the WildInto the WildInto the WildInto the WildInto the WildCrisis & opportunity on

the edge of timeBy Huw Wyn

At the beginning of this 21st century, we live at acritical time in our story of humankind. The creditcrisis is the word on so many lips, yet in manyways the current crisis is only a reflection of amuch more profound crisis, one that will touchevery aspect of our lives.

The mass species extinction thatis happening in many of thehidden parts of our world,climate change and the longterm consequences of shiftingweather patterns, the vastpoverty that effects people on adaily basis, terrorism, wars andthe wholesale destruction of thewild abundant forests are part ofthe bigger picture we all have toface.

This moment however is also aprofound opportunity for all of usto look at what legacy we willleave for our greatgrandchildren. If we look at thegreat stories and myths fromacross the world, we can see thatthe hero or heroine mustundertake a journey, whichalways includes many challengesalong the way. It is no differentfor each one of us. Our personaljourney is intrinsically linked tothe bigger story: how we face ourown personal challenges allowsus an opportunity to find thehidden gifts we carry that, justmaybe, will offer us a chance to

deal with our current earthlycrises.

The work we do, whether withclients on a one-to-one basis,with groups, through workshopsor in whatever way our particularoffering unfolds, will also effectthe whole in ways we can nevereven know.

As this wild and ancient storywinds its way across the edge oftime, the definition and scope oftherapy will also have to changeto meet the particular needs ofthe current moment. I sometimeswonder if even the name‘Psychotherapy’ is appropriatefor what is being offered as thescope of our awareness grows.Like any label, it will inevitablyhold certain flavours andjudgements to people, and so westart to have new names such aseco-psychology. However, formany young people, forexample, the idea of a shrink ortherapist is not so appealing - itcan hold an old fashioned,analytical image, not one thatmany young people may be


attracted to. Yet the newgeneration are the key to ourfuture.

Beyond therapy?

So my question is how we movebeyond therapy and the labelsthat may be attached to thatform. To do this I, at least, askmyself: what is being offered;what is the true goal of what isbeing offered; how far do wedare to open our mind to thepotential of this humanexistence?

Having studied in the coreprocess model, as well asTibetan medicine, and havingworked with many indigenouselders from Tibet and around theworld, I am often drawn to theroots of healing and see how ithas organically transformed tothe needs of the moment. I amalso open to the possibility thatthe work we all do is aboutawakening to our true potentialas human beings.

As the American cosmologistBrian Swimme eloquently pointsout, we are at the cutting edgeof a 2 billion year evolutionarymovement. We are what theuniverse has created in order tounderstand itself. With thisprofound understanding we cansee that we are not separate fromthis story - we are the unfoldingstory.

This reminds me of a story toldby the great Mayan Poet/Shaman Martin Pretchel. Everynight the people would gather inthe old Mayan house: old peoplepacked to the rafters, youngchildren, aunts, uncles, dogs andcats, all sitting around the fire to

hear the stories, surrounded withmany delicious smells of theexquisite foods, drink and thesmoke from the incense risingthrough the air. Each night Martinwould try his very best to stayup and hear the end of the story,but no matter how muchGuatamalan coffee he drank, orhow hard he tried he wouldalways fall asleep. One day heturned round to his 93 year oldteacher, Nicolas Chivauli, andsaid, ‘Grandfather, why do Inever get to hear the end of thestory?’ His teacher turned aroundto him and said, ‘You fool, thereis no end to the story, we are thestory.’ And suddenly heunderstood.

In the same way it is like this forus: we are the ever unfoldingstory of this universal song, ourlife is the words and notes thathelp to make up this ancientbewildering poem. When westart to see ourselves as part ofthis mysterious never-endingexpression, our personal storybecomes an intrinsic part of thewhole.

The Tzutkil Mayans also call ushuman beings ‘the great forgetfulones’, as we always seem toforget where we came from. The

Huw Wyn


great mystery of where weoriginally come from is like theZen koan, ‘What was your facelike before you were born?’

There are so many ways that wecan remember who we truly are,and for me Psychotherapy, or thework we offer, is an opportunityto see that original face in thepresent moment. The workallows us to reconnect with theever present moment of our liferight here, right now. It allowsus to open beyond theboundaries of who I think I amand to see that I am not mythoughts, I am not just my body,there is a vast and ever presentawareness that lies at the verycore of being.

The question is: how do I comeback to this place; how do I haveconfidence in knowing who I trulyam; and how do I live this inevery moment of my life? This isfor me the greatest challenge, totrust that deep within we havethe answers to these questions.A good healer or therapist will actas a mirror, through theirawareness, to help point the wayback to that place we can call atrue home; our original face.

In the Dzogchen (greatperfection) teachings of Tibet,the vital point is to recognise ourtrue nature; to see what lies atthe very source of who we are.Of course what I am pointing tohere is possibly the ultimate goalin healing, at least from aspiritual perspective. And formany this might seem like a longjourney, a distant land thatsomeday we may arrive at, apromised land.

Our practice is having to workwith very bones of the self, somere glimpses of our true natureare even made possible. Yetsurely it is our task to recogniseour true potential as often as wecan, finding resources that allowus to bring the full healing benefitof awareness into our work asmuch as possible. The morealigned to our presence andnatural awareness we are, thedeeper and more profound theholding space is for healing tooccur.

For me this is one of the mostbeautiful aspects of our work. Aswe are inspired and called uponto become more and moreaware, we are then healing ourselves as we offer a space ofhealing for clients. If we look atthe very word resource we canlook at its deeper meaning, toliterally re-source, to come backhome, to our source.

I believe that every client wework with has the potential tobecome more aware of their owntrue nature. No matter how badlywe have been wounded, nomatter what we might have donein our lives, there is always atleast a brief opportunity to get aglimpse of our being.

The story of Milarepa is a greatexample of this, and that’sprobably why it is one of the mostpopular stories of Ancient Tibet.Although he killed a whole familythrough jealousy as an act ofrevenge, he managed to realignhis body and mind towardsrealising his own true nature anddedicating his life to benefit allbeings. The story illustrates thateven after committing the mosthideous of acts, our true nature


has never been stained by ourthoughts or actions. Just likeclouds may cover the clear bluesky, our obscurations maytemporarily hide our truepotential. But just like the sky,our true nature is always herewith us. We just need to find theright resources to bring us backhome.

Don’t you know that allappearances are the natureof your mind?Don’t you know that thenature of your mind isawakening?Don’t you know that theawakening is the ultimatebody?Don’t you know that theultimate body is the ultimatenature?Don’t you know that you arenever separate from thesource?

Jetsun Milarepa, The greatYogi of Tibet.

Into the wild

As therapists much of our worktakes place in the space of aroom. Much healing work cantake place in this safe space, butof course it always has limits. Forme part of the task of our workmay be to move beyond theboundaries of the room and gointo the wild, into true natureitself.

One of the greatest resources wehave is the natural world, thehealing power of the land. Landis, and has been sincebeginingless time, a medicine forour soul, a place where we canreconnect with the five elements

that make up the essence of whowe are.

In Tibetan medicine, it is thebalance of the five elements thatallows us to have an integratedand truly holistic healing. In thisancient system of healing thehealer will use a whole range ofresources to help the clientrealign with their sense of health.This can include diet, exercise,herbal medicines, teas andplants, sound through mantraand music, relaxation andreduction of stress throughmeditation, clarity andawareness through imaginationexercises and visual meditations,as well as a profound and deepsense of compassion andlistening to the client.

Another important understandingfor the Tibetan doctor, is that theclient and healer are notseparate but have cometogether to learn from eachother in the greater picture ofhealing.

When we lose touch with theseelements, the natural cycles oflife, the changing seasons andour relationship with a sense ofplace in the world, it is no wonderwe lose touch with our truenature. So how do we becomereconnected with our ancienthome, the very ground thatsupports our human body?

Land as Medicine

In her wonderful book Wild, JayGriffiths tells of how, all aroundthe world, elders are seeing thatwe have became dangerous toourselves. Young people arebecoming violently out of control,living in a wasteland of the mind.


And all these wise elders pointedto one solution: The Land.

Violence and depression comefrom being outside nature, fromnot having the clarity of mindthat the vastness of the skyprovides, from losing touch withthe grounded quality of theearth, and from not spendingtime with the wild emotions ofthe rivers and oceans.

Nature is both wild and kind. Itis the natural world that providesall our resources to survive, yetwhen we lose touch with thatnatural rhythm, we findourselves in a crisis, and we losetouch with our source. Ourcurrent environmental crisis is aperfect mirror, reflecting how wehave often lost touch with ourmost primal resource. To spendtime with our true home allowsa deep healing to take place.

You go back to the land to beyourself, says one of the elders,all human mind is free and wildand we need wild land toremember who we are. To spendtime sitting out by a fire underthe summer stars, or to sit andsee both the sunrise and sunsetin one day, these are the mostnatural aspects of life, but rarelydo we give ourselves time tolisten, to really see, toremember who we truly are.

The work we offer must alsoallow us to reconnect with thatwild soul that is in its essencefree and vast. By spending timewith the five elements, we slowlycome back to ourselves and re-source, deeply recharging ourlives with awareness andpassionate action as we realisewe are an intrinsic part of the

whole and our life is a gift to sharewith others.

Although much of the work wedo takes place in the therapyroom, it of course ripples into allareas of our life. For me part ofmy own offering is to find waysof expanding the boundaries ofhealing to include community,creativity, an embodiedconnection with the naturalworld, and deep enquiry into thenature of being.

Wild Heart

One expression of this is calledthe Wild Heart gathering, whichis an event that I have cofounded to help peoplereconnect with the great resourceof the natural world.

This moves beyond the therapyroom by inviting people to takepart in a joint process of healingthrough ceremony, education,creative expression and sharing.In a way we are all ‘in therapy’.As I’m sure you are alreadyaware, the word derives from theLatin meaning ‘healing’.

So what are we trying to heal?

I believe that ultimately we areall trying - even if we don’trealize it - to reconnect with ourtrue nature and through that tofeel whole; to find a sense ofbelonging in the world. So weinvite passionate and inspiringpeople to come and offer whatthey have learnt in life for thebenefit of the whole. For me thisis a true expression of thehumanistic view, an opportunityto share beyond the confines ofsectarianism. It does not matterwhich school of thought you alignyourself, here is an opportunity


to go beyond the boundaries ofone’s current understanding andgrow and learn with each other.

So we have a wide range ofopportunities to broaden ourunderstanding with teachers,leaders and novices offering awide range of perspectives,which allows a truly integralunderstanding of the world.Through this enquiry we can gobeyond any limited definition oftherapy or healing, to realizethat we each have somethingunique to offer and weencourage and inspire each otherto share and learn from eachother’s vision.

Ceremony and ritual can be animportant part of this process.Again to quote Martin Pretchel,‘the reason we do ceremony isto remember who we are’. Forhundreds of years indigenouspeople have created numerousintricate and beautiful ways(granted some brutal) toreconnect with a sense of placeand belonging in the world.Through the wild heart we aretrying to learn from the wisdomand mistakes of our past,through stories and the delicatewebs of culture, as well as createnew and beautiful ways we canreconnect with each other andour sense of place.

The Tzutkil Mayans have aninteresting world view in thisrespect. In order for the worldto survive and to support thevast abundant and intricatebeauty of the natural world, wehave to learn to give back, notjust consume. The way we cando this is through creatingbeautiful ceremony as anexpression of our longing, of

remembering - literally comingback together. We can do thisthrough language, expression,music, art, dance, in so manyways we try to create somethingthat expresses our heartfeltgratitude to the world. TheMayans see the earth and natureas a living goddess and everyliving thing holds parts of thevery bones of that mysteriousliving presence. In this wayeverything is sacred, nothing isleft out.

When we start to see the worldas sacred once more, we are nolonger separate from thatsacredness, we are also anintricate expression of thebeloved.

This also ties in with the Buddhistunderstanding of how we createsuffering. Through ignorance ofour true nature, we feel separateand therefore create sufferingfrom the illusion of a separateself. So by realizing that we arenot separate from the source wecan move beyond suffering andrealize our potential in our liferight here now.

Beyond our wildest dreams

As the world revolves around thecurrent crises, maybe what ismost needed from us is toawaken to our potential and haveconfidence in that uniqueexpression of who we are.

One morning after the first WildHeart gathering last year, Iawoke with a deep and powerfulquestion. What lies beyond ourwildest dreams? As I’m suremany of us have been told sincewe were young, ‘It’s beyond


your wildest dreams’: but whatis?

What lies in the wild caverns ofthe mystery of our being that iswaiting to come forth and offeritself as an exquisite andbeautiful gift to the world? Whatif we are truly an intrinsic part ofan evolutionary intell igentsource, and part of the mysteryof life is to realize our part in theunfolding story?

If so, then our challenge is tolisten to the wild and deepintuitive song of the universe, tocreate a place of clarity,awareness and resonance thatcan hear the beautiful poem ofour soul as it sings its mysterioussong back to us through the vastocean of emptiness.

In the deep silence of our being,we can start to hear the whalesongs of our heart andunderstand that the world isalways in communication with us,if we are open to new andancient ways of listening.

Earlier this year I met StephanHarding a great scientist andcolleague of Satish Kumar atSchumacher college. He spoke ofhow indigenous people havealways understood that the worldis constantly communicating tous in so many ways. Whether it’sthe songs of the wind, the vibrantcolours of autumn, summer,spring and winter, the deepclarity of the winter sky, the songof the thrush, the lapping of thewaves or the mirrors ofexperience that are always beingpresented to us through themyriad reflections of life.

When we open beyond theboundaries of the four walls,when the mandala of ourexperience isn’t confined by asmall sense of I, we can stayopen and relaxed to the vastnessof our being as it constantlyunfolds as the very essence ofour being. We can really gobeyond those wildest dreams.The key to this is authenticpresence.

With this in mind I would like toshare an abbreviated version ofa teaching by one of the greatestTibetan Buddhist Dzogchenmasters of the 20th Century. Hisname is Dilgo KhyentseRinpoche. I hope it is as inspiringas it has been for me and maygive you a clearer picture of theessence of what this short andpoetic essay has tried to portray.He talks about meditation, but asyou will see there is no differencebetween formal meditation andour practice as therapists,healers or daily life itself.

Awareness in everyday Life.

Our practice is simply to developa complete carefree acceptance,an openness to all situationswithout l imit. We realiseopenness as the playground ofour emotions and relate to peoplewithout artificiality, manipulationor strategy.

We should experience everythingtotally, never withdrawing intoourselves. This practice releasestremendous energy which isusually constricted by theprocess of maintaining fixedreference points. Referentialityis the process by which we


retreat from the directexperience of everyday life.

Being present in the momentmay initially trigger fear. But bywelcoming the sensation of fearwith complete openness, we cutthrough the barriers created byhabitual emotional patterns.

When we engage in the practiceof discovering space, we shoulddevelop the feeling of openingourselves out completely to theentire universe. We should openourselves with absolute simplicityand nakedness of mind. This isthe powerful and ordinarypractice of dropping the mask ofself-protection.

We shouldn’t make a divisionbetween perception and field ofperception. We shouldn’t becomelike a cat watching a mouse. Weshould realise that the purposeof our practice is to relax and beat ease with our life, right here,right now.

Everything is naturally perfectjust as it is. All phenomenaappear in their uniqueness aspart of the continually changingpattern. These patterns arevibrant with meaning andsignificance at every moment;yet there is no significance toattach to such meanings beyondthe moment in which they presentthemselves.

This is the dance of the fiveelements in which matter is asymbol of energy and energy asymbol of emptiness. We are asymbol of our ownenlightenment. With no effort orpractice whatsoever, liberation orenlightenment is already here.

The everyday practice ofawareness is just everyday lifeitself. Since the undevelopedstate does not exist, there is noneed to behave in any specialway or attempt to attain anythingabove and beyond what youactually are. There should be nofeeling of striving to reach some‘amazing goal’ or ‘advancedstate’.

To strive for such a state is aneurosis which only conditions usand serves to obstruct the freeflow of Mind. We should also avoidthinking of ourselves asworthless persons - we arenaturally free and unconditioned.We are intrinsically enlightenedand lack nothing.

We should realise that truemeditation transcends effort,practice, aims, goals and theduality of liberation and non-liberation. Meditation is alwaysideal; there is no need to correctanything. Since everything thatarises is simply the play of mindas such, there is nounsatisfactory meditation and noneed to judge thoughts as goodor bad.

All phenomena are completelynew and fresh, absolutely uniqueand entirely free from allconcepts of past, present andfuture.

They are experienced intimelessness. The continualstream of new discovery,revelation and inspiration, whicharises at every moment is themanifestation of our clarity.

We should learn to see everydaylife as mandala - the luminousfringes of experience which


radiate spontaneously from theempty nature of our being. Theaspects of our mandala are theday-to-day objects of our lifeexperience moving in the danceor play of the universe.

By this symbolism the innerteacher reveals the profound andultimate significance of being.Therefore we should be naturaland spontaneous, accepting andlearning from everything. Thisenables us to see the ironic andamusing side of events thatusually irritate us.

Through awareness we can seethrough the il lusion of past,present and future - ourexperience becomes thecontinuity of nowness. The pastis only an unreliable memoryheld in the present. The future isonly a projection of our presentconceptions. The present itselfvanishes as soon as we try tograsp it. So why bother withattempting to establish an illusionof solid ground?.

Simply plunging directly intothe moment now, with ourwhole being, free fromhesitation, boredom orexcitement, is enlightenment.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

Life as prayer.

For me this beautiful teachingtouches the very heart of ourpractice: to be fully present toour l ife as it unfolds itsmysterious story. Of course thismeans being open to thesuffering that exists, the griefof losing friends and family, theimpermanent nature of ourbodies, sickness and ill health,as well as the ever changingnature of our emotions.

Yet all these aspects of our beingare the display of our truenature. Just like the changingseasons, our life is a reflectionof the great cycles of thenatural world. When we start toopen to the vastness of our truenature, our l ife becomes aprayer - sometimes it stutters,sometimes we get caught inwebs of conditioning andhabitual patterns, but if we canalways remember that we arenot separate from this wildbeautiful poem, then maybe,just maybe we can make themost of the current crises as anopportunity, right Here rightNow!

Huw Wyn is from Snowdonia in Wales and lives in East Sussex.He is founder of Tiger’s Nest and co founder of The Wild HeartProject; Blazing Wisdom films; and the Dharma diary. Hepractices Core Process Psychotherapy. He also will be hostinga Tibetan Medicine trip to Ladakh in 2009 with traditionalhealers.www.tigersnest.com

The next Wild Heart gathering will take place from 1st to 4th

May 2009 on the ancient high weald forest in East Sussex.www.wildheartgathering.com


Exploring Shadow andTransparency in Psychotherapy

Training Institutes: Implications forthe design and implementation of

institutional complaint procedures (Part 2).

Dr Sue Jones DPsychNational Centre for Work Based LearningPartnerships, Middlesex University

Concluded from last issue

Is psychotherapy training different from the wider field?

I have reflected above on the themes of culture, care andcommunication, and their relationship to power within psychotherapytraining institutes. The data from PHASE 1 indicates that these areareas that naturally exist in all types of organisations but the PHASE2 analysis shows evidence that in psychotherapy institutes they areparticularly problematic. The difference in the psychotherapy worldis the subject that we teach and the potential for dependency of ourstudents in our care. The model of teaching that occurs within thefield which puts emphasis on the understanding of internal emotionalstates and personal self awareness inadvertently invites the studentsinto a state of dependency with those in the position of tutorship.Alongside this potential dependency is the tutor who in thetransferential role of ‘parent’ teaches about trust and the therapeuticrelationship. Young (1996) suggests that ‘some of the most neuroticacting-out behaviour imaginable is routinely perpetrated bypsychoanalytic organisations’ and lays this at the feet of thepractitioners within them.

Action research cycles

PHASE 3 involved my own institute where an experimental model,designed to address the concepts of shadow and transparency, wason-going throughout the project. The model took the form of bi-monthly Mindfulness groups for Matrix management members andRestorative Justice in relation to complaints. Matrix transcripts werealso used as data in PHASE 2 as a fifth institute.

Mindfulness

The very nature of a Mindfulness group requires deep reflection onpersonal states whatever they are and an agreement to follow theprinciple of ‘maitri’.


When the space is cleared from repetition of mental formulations,feelings are more freely available. This can be alarming at first, tofeel the full extent of anger, guilt, anxiety and fear. When thesefeelings become the object of mindfulness, they become nourishedby the energy of the practice. Because these practices are conductedin the spirit of maitri – unconditional friendliness towards oneself -they are able to rise, often feel overwhelming, can be remainedwith, even at times penetrated. Sometimes they remain constant orunavailable, and at other times dissolved. Over time I think thepractice allows us to have an active living relationship with ‘corepain’, where we do not have to repress and project on to others oract out from this place. Over time there are moments of clarity,peacefulness and happiness.

(Wilde McCormick 2003)

Over the project we worked on different forms of mindful meditation:breathing, walking and eating mindfully. We practised mindfulness offeeling states, a mindful body scan and mindful dialogue of personalissues. We also practised a variety of activities which were alwaysdone within the principle of maitri. Following an exercise we wouldshare our experiences together. We were encouraged to spend alittle time at home and develop a mindful practice of our own with anoccasional facilitator. The aim was to understand whether the modelof an on-going Mindfulness group and Restorative Justice would havea constructive impact on the institute in relationship to shadow andtransparency. The question was asked: Have the Sangha group andrestorative justice been able to increase communication effectivelyand is the result robust enough for other training institutions andaccrediting bodies to consider as a template in the design ofinstitutional complaint procedures?

The analysis of the data from these transcripts showed that the samephenomena seen in the other four institutes could be seen in Matrixalthough to a lesser degree. However, the comparison of the Matrixtranscripts with the others did show a significant difference in thecategories of care and communication which were spoken of aswelcomed and productive.

Conclusion

From the analysis of the data from PHASES 1-3 it was deducedthat:

• There are three clear areas of concern that can be seen inthe wider field and ubiquitously found in psychotherapy traininginstitutes: culture, care and communication, within which there isa central phenomenon of power.

• The psychotherapy training environment means that aspectsof dependency and the wounded healer with the intersubjectivitythat these bring, alongside the rhetoric of the subject, create a


dissonance between what we as trainers say - and what we actuallydo (SAT Paradigm).

• The presence of a model of a Mindfulness group andRestorative Justice within a system makes a significant differenceto the generalised feelings of satisfaction in communication, asense of being valued within the institute and a feeling of sharedpower.

• Action research cycles demonstrated that a focus on groupawareness of relational dynamics through a Mindfulness groupand Restorative Justice in a psychotherapy training environmentlessens the potential for shadow dynamics by creating a safearena for difficulties to be addressed.

• Fewer grievances occur when a model of a Mindfulness groupand Restorative Justice principles are in situ. There is less fearand resolution is more likely.

• Unconscious shadow behaviours are ubiquitous in all areasof concern and identified generally as mismanagement, abusivemanagement, neglect, manipulative communication and themisuse of psychobabble.

• Deeper shadow descriptions associated with thepsychotherapy training system are surmised from the data aspunitive, elitist, deluded, denying and self-serving. Theserepresent the disparity between the rhetoric used in psychotherapytraining institutes and the reality identified within the analyses.

From the data it can be seen that psychotherapy institutions havesimilar broad organisational difficulties as in the wider field. However,the subject of psychotherapy, the pressures and demands put ontrainers and the particular transferential difficulties that arise,contribute to a training environment where specific shadow dynamicscan be seen (see SAT Paradigm). This creates a dissonance betweenwhat we as trainers say - and what we actually do.

Reflecting on the findings

Forthcoming statutory regulation is motivating institutes to get moreand more programmes validated. This is an arduous and timeconsuming process which requires detailed attention to the monitoringof standards and procedures. I suggest that the risk of this, in aculture where hard work and busy-ness is the norm, is that leadersand staff, who normally have little or no managerial training, resortto Model I of organisational learning (Argyris and Schon 1978).Psychotherapy institutes are demanding financially. I have discoveredthat psychotherapy institutes are always very busy places. Peopleat the top were generally multi-tasking, under pressure and saying‘Everything is fine here’! People under pressure make mistakes andcut corners. Leaders hold the burden of responsibility and juggleextra, unpaid administrative tasks while running successful private


practices of their own. I discovered leaders had little or no businesstraining and were having to learn different skills in a system fraughtwith managerial responsibilities, marketing needs, academic demandsand employment issues. All these things have to be managedamongst the complexities of the inevitable transferentialrelationships found in training institutes such as dependency,attachment and authority. Throughout the project I have becomeincreasingly conscious of the importance and status of those inleadership positions, the multi-tasking that is required and theinfluence that the personality of the leader has on the whole. Iexperienced many energetic leaders who held the vision and workedlong hours putting in voluntary time in order to contain the system.Trainers also put in voluntary time between their own practices inorder to keep the show on the road.

Lousada, in a speech at the Freud Museum’s 1999 conference on thefuture of psychotherapy, spoke of the ‘caring professions’ veeringtowards a state of mind which itself is scared of relationships (inKearns 2006). This perhaps corresponds to the findings in this studywhich suggest a dissonance between philosophy and practice withininstitutes.

I have attempted in this project to bring into awareness, throughthe examination of transparency, the aspects of shadow that areconsistent and widespread in our psychotherapy learningenvironments. As the results suggest, consistent areas of concernappear in all types of organisations. However in psychotherapy wehave our own particular flavour of the same issues, as seen forexample in the use of psychobabble to defend against threat. Whatmakes psychotherapy institutes most worrying is that we are in thebusiness of understanding the complexities of the mind and use thevehicle of relationship in our work. It is deeply unsettling that inteaching these things we simultaneously model dysfunction andcollude with the implicit ‘Everything is fine here’.

Significance and potential applications for this work.

According to Kearns (2006:1) practitioners are being traumatisedand current complaint procedures from accrediting bodies are‘unthought through and lead to the escalation of disputes ratherthan containment, mediation and resolution’. She refers topsychotherapy training institutes managing complaints without theembodiment of the philosophy that is the in-house rhetoric.

It could be argued that there is nothing new in restorative justice.Certainly there is a movement towards mediation in our field.Springwood (in Kearns 2006) as Chair of the United KingdomAssociation for Humanistic Psychology Practitioners (ukAHPP)describes how this body has employed the use of mediation as aform of understanding and dealing with client : practitionercomplaints. Their procedure is based on the principles of restorativejustice. In my experience most institutes rely on the use of complaint


procedures that are based on a traditional format of rules andregulations that are very distant to the relational context in whichthey have occurred. Words such as ‘judicial’ and ‘evidence’ are stillfavoured over ‘mediation’.

Bond (2004) as Fellow of the British Association for Counselling andPsychotherapy (BACP) led the change in 2002 from rule-based ethicsto a principle-based system and promoted ethical mindfulness inprofessional practice and research (2004). In April 2006 the UnitedKingdom Council of Psychotherapy (UKCP) published an alternativeroute for complaints which incorporates mediation as a principle. Isuggest that this can be developed in the context of institutionalsettings and that this project can support the current work that isbeing done on the subject. It is paradoxical that in institutionalsettings, where trainers who possess the necessary skills to supporteffective mediation, and who are themselves models for theirstudents, are still bound by complaint procedures that are punitiverather than relational.

I believe that through the results of this project I have provided atemplate that can be used in the design of institutional complaintprocedures. This template requires:

• The integration of mindfulness and restorative justiceprinciples.

• Full understanding of shadow areas described in thefindings of this project which indicate a ubiquitous culture wherebyproblems are likely to occur.

No psychotherapy accrediting body, institute or ethics committeewas able to provide me with figures regarding how many complaintsor grievances had been made that year or in previous years. Eightwere contacted. The balance of content areas of complaints andgrievances were also unknown. I was informed that no statisticswere kept. I suggest that these figures would be a guide as to whethercomplaints and grievances are increasing and what their focus is. Isuggest that this should be common practice.

I hope that institutes will be able to make use of thesefindings as a window into the inner life of psychotherapyinstitutes. I offer the following for reflection andconsideration:

• For more transparency and self reflection bymanagement and trainers within psychotherapy training institutes.The purpose of this would be to transcend the possibilities ofinertia, where a hierarchy can unconsciously encourage a culturewhere challenge is avoided, thereby leading to potential consciousand unconscious abuses of power.

• For psychotherapy institutes to integrate RestorativeJustice within their organisations whereby both complainer and


complained against are respected and a negotiated way forwardis found based on the needs of the ‘victim’ and relevantresponsibilities of all concerned, thus leading to a more satisfying,less punitive and shame-based culture.

• For psychotherapy training and accrediting bodies toseriously consider the dimensions of shadow and the SAT paradigmin the design of organisational complaint procedures. The purposeof this would be to raise awareness of those who are in the positionto guide the profession and model healthier functioning.

• For psychotherapy institutes to consider using thepractice of Mindfulness in management as an aid to non-oppressiveand transparent communications.

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Bion, W.R. (1961) Experiences in Groups and Other Papers (NewYork: Basic Books)

Bion, W. R. (1962) Learning from Experience (London: HeinemannMedical)

Bion, W.R. (1970) Attention and Interpretation (New York: OxfordUniversity Press)

Bion, W. R. (1985) ‘Group Dynamics: A Review’, in M. Klein, P.Heimann and R. Money-Kyrle (eds.) New Directions in Psychoanalysis(London: Karnac)

Burns, J. M. (1978) Leadership (New York: Harper & Rowe)

Diamond, M.A.(1993) The Unconscious Life of Organisations (London:Quorum)

Gabriel, Y. (1999) Organizations in Depth (California: SagePublications)

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In Western society today we are constantly,relentlessly offered possibil it ies for externalvalidation. Through the consumption of products,identities and ‘life-styles’, we impose conditionalvalidation to our selves in an endless cycle. Thus,we are becoming more and more reliant on themechanisms of consumer culture for our sense ofself and our sense of self-worth, leaving us bereft ofa connection to our true Self. This disconnection withour internal valuing process leaves us more open tomanipulation, self-doubt, and meaninglessness. Howdo we remain connected to ourselves? How do wecontinue to touch our inner-most core … our true Self?When do we make time to listen, to connect, andhow do we do it?

For many of us, the therapeutic relationship is theplace where this re-connecting takes place. But whatabout the value of being alone? How can we nurturea personal relationship to self, uncovering Self, onour own?

To learn the Buddha’s truth is to learnourselves. To learn ourselves is to forgetourselves. To forget ourselves is to beexperienced by the myriad dharmas. To beexperienced by the myriad dharmas is to letour own body-and-mind, and the body-and-mind of the external world, fall away. There isa state in which the traces of realization areforgotten; and it manifests the traces offorgotten realization for a long, long time.

Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo, Genjo Koan

Zazen and Person-centeredPsychotherapy: Deepeningthe Relationship to Self

Hugh Ransley


Zazen loosely translates as just sitting, and this is, as Master Dogen- a 13th Century Zen Master - expounds, the way to study the self,and to be enlightened by the ‘myriad dharmas’ - everything. Thispractice of just sitting has been acknowledged and taught by theBuddhist teachers of the Soto School as the ‘true gate’ toenlightenment, to being present in each moment, to being our trueSelf. Zazen is sitting alone on a cushion, facing a wall with legscrossed, back straight, and eyes open. Thought arises, you followthe thought – sometimes … then you return to the present moment… and then … you think again.

My personal practice of zazen during my years of study and practiceof psychotherapy has led me to consider the similarities betweenthe two. My experience in both practices and subsequent reflectionsinspired me to delve further into just what it is that is similar. Idiscovered that the relationship that I created with my clients intherapy was remarkably similar to the one I created with my selfevery morning during zazen. I found that in my practice of zazen,alone on the cushion, the three core conditions of empathy,acceptance and congruence, posited by Carl Rogers as beingfundamental to therapeutic growth were present. And, being aloneenabled a deeper connection to Self.

Part of my process of delving deeper was to complete a heuristicstudy investigating other people’s experience of practicing zazenover a sustained period of years. The research I undertook consistedof informally interviewing seven people who have practiced zazenregularly for between six and 30 years. Two of the participants wereBuddhist Masters. I purposefully utilized an unstructured interviewformat which created a suitable non-directive approach to thecollection of data, and made for a fascinating flow of dialogue,sometimes lasting up to two hours. The information collected wasthen transcribed and analyzed. And finally, themes emerged.

My arguments within this paper are based primarily on this researchand my personal experience of practicing zazen. While on occasionI will make direct reference to the research data itself, for the mostpart, I will not supply quantitative references. It is my intention toelucidate these research findings into an explanation of what I thinkare the benefits to sitting zazen and experiencing loneliness. I willalso expand upon the similarities observed between my understandingof the therapeutic relationship in terms of the core conditions andthat of the relationship to self that emerges, gradually, through thepractice of zazen.

Loneliness

I would like to start with loneliness, one of the innate characteristicsof zazen. Even sitting in groups, one sits on the cushion alone,sometimes very alone. Being alone, quietly, enables pure,unadulterated contact with Self. Allowing our loneliness to be,accessing the often quiet wisdom, is enlightening in itself.


Clarke Moustakas has captured this experience beautifully in a short,and, for me, inspirational book, Loneliness:

Being lonely involves a certain pathway, requires a totalsubmersion of self, a letting be of all that is and belongs, astaying or remaining with the situation, until a naturalrealization or completion is reached; when a lonely existencecompletes itself, the individual becomes, grows from it,reaches out for others in a deeper, more vital sense.(Moustakas, 1961, p. 8)

This simple permitting of what arises in consciousness is recognizedin the existential approach to psychotherapy through the significancegiven to the letting be of whatever appears, allowing into awarenessall aspects of experience which inevitably lead to self-disclosures,new understandings, and possibilities for growth.

Loneliness, the process, Moustakas describes above, is present inthe experience of zazen and, in my estimation, has striking similaritieswith what occurs within the therapeutic relationship. In my research,it appeared that through a regular and sustained effort of sittingzazen, each person developed a relationship to self that containedthe same aspects of the healing therapeutic relationship posited inPerson Centered Therapy to be sufficient for constructive personalitychange, namely: the conditions of acceptance, empathy, andcongruence, within the essential presence.

Presence

When exploring the characteristics of the therapeutic relationship inregards to the experience of practicing zazen, it is necessary toacknowledge that the core conditions do not exist in isolation, theyare whole in presence, often balancing and supporting one another.This point is crucial, because when one is present, or we could say,whole, it is then that the core conditions are so powerful and sotangible as one.

The practice of zazen develops this ability to remain present in themoment. When a person is in the moment, he becomes whole andforgets the self and becomes the Self. It is in this moment that heembodies the core conditions and is able to provide healing andenable the ‘actualizing tendency’ in others and in himself.

In light of the specific findings of the research, it is important tohighlight each of the core conditions as experienced, developed, oruncovered through the practice of zazen and make the connectionto these conditions of the therapeutic relationship.

Acceptance

Acceptance of ‘what is’ is one of the most significant developmentsthat came to light in my research. Sitting in zazen loosens a person’sgrip on his ego through the gradual acceptance of and dissolution of


self. This acceptance has implications with regards to a gentlelessening of resistance, a major component of psychotherapeuticwork. The importance of this aspect of the practice of zazen mustnot be underestimated, for it is the ability to accept one’s self thatallows a person to begin to accept reality as it is, rather than as hewants it to be. After all, we humans do not like to be seen as stupid,unkind, confused, greedy, selfish, etc., and do not like to seeourselves as such. However, when sitting zazen, and inpsychotherapy, we do see ourselves as we really are, in all ourglory – or otherwise. In both zazen and psychotherapy, this is agradual process that can cause anxiety and can be dishearteningand disappointing. However, this is a necessary part of the processto develop awareness of self, and towards acceptance of self. Inorder to constructively change one’s personality, a person must accepthimself as he really is. In seeing ourselves, constantly, in the practiceof zazen and in psychotherapy, we are able to begin to accept allqualities of ourselves and recognize and accept those in others too.

Thus, it is through this process of seeing ourselves that we lessenour defenses, or our defensive selves, and are able to see ‘things’as they are. The acceptance of ‘what is’ is important for living morefully in the world, accepting it, as it is. With less of a gap betweenwhat one actually experiences and what one desires, there is moreroom for a simple happiness with the present moment, just as it is.The practitioners in my study report, over time, that they stoppedtrying to change their experience into something different from whatis was, and thus were no longer trying to distract themselves fromthe world. They stopped trying to run away or escape from reality,rather, as one put it: ‘Leaning into it’. With this acceptance of realitycomes self-acceptance and also acceptance of others. Other peopleare seen as separate, and thus more real, and are no longer merelyprojections of how the practitioner would like them to be to suit theirideas and egos. As the defenses of their egos lessen throughacceptance, the practitioners found that they were able to interactmore freely with the world, to lean into experience rather than awayfrom it.

This valuable acceptance, in terms of working alongsidepsychotherapy, would enable the person in therapy to become aware,access, and symbolize his or her experiences with less resistanceand thus, at his or her own pace, be able to move forward.

The safety and companionship that allows him to enter hisexistential processes and share that world with the counselor… he shares his very existence as he is experiencing it – thefundamental needs, fears, conflicts, the utter desolation andthe life giving hope. This territory which is life itself – whichhe would yearn to share as strongly as he would fear to share… He does not seek to protect himself from being seen eitherby the counselor or by himself. In his existential process hecannot lie – lying belongs to a much more superficial level ofrelating.

(Dave Mearns, Personal Communication 20th December 2007)


It can be argued that ‘…his very existence’ as described above, ishis true Self, and is egoless, i.e. who he is, and the self who needs tobe protected is simply an illusory self we only believe is real.

Thus, acceptance, or Unconditional Positive Regard, can work towardscreating the space to enable our Self to be safely and unconditionallyin therapy, just as it is in zazen. With this in mind, it is possible toassert that when one’s ego dissolves somewhat, in therapy or zazen,the Self emerges. In the context of just sitting, in ‘existentialprocess…’ the Self can then give a relationship to the self, can seethe self, and offer presence. And with presence comes acceptanceand empathy, and with acceptance and empathy, perhaps some‘forgetting’ of the self occurs.

It is interesting to consider that perhaps when one offers one’s selfa relationship to Self that embodies acceptance, empathy, andcongruence, then one is more able to adjust one’s self concept andconstructively change one’s personality. Robert Browning assertsthat:

Truth lies within ourselves; it takes no rise from outward things,what’er you may believe. There is an inmost center in us all,where truth abides in fullness and to know rather consists inopening out a way whence the imprisoned splendor mayescape than in effecting for light supposed be without. (Dass,1974, p. 1)

It has come to my awareness through this study and my ownexperience, that the ‘actualizing tendency,’ as Rogers (1961, p. 351)describes it: ‘The directional trend which is evident in all organic andhuman life – the urge to expand, extend, develop, mature – thetendency to express and activate all the capacities of the organism,or the self’, is very much akin to my understanding of Buddha nature.The way to actively facilitate this growth tendency described byRogers is to be in a relationship characterized by the core conditionscommunicated from another person in a person-centered therapeuticrelationship, and/or as my research suggests, from the Self to theself, through the practice of zazen, alone on the cushion. As Suzukieloquently, pragmatically and simply asserts:

The way to study true Zen is not verbal. Just open yourselfand give up everything. Whatever happens, study closely andsee what you find out. This is the fundamental attitude.(Suzuki, 2002, p. 63)

Suzuki also skillfully acknowledges the presence of our ‘innate nature’,or, as I think Rogers (1961) would say, ‘actualizing tendency’, andclearly offers encouragement through practicing zazen to listen:

To open your innate nature and to feel something from thebottom of your heart, it is necessary to remain silent. Throughthis kind of practice you will have a more intuitiveunderstanding of the teaching. Not to talk does not mean to


be deaf and dumb, but to listen to your intuition. (Suzuki,2002, p. 69)

Unsurprisingly, beginners to zazen and sometimes psychotherapyoften experience anxiety alongside this increased awareness of self.Research investigating the effects on beginners who practiced zazenfor approximately one year suggests that the practice raises levelsof anxiety (see Compton and Becker, 1983). The self, still tied to theseemingly obligatory conditions of worth, resists the existentialprocess, the aloneness, in much the same way in zazen and therapy.In zazen, the beginner can feel anxious when faced with his self,how he really is. And in therapy, the client becomes anxious to beginto feel his feelings and give voice to his experience.

However, if we seek to understand ourselves, to really see ourselves,and this does not happen overnight … a little anxiety along the wayis par for the course, and a healthy part of one’s process, for ifaspects of the unconscious surface too quickly, it may not be useful,perhaps too threatening and off-putting. Therefore if one does notbecome disheartened or set back by one’s anxiety and carries onregardless, or as Tillich (1952) might say ‘…in spite of,’ then thisanxiety will typically dissolve. Acceptance reigns eventually, whatelse is there to do… ‘Oh well, this is what I am like; how disappointing!’The gap between ideas and reality disappears.

It was also noted that with the development of acceptance, judgmentsof self and others lessened, and one became less defensive of theway one was, leading to, or better, uncovering, a state of congruence.

Congruence

Congruence refers to a person being who he is. Through acceptancein both psychotherapy and zazen, there is the opportunity for aperson’s growth toward becoming congruent. In the therapeuticrelationship, the therapist, when he is genuine, mirrors congruenceby being his feelings and communicating them if appropriate. Rogers(1961) asserts:

It is this quality of congruence which we sense which researchhas found to be associated with successful therapy. The moregenuine and congruent the therapist in the relationship, themore probability there is that change in personality in theclient will occur. (pp. 61-62) (My italics)

Similarly, when one is sitting alone in zazen, just being, the Selfmirrors congruence in accepting the thoughts and feelings that arise.Permitting oneself to be in this way resembles the condition ofcongruence: ‘…openly being the feelings and attitudes which at thatmoment are flowing in him’ (Rogers, 1961, p. 61). Does the egoexperience this process in zazen and find healing in the letting be,dissolving yet further? Perhaps in this state of being, self in relationshipwith Self – alone, one is able to see who, how, and what they are,and perhaps more importantly, who, how, and what they are not. Ineither relationship, with the therapist or with the Self, a person is


safe in the relationship, being congruent, and being acceptant – justbeing present – a whole human being:

When I am in touch with myself, my feelings, my thoughts,with what I see and hear, I am growing toward becoming amore integrated self. I am more congruent, I am ‘whole,’ andI am able to make greater contact with the other person.(Satir, 1987, p. 23)

Empathy

In practicing zazen, one develops self-knowledge. Becoming familiarwith one’s inner world through quiet solitude on the cushion, allowsone to become intimate with meanings and experiences of the self.This awareness paves the way for seeing another person’sexperiences as separate, as their own. Clearly, by connecting withmany of one’s own inner worlds, with all of its connotations for oneself,one is better equipped to make associations on information receivedconcerning another person. If a familiar situation is recounted orseen, the zazen practitioner is aware of his own response to such anevent. This then enables him to make an association based on hisown experience, acknowledge this association, and then enquire withthe other person what the experience is like for them. The practitionermay perhaps make a leap of understanding based on his own personalexperiences, but nevertheless is still aware that it is not the same asthe other person’s. This self-awareness permits the practitioner toavoid identifying too much with the other person, but at the sametime, enables him to tune into shared experiences and acknowledgethe ‘as if’ quality that Rogers expounded (Rogers, 1961).

The Self offers the self a relationship characterized by the coreconditions of empathy, acceptance and congruence. Through beingpresent sitting in zazen one becomes whole, thus embodying theconditions necessary for self-healing and self-actualization. The Selfis unknowable, but it appears able to be experienced, and theexperiencing of this Self promotes awareness of self and possibilitiesfor growth and altering of self-concepts. This is true of process inpsychotherapy. One enters into a relationship with the personcentered psychotherapist who embodies empathy, acceptance andcongruence, which enables the person in therapy to become awareof self, experience Self and explore possibilities for change of self-concept.

Summary

As Master Dogen states in Bendowa, the opening chapter of theShobogenzo,

The practice of [Za]zen, in the erect posture, has beenestablished as the authentic gate. This Dharma is abundantlypresent in each human being, but if we do not practice it, itdoes not manifest itself, and if we do not experience it, itcannot be realized. (Nishijima & Cross, 1994, p. 1)


It cannot be stated more simply.

My research has shown that zazen typically facilitates a gradualunfolding of one’s authentic Self in the world. One becomes moreable to be present, more self-aware, accepting and in touch withone’s inner process through a relationship with Self that is similar tothat of the relationship with a therapist who embodies the coreconditions.

In being-there, silent, prepared, and open to listen to what arises inawareness on a moment by moment basis, one offers oneself arelationship, which resembles that of the therapeutic relationshipcharacterized by empathy, acceptance and congruence. In thebeginning, this relationship of Self to self is typically dominated bythe protecting ego – the self trying to do what it is accustomed todo, protect aspects of itself which are deemed too vulnerable,unsightly, or too hurt to let go. Eventually though, according to myresearch, it appears that over time, one’s ‘intuitive self,’ Self, ‘prajna’(intuitive wisdom), or ‘organismic self’ comes to the fore, and whenthis occurs, through the lessening of the need for one’s ego to ‘holdon’ in the practice of sitting alone in zazen, then the relationship tothe self becomes therapeutic.

This is a similar process to the initial resistance that many clientsexperience in the therapeutic relationship with a therapist embodyingthe characteristics of empathy, acceptance and congruence. Priorto trusting, to letting be of what arises, self-disclosing and so on,one may tend to edit, choose inauthenticity, until one’s defenseslessen as the caring of the therapist melts our ego and the perceivedneed for defense. Once this relationship of Self (therapist) to self(client) emerges then the free flow of thoughts, feelings come intothe light more readily without so many judgments or resistance,and when allowed to be, will enable insight, giving way to movementinto the future with new understandings of oneself.

The becoming me is not informed through conditions of worth orexpectations of others or society, it is a direct becoming from theinner core, from the actualizing tendency, innate wisdom, and it isseen and experienced by the person through the process of justsitting zazen. That is, while the person is able to experience processesin his or her self with acceptance, it enables the person to recognizethrough the ‘experiencing’ Self. The feedback or reflection of self isbrought into awareness, symbolized and thus made real in the person.It is direct feedback in silence – in much the same way as the personcentered psychotherapist might offer an empathic reflection of theclient’s words and emotions in enabling them to go deeper or graspwhat they have said in an experiential flow in the session. This occursin zazen as it does in psychotherapy.

It is the relationship characterized by presence that provides thehealing. Whether this is a solitary relationship to self by Self, orbetween therapist and client, or simply one human being with another.If the conditions embodied in caring, wholly, are present then healingand actualization will occur.


Further Reading

Moustakas, Clark (1961) Loneliness (New York: Prentice Hall Press)

Compton, W.C. and Becker, G.M. (1983) ‘Self-actualizations andExperience with Zen Meditation: Is a Learning Period Necessary forMeditation?’ Journal of Clinical Psychology 39 (6), 925-926.

Dass, R. (1974) The Only Dance There Is (New York: Anchor Press)

Nishijima, G. and Cross, C. (1994) Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo Book1 (London: Windbell Publications)

Rogers, Carl. (1961) On Becoming a Person: A Therapist’s View ofPsychotherapy (London: Constable)

Satir, V. (1987) ‘The Therapist Story,’ in Baldwin, M, and Satir, V.(eds.) The Use of Self in Therapy (London: Haworth Press) pp. 17-27

Suzuki, S. (2002) Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen(New York: Harper Collins)

Tillich, P. (1952) The Courage to Be (New Haven: Yale UniversityPress)

Hugh Ransley is a psychotherapist living in Michigan, USA. Heis a practicing Buddhist of the Soto School, and sat zazen atthe Dogen Sangha in Bristol, England for several years prior tomoving to America. Hugh can be contacted at:[email protected]

More comments about the AHPB 2008Summer Festival

For me, this is whatAHPB is about –connecting deeply andhonestly with so manypeople.

My batteries have had

the most wonderful

topping-up – thank you

all!

Roll on next year!

This weekend gave me aglimpse of a newpossibility.


Asaf Rolef Ben-Shahar

The Regular COLUMN

[email protected]

We are amidst the darkest time of the year. The days are shorter, thenights ever so long, and I feel a desire to curl up and stay in bed. Thefinancial market is in deep shit, upheaval and uncertainty everywhere. Wemay wonder about hope. Shall we talk of hope, then?

Hope cannot exist but where suffering resides. In the myth of Pandora,Prometheus was punished not only by being chained to a rock and havingvultures feast on his ever-regenerating liver, but also by punishing hisbrother, Epimetheus. Epimetheus was given the god-made Pandora, abeautiful woman of great contradictions and an extra sense of curiosity.Their wedding gift, a jag (or box), was opened despite warnings, releasinginto the world all kind of illnesses and sorrows, miseries and misfortunes.

When all evil was unleashed into the human realm, and only after that,hope emerged as well. Somehow, only when both sorrow and hope touchedthe people, could humanity begin.

When I heard Barack Obama speaking (beautifully and inspiringly so) ofthe future, I cried. I want to believe this man. I want to suspend my cynicismand disbelief and salute the human spirit. I want to hope that a woman willbe the next Israeli prime minister, possibly bringing some sanity to myunhinged homeland. It saddens me that I cannot do so fully. Part of me isstill suspicious, watching my excited hopeful attitude with slight contemptperhaps, certainly with patronising ‘knowing’. But both are here, alive: thehopeless and pessimistic (Freud’s offspring); and the hopeful, humanistic(Rogers’s grandson).

For me, hope includes a dash of naivety and it surprises me how hard Iwork to sustain this naivety within me. It is as if its disappearance will bethe end of me too. My inner ‘tree hugger’ is never without a raised eyebrow,an inner judgment or a part-shamed, part-ridiculing smile; but I trycultivating it. So that when Obama spoke to his people and they recited‘yes we can’, a little voice in me tentatively echoed that too: Yes we can.

As far as I am concerned, all hope concerns faith in the possibility of love.And so, despite my disbelief, my shame and cynicism – in my personaland working life I am shown, time and again, that however big the sorrowsare, however damaging the history or unpalatable the trauma, love canget there and touch us, and make a change. However dark it may be, lovecan be present with us and change us by its presence. It really can. And Ishould finish writing this quickly, lest the other me delete it all.

May your year begin with hope and unfold with love.


AHP(B)AHP(B)AHP(B)AHP(B)AHP(B) p a g e T o n y M o r r i sChris Beaumont

Chair’s Page

The media is crammed full of an upbeat veil designed to take us allto a fantasy world where all is well. A promise that the fantasy willsoon become a reality is offered up at every opportunity. Not tomention a call from on high that seems to indicate that no matterwhat we experience, the spin will save us and the pure capitalismthat is preached unrelentingly is the only way.

For me, my experience is approximately a 40% rise in clients whoseek help from our advice desk for debt advice; some 52% needinghelp with housing issues (mainly owner-occupiers); and anapproximately 31% rise in referrals for counseling. It seems thisexperience is shared by many of the network of service providers inthe South of England. In the main we all expect the trend to continueto a peak towards the latter part of 2009.

For those of us in the front line of services across the UK, I sensemultiple challenges throughout 2009 and beyond. The supportivestimulation I often get from Self & Society has always helped me. Isense it may be so for many of you too. In any event the thoughtsand understanding from within our membership may well offer someof the alternative insights needed to guide us through the days tocome.

With this in mind we have included a new member flyer in thisissue. Have a think about who you know who would like to be amember of AHPB - a great gift for 2009. Do your bit for AHPB and afriend. Pass the flyer on as soon as you can.

In August 2006 Tony Morris talked of how hard AHPB’s board worksto keep AHPB going, and how frustrated he was because of this. Healso spoke of new green shoots and the gardeners needed to bringthem on to a productive harvest.

Sadly things are much the same two years later! Our biggest problemis income - which in the main means new members. If all our existingmembers find one new member, then this year will be a great year.For all of you the member you could find is important, so don’t leaveit to others. Who do you love enough to share AHPB and Self &Society with? Happy recruiting!


&SelfS O C I E T Y ReviewsContemporary Body Psychotherapy Edited by Linda HartleyRoutledge, 2008, £19.99, 254 pp.

Ever since I first encountered body psychotherapy – in 1975 I think– it has been described as being ‘on the edge of a breakthrough’;that breakthrough being acceptance by the mainstreampsychotherapy and possibly the medical establishment. Not that bodypsychotherapy isn’t accepted at all. Far from it. Professional bodiessuch as AHPP have specific categories for body psychotherapy, butit just doesn’t, in terms of the numbers of practitioners, seem tohave taken off, especially in the public sector.

One conclusion I’m tempted to draw is that ‘on the edge’ is anappropriate place for body psychotherapy to be, where it can live ina perpetual state of revolution rather than being absorbed into anestablishment where its principles would become rigidified and ‘healthand safety’d’ into a pale imitation of the powerful psychotherapeuticapproach that it actually is.

Contemporary Body Psychotherapy chronicles the history andtheoretical breadth of the Chiron Centre, which has struggled (I usethis word to recognise, rather than to denigrate, the commitment ofthose involved), since the early 1980s, to remain a lively and vibranttraining organisation in the field. This stands in contrast to otherReichian organisations, such as a certain American college, whichseem to believe that Reich’s work was frozen in 1957 and that anyonewho doesn’t practice according to the principles which were laiddown in that era is not worthy to use Reich’s name, which theyseem to have turned into some kind of trademark to describe theirwork.

I was particularly pleased to come across this account of the workof the Chiron Centre since, as someone who was involved in bodypsychotherapy for more than a decade (between 1975 and 1987), Iwas interested to see how contemporary psychotherapeutic thinkinghad been absorbed into the bodywork approach.

Contemporary Body Psychotherapy is edited by Linda Hartley, whois herself a trained and experienced body psychotherapist. Unusually,she doesn’t merely ‘top and tail’ the book, but interpolates the varioustopics with an appropriate introductory section.


One of the characteristics of the Chiron Approach is diversity andthis is evidenced in this book, containing, as it does, chapters onsubjects ranging from EMDR to the political implications of bodypsychotherapy. The book is divided into two main parts, ‘Developmentof Core Principles’ and ‘New Directions and Applications’. In his firstchapter, ‘The roots and development of the Chiron approach’ BerndEiden traces both the personal history of the founding anddevelopment of the Chiron Centre and the development of bodypsychotherapy from the work of Wilhelm Reich. This chapter wasworth reading for the insight into the development of bodypsychotherapy since the 1980s alone, but it also gives a clue as tothe thinking which has been involved in the continuation of the Centreas a leading edge training institution. The contradictions around theuse of touch are explored (they also feature in later chapters) withoutbeing resolved. I like that.

The next chapter, by Monika Schaible, gives a succinct introductionto Biodynamic Massage, followed by a description of how it wasintegrated into the Chiron approach. Gestalt therapy is often seenas a verbal exchange, perhaps with some use of different positionsas in the empty chair technique. However, there can be aconsiderable amount of bodywork in Gestalt, particularly as regardsthe use of sensory awareness as a tool in applying thephenomenological method. It isn’t, then, surprising to find a chapteron Gestalt body psychotherapy in this book.

The next four chapters are grouped under the overall heading of‘The Crucible’ and explore the development of the core principles ofthe Chiron approach. Michael Soth’s chapter, ‘From humanistic holismvia the “integrative project” towards integral-relational bodypsychotherapy’ is a tour de force. It charts not only the developmentof the Chiron approach, but also the development of contemporarythinking and, most of all, the author’s personal development. Iappreciated not only the helpful diagrams, but also Michael Soth’sability to be up front with his own vulnerability.

Self-regulation was one of the controversial aspects of Reich’s workand it is inevitable that, with the integration of some of the othermodels of therapy, most notably object relations, into the Chironapproach, some re-working of this principle would have to take place.In the next chapter, Roz Carroll gives an account of that re-working,drawing on the neuroscientific contributions of Allan Schore to theattachment theory perspective. I would rather have heard moreabout the struggle that letting go of, or at least modifying, one ofReich’s cherished beliefs must have entailed at Chiron than RozCarroll’s carefully worded illustrations, but perhaps this is becausethe former would have spoken to the wounded healer in me.

The use of touch in therapy is also a controversial component ofReichian work, although Freud, in his early work with Breuer, usedtouch as a matter of course. What I like about Shoshi Asheri’ssensitive exploration of this subject is that, even though she does


resolve the question by the use of the set of principles with whichshe ends the chapter, she does not pretend that the answer to the ‘totouch or not to touch?’ question is in any way easy andstraightforward.

Carmen Joanne Ablack’s chapter, ‘The body-mind dynamics ofworking with diversity’, which concludes part 1 of the book, offers adeeper perspective on the subject of diversity than some of themore ‘politically correct’ versions I come across. I suppose I wouldexpect no less of someone who works at a body level and whovalidates not only her clients’ but also her own felt sense of theexperience of difference.

The neuroscientist in me really appreciated the next chapter byKathrin Stauffer on the use of neuroscience in body psychotherapy.One of the key things my own venture into the life sciences (which,unlike Kathrin Stauffer, I made after I had trained as a bodypsychotherapist) taught me, was a healthy respect for the limitationsof science and the importance of caution in interpreting the results.It is tempting to use neuroscience to counteract the cynicism of, forexample, the medical profession’s approach to psychotherapy, butthis is dangerous and misleading. As Kathrin Stauffer puts it:

My thesis is fairly simple: as a psychotherapist, I regardneuroscientific information as an interpretation, and I wouldattempt to make use of it in the same way, and according tothe same considerations, as any other interpretation.

‘Working with psychosomatic distress’, the title of the next chapter,raises familiar dilemmas for most body psychotherapists. On theone hand, most of us firmly believe in the connection betweenemotional distress and physical illness or symptoms, but, on theother, few of us would want to be seen to blame the client for thephysical symptoms he or she is experiencing. I like the way MargaretLandale places an emphasis on containing the distress before openingup the more psychotherapeutic aspects of her clients condition.

Using body psychotherapy with a disabled client shouldn’t be unusualor surprising, but, back in the 80s, it didn’t feature as part of mytraining. It was good to read the exploration which Anne Marie Kearymade of the subject in the chapter which follows. It is also challengingto be confronted with the issues which are raised in working with thedisabled body using a body orientated approach.

The use of body psychotherapy with victims of trauma is welldocumented in Babette Rothschild’s work and the application of EMDRto sufferers of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is also familiar. WhatI missed in the chapter, by Morit Heitzler, was some indication ofhow the contradictions between the essentially humanistic approachof the Chiron Centre and the quasi-scientific approach of EMDR wereaddressed. I felt similarly about the next chapter by Tom Warneckeon ‘The borderline relationship’. The chapter itself contained muchuseful information, but I was interested to hear how it did, or didn’tperhaps, fit into the Chiron approach.


Consciousness

Julian Nangle

Jane Clark, in her chapter on working with abuse using bodypsychotherapy, does address some important contradictions for bodypsychotherapists in working with this client group. I like the wholeidea of ‘the abuser in the abused’ as a way of making sense of thetherapist-client dynamic and Jane Clark explores the possible pitfallsin working at depth with victims of abuse in a realistic and believablemanner.

Whilst Reich is best known as one of the pioneers of bodypsychotherapy, it must also be remembered that he brought politicsinto the analytic world as well. It is therefore fitting that the bookcloses with a chapter entitled ‘Body psychotherapy, social theory,Marxism and civil war’. In this chapter, John Waterston presents aninteresting political perspective on the development of psychodynamicthought followed by an account of the possibilities and contradictionsof using body psychotherapy in an ex-communist state, Yugoslavia.Although he makes no reference to the conflict that developed inthis ‘state’ after the fall of Tito, this chapter is well worth reading.

I found Contemporary Body Psychotherapy a rewarding book toread, reminding me, as it did, of my own origins as a bodypsychotherapist and suggesting some directions I could have followed,but didn’t, in my subsequent career. It will also be useful to anyoneinterested in body psychotherapy and interesting to anyone involvedin psychotherapy training and development.

Geoff Lamb trained in Body Psychotherapy with Tricia Scott between1980 and 1985 and subsequently gained a first Class Honours degreein Neuroscience. He is presently the Director of Inter-Psyche whichoffers the only NHS based training in individual counselling at diplomalevel.

Christianity and the Doctrine of Non-Dualism By A Monk ofthe West, translated by Alvin Moore Jr. and Marie M. Hansen,Sophia Perennis, 2004, £9.95, 148 pp.

As for ourself, we will say unequivocally that after morethan forty years of intellectual reflection on this doctrine,having allowed it to impregnate us more and moreprofoundly, we have found nothing that has seemedincompatible with our full and complete faith in the ChristianRevelation.

A Monk of the West

This semi-anonymous work was written by ‘A Monk of the West’(Alphonse Levée), a French Cistercian monk who, at the young ageof twenty, found a copy of fellow countryman René Guénon’s Orientet Occident (East and West) in a second-hand book stall while hewas posted in Asia. This event had a tremendous impact that enduredfor the rest of his life and was instrumental in his decision to take up


the monastic vocation. It was in the discovery of this work byperennialist author René Guénon that ‘A Monk of the West’ found anintegral metaphysical doctrine that was universal in its principles,known in the West as the philosophia perennis - perennial philosophy.The metaphysical ‘doctrine of non-dualism’ (advaita-vâda) is notexclusive to Hinduism (sanâtana dharma) alone but is alsopresent in Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It isin this universal light that Christianity and the Doctrine of Non-Dualismwas articulated.

Though this book on ‘Christian Vedanta’ is modest in its length, it isdense in its scope and reflection. The book begins with a thoroughand insightful Preface by the late perennialist Alvin Moore, Jr. (1923-2005). The work consists of eight chapters and a Forward:‘Philosophical Monism and Non-Dualism’, ‘I am Brahma’, ‘In All ThingsLike Unto Men’, ‘Without Me You Can Do Nothing’, ‘Who am I?’, ‘I amnot the Christ’, ‘East and West’ and the Conclusion.

In the first chapter the author makes important distinctions that areoften confused in our current era: non-dualism is neither pantheismnor monism - the soul is not the Self or again the Self (Âtmâ) is notthe human soul (jivâtmâ). In the following chapter the author makesit clear that the human individual as an empirical ‘ego’ or ‘I’ is not afinality unto itself. It is not until a re-integration (samskarana) withwhat is Transcendent (supra-individual) that true identity can exist,for there is no true identity save in God, because God alone is Identity.The author continues to clarify this idea in chapter five - ‘Who am I?’- when he quotes from a traditional Hindu aphorism, the I is mâyâand the not-I is Brahman. Without this total dis-identification fromthe ‘ego’ or ‘I’, writes the author in chapter six, it is impossible forthe re-integration with the Self (Âtmâ) to occur, let alone theidentification with the Supreme Identity (Tawhîd) or the SupremeSelf (Paramâtmâ). In the same chapter the author clarifies themodern misunderstanding of reincarnation, In reality, thereincarnationist illusion has its root in a confusion of the psychic andthe spiritual. This perspective is in accordance with ÂdiÚankarâchârya’s dictum, ‘In truth, there is no other transmigrantbut the Lord’, categorically denying the possibility of the humanindividual reincarnating per se.

In closing I would like to note that there is great merit in this work asa support in facilitating once again the expression of non-dualism(advaita) within the Christian milieu, as this doctrine once did in theWest. This book could also broaden the current understanding andoutlook of the Christian tradition which has become more and moreeclipsed in the present era due to modernity and post-modernity’sindefinite trend toward ‘progress’ and secularization that radicallycontrasts from earlier epochs that were firmly rooted in the sacred.Such a perspective is polarized either to discredit the Christian traditionaltogether believing that it has somehow failed the sapiential massesor to provoke fundamentalism asserting a pseudo-monopoly on truthitself - blinded by the assumption that the only authentic religion is


Christianity, ipso facto negating the possibility of all other spiritualtraditions as ‘paths that lead to the same summit’. Beyond suchpolarities the reader will be pleased to find that this book fostersreligious pluralism, tolerance, inquiry and dialogue from a non-reductionistic point of view and yet simultaneously acknowledgesthe ‘transcendent unity of religions.’

Samuel Bendeck Sotillos

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy: A Practical Guide to HelpingPeople Take Control By Danny C.K. Lam Routledge, 2008, £19.99,234 pp.

At the present time, when CBT is the psychological therapy of choice,some would say the only psychological therapy, recommended byNICE; when every training institution with an eye to the main chanceis offering a CBT course; and when even the most solidlypsychodynamic organisations such as WPF and the Tavistock seemto be leaping precipitately aboard the band-wagon, one can beforgiven, as a Humanistic practitioner, for becoming somewhatcynical. However, in these ‘interesting’ times, to quote the ancientChinese curse, a practitioner trying to make a living is apt to findhim or herself with some strange bedfellows. I was certainly awareof this as I read Cognitive Behavioural Therapy by Danny C.K. Lam.

What I find attractive about Danny Lam’s approach to psychologicaldistress is his vehement opposition to the disease/genetic model.He also, perhaps because he doesn’t embrace the notion of mental‘illness’, doesn’t regard the techniques of Cognitive BehaviouralTherapy as a cure. This is CBT I can live with; and with which, as atrainer working within an NHS context, I arguably must.

The preface to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, written by PaulSalkovskis, addresses one of the book’s premises – the mixedblessing of diagnosis and labell ing. Interestingly, ProfessorSalkovskis’ preface reminds me of the ‘line’ developed in the lastquarter of the 20th Century whereby mental illness was seen asequivalent to physical illness in order, it was said, to lessen thestigma attached to the former. He draws attention to the fact thatsuch ‘lines’ were promulgated by drug companies in the form ofmental health campaigns. They seem to be less visible these days!

In his first chapter, Danny Lam addresses the issue of stigma headon, starting with a brief account of the research which, disturbingly,suggests that public attitudes towards, and perceptions of, peoplewith mental ‘illness’ are, if anything, getting worse. What he is mostconcerned with is the effect of this stigma on the client’s self-perception and on the efficacy of any therapeutic work with thatclient. In other words, the client’s self-diagnosis, which is usuallyinternalised from the ‘unproven idea of mental illness being a diseaseof the brain, genetic or caused by chemical imbalances in the brain’may at first be a relief from blame, but ultimately leads to passivity,


particularly in terms of whatever psychological therapy is offered tothe client.

Danny Lam’s second chapter looks at the biological and geneticexplanations of mental illness and will be fairly familiar to mosthumanistic thinkers, citing, as it does, the role of drug companies,the health establishment and political institutions in disseminatingsuch explanations of psychological distress. He also refers to the(unwitting) complicity of some of the mental health campaigninggroups in supporting the biological/genetic stance. He accepts thatthe goal of such groups is to support individuals who are sufferingfrom psychological distress and to shield them from accusations ofbeing to blame for their own condition, being lazy, self-indulgentetc. However, he also points out the down-side of the biological/genetic stance, which is that it turns people suffering frompsychological distress into Victims.

In most of the chapters of this book, Danny Lam focuses on theclinical significance of the chapter’s topic. So, in this chapter, hehighlights the effect of focussing on biological/genetic explanationsof mental illness on clients’ attitudes towards their treatment.Research suggests that this effect may be to induce pessimism inclients with respect to their treatment. Lam maintains a structuredapproach to his topic and each chapter has a section headed‘Cognitive behaviour approach to…’ a section describing a particularlyuseful technique for dealing with, in this case, a client who believesthat all of her problems are attributable to a ‘diseased brain’, and‘Notes for therapists about…’

Chapter 3 is headed ‘Prejudice, discrimination and “mental illness”’.It’s very useful because it identifies how a client’s ‘symptoms’ canbe exacerbated by society’s response to them. Danny Lam identifiesthe efficacy of not only supporting clients in dealing with the inevitablesetbacks which accompany prejudice and discrimination, but the roleof the client’s own self-perception in the extent to which prejudiceand discrimination impact on him/her.

Part II of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is entitled ‘Therapist’sPerspective’ and its first chapter focuses on the attribution of‘emotional upset’ to external causes and the definition of emotionalhealth as the absence of upset. The second chapter of Part II looksat the components in cognitive behavioural therapy. This is familiarstuff to anyone who has read the basics of CBT, which, as I say,most of us have if we are involved in teaching integrativeprogrammes. Other familiar techniques of cognitive behaviouraltherapy are explored in subsequent chapters, all of which arepotentially useful to any practitioner, especially those undertakingshort-term work in the public sector. It has to be said though, thatthe techniques are explained in a very practical format and will beuseful to those who wish to incorporate them into an existingrepertoire of techniques.


Chapter 10 of the book deals with the interface between CBT anddrug therapy. This is interesting because although, as I’ve said, DannyLam is opposed to the biological model of psychological distress, heaccepts that many clients seen in publicly funded environments willinevitably be receiving pharmacological treatment as well as talkingtherapy and that to set up a split between the two would not be inthe interest of either the client or their recovery. He thereforeacknowledges the necessity and desirability, in some cases, ofpharmacological treatment as part of a ‘two pronged’ approach inconjunction with CBT, placing particular emphasis on supportingclients in not seeing drug treatment as a weakness or an indulgence.

The chapters unfold in a fairly predictable manner, dealing with thevarious aspects of the treatment of psychological distress, whateverthe model involved, such as ‘Perfectionism and competitiveness’,working with ‘negative emotions’ etc. It’s all good stuff, with plentyof practical examples and giving a good foundation for workingefficiently with clients presenting with a wide variety of symptomsand responses to treatment. However, as you read through thechapters and particularly the case illustrations, the cynicism inevitablyreasserts itself. One thing I have a problem with, as an experiencedpractitioner, is the simplistic approach to the setbacks which occur inthe therapy. The overall thrust seems to be in the direction of‘persuading the client that their thinking is Wrong, with a capital ‘W’.There are times, for instance, when inviting the client to considerhis/her fear of a particular consequence, say acute embarrassment,in relation to the possibility of their child being killed or of sufferingfrom a permanent disability themselves may have the effect of puttingthat fear into a realistic context, but I can’t believe that this alwaysworks in the way Danny Lam suggests that it can.

I’m grateful to Danny Lam for illustrating ‘Socratic Questioning’, awell established CBT technique, in a way that equates with myprevious understanding of the Ancient Greek philosophical/rhetoricaltechnique, whereby the proponent of a hypothesis could win anargument by forcing their opponent to either agree with thehypothesis or to make a fool of themselves by seeming to supportan absurd alternative. However, I would feel rather uncomfortableadopting such a stance myself in relation to another human being’spsychological distress and I’m doubtful as to its long-term efficacyin the face of ingrained patterns of distress.

This book on CBT is certainly worth reading, as much for itsopposition to the biological/genetic model as for anything else, andit gives a succinct account of this way of working which is perhapsjust as useful as the undertaking of an expensive ‘top-up’ trainingwhich is being offered extensively in response to the currenttherapeutic climate! Danny Lam is to be congratulated and supportedin the boldness of his approach and the realistic parameters withinwhich he explores this therapeutic method.


Since the last edition of Self and Society, AHPB has sent its response to the HPC(Health Professions Council) on the current proposals about the state regulationof psychotherapy and counselling. Copies of the AHPB contribution to the debatecan be obtained from the AHPB administrator, at [email protected].

The Chair received the following response from the HPC:

Dear Prof. Beaumont,

Psychotherapists and Counsellors Professional Liaison Group.

I am writing further to your nomination for membership of the Psychotherapistsand Counsellors Professional Liaison Group.

We have allocated places on the group on the basis of the information provided inthe nominations we received, considering the extent to which the criteria outlinedin the group’s work plan had been met or exceeded. We also wanted to ensurethat we created a balanced group, which was manageable in size.

As we had anticipated, the number of nominations we received greatly exceededthe available places on the group. This has inevitably meant that we have had todisappoint a large number of nominees, many of whom also had the potential toeffectively contribute to the group.

We regret that on this occasion we have been unable to invite you to join the PLG.Whilst I know that this decision will disappoint you, we want to reassure you thatwe very much want to keep you informed and involved in this work.

I have added your contact details to an electronic distribution list which we willuse to keep stakeholders informed and involved in the work. We will send regularupdates on the work, including links to papers and minutes. Meetings of the PLGwill be held in public and you may wish to attend to observe. Please note, however,that seating is limited and we may be unable to accommodate all those who wishto attend. Our website will be updated shortly with information about attendingmeetings:

www.hpc-uk.org/aboutus/professionalliaisongroups/

The first meeting of the PLG will be considering the outcomes of the ‘Call forIdeas’. It is crucial that we consider all stakeholder views in this exercise and thecall for ideas is a crucial way in which we can be guided by the field and ensurethat the views of those not directly represented on the group are properly takeninto account.

We also anticipate convening a wider group of stakeholders during the PLG processin order to further seek views on the developing work. We will be in touch againover the next few weeks and months to invite your participation.

Letters for the next issue of S&S should be with the editor byJanuary 21st. Ed.

LETTERS


We very much want this to be an open, transparent process and we are committedto continuing to engage with you and listen to your views throughout this work.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Guthrie

Head of Policy and Standards.

We have also received this update on discussions with the HPC from Nick Totton:

This is an update on the current situation. As you may know, the petition againstState Regulation (http://www.PetitionOnline.com/statereg/petition.html) hasreached well over 1200 signatures. Anything you can do to spread the word wouldstill be much appreciated.

On the basis of this massive support, some of the petition organisers (ArthurMusgrave, Andrew Samuels, Nick Totton) met with Marc Seale, chief executive ofthe Health Professions Council. Here is a record of the meeting which we haveagreed with him.

1) Marc Seale indicated his own expectation of what will happen: that a very shortlist of titles will be protected, perhaps starting with just ‘psychotherapist’ andtaking more time to work out which qualifying terms would be protected incombination with ‘counsellor’. Other titles would not be protected. A multiplicity oftitles ‘will not help the public’. This is MS’s best guess as to the outcome of theprocess, which he stressed he will not himself be directly part of.

2) MS could not and would not guarantee anything about use of implied titles, butour sense was that he does not expect a wave of prosecutions.

3) MS was entirely clear that HPC will not conduct a poll of practitioners, but willinstead consult with organisations and individuals. He was unmoved by ourobjections that the people who run the organisations do not necessarily representtheir members.

4) MS was also unimpressed by the various radical alternative models of registration/ regulation, on which Denis had briefed him. In particular, he saw no mileage inthe idea of a ‘register of refuseniks’, which strikes him as illogical.

5) MS emphasised that to be effective, arguments against plans for HPC regulationneed to be expressed simply, straightforwardly and succinctly.

6) At the end of the meeting MS suggested a re-meet in the New Year, andencouraged us to let him have a brief and simple outline of our objections beforethat meeting.

The implication of the above is that if we do not want to be regulated by HPC, wewill probably have the option of using some titles other than ‘psychotherapist’ or‘counsellor’, and are unlikely to be prosecuted for doing so. (They could in theoryargue that we were using an ‘implied’ title.) This is good news, relatively speaking,but we still have the goal of persuading the government to change its mind aboutits regulation plans. Moves are taking place towards forming an Alliance for thispurpose; we will let you know if this bears fruit.

Meanwhile, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact us.A great deal of information and argument around this issue is available at http://ipnosis.postle.net.

Nick Totton


A unique approach toPsychosexual HealthTrainings for TherapistsCabby Laffy (UKCP, UKAHPP)

Sexual IssuesNov 21st & 22nd 2008Venue: St Helen’sCertificate in PsychosexualHealthJan – Oct 2009 orOct 2009 – Aug 2010Venue: North LondonDiploma in IntegrativePsychosexual TherapyNov 2009 – Sept 2010Venue: North London

020 7482 [email protected]

Final Festival Comments

Please, please tell me we’ll bemeeting again in 2009!So great to see people frommany different professionalfields coming together underthe banner of humanisticpractice.Great workshops!I have laughed, cried, danced,sung and BEEN for a whole,wild, wonderful weekend – andI leave exhilarated.


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