Therapy Today October 2014
Download 465.67 Kb.
|
| Part II outlines some of the main concepts in body psychotherapy, including the author’s own theory of bodymind – the self as an embodied entity, one that is ultimately experienced and understood both in and through the body.
Finally, Part III offers the reader a window into the clinical work of a relational body psychotherapist through fascinating case vignettes, illuminating some of the conflicts and challenges psychotherapists face when working with the body. Clinicians and psychotherapists of all modalities will find Touching the Relational Edge a rich source of material. The book will also appeal to ‘curious non-professionals’ – clients or people with a general interest in psychology and psychotherapy. As a dance movement psychotherapist, I wondered if concepts such as somatic countertransference (or resonance) may feel alien to some of the book’s audience. However I found the sections on history and theory enlightening, and it was helpful for me to see where my own developing practice is situated within the context of the relationship between body psychotherapy and contemporary psychoanalysis. Diane Parker is a coach, dance movement psychotherapist and editor of Coaching Today Forensic group therapy Forensic group psychotherapy: the Portman Clinic approach John Woods and Andrews Williams (eds) Karnac, 2014 240pp, £23.99 ISBN 978-1780490496
The plastic brain Neuroscience for counsellors Rachal Zara Wilson Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2014 288pp, £24.99 ISBN 978-1849054881
Overcoming avoidance Beyond the frustrated self: overcoming avoidant patterns and opening to life Barbara Dowds Karnac, 2014 304pp, £26.99 ISBN 978-1782200529
Critiquing psychology The therapeutic turn: how psychology altered western culture Ole Jacob Madsen Routledge, 2014 194pp, £24.99 ISBN 978-1138018693
Film reviews Dog eats dog in scramble for survival Julian Edge reviews Two Days, One Night (Deux Jours, Une Nuit), a powerful exploration of morality among people struggling to survive on the margins of western neo-liberal society Sandra (Marion Cotillard) has been off work due to ‘depression’. Now deemed recovered, but still fragile, she discovers that her employer has made her 16 co-workers an offer: a €1,000 bonus so long as they agree to Sandra’s job being cut. They vote on Monday. Sandra has Saturday and Sunday to visit them at home and ask them to forego their bonus. In other words, the Dardenne brothers bring us a film that works as both a narrative of a harrowing personal struggle and a scathing social commentary. Here we see a society reduced to a dog-eat-dog morality in the scramble to survive on the scraps left over by the brutalities of neo-liberal economics. As Sandra proceeds from colleague to colleague, we feel the tension and share her revulsion at what she is being asked to do. We also sense a distance between them as they meet. While she sometimes encounters warmth and generosity, there is also a palpable sense of anger, guilt and fear. In her wake she may leave acrimony, marital abuse or inter-generational violence. Sandra sinks back to declaring her own worthlessness, returning repeatedly to the antidepressant tablets that she has been told to stop taking. They give her the boost that she needs for each interaction, and we know, as therapists, that she risks facing the need for ever-increasing doses, possible side effects, addiction and withdrawal. I found myself wondering, ‘What is it that I wish for Sandra?’ The courage to win this squalid dog fight? The strength to contest the terms of battle? The serenity to walk away from it all? As a counsellor, I can say that I want to help Sandra reach her own decision. As I watch her make every effort to change these other people, I recall the aphorism, ‘You can only change yourself.’ However, I cannot avoid struggling with the idea that it is therefore also my task sometimes to help people accept injustice. The strength of the film from this perspective is the way it reminds me of the complex interacting tensions that come together in my therapeutic practice. I work to be there in the moment of interpersonal relationship with the client. I work to foster the locus of evaluation in the client. I also work to be aware of the client in her social contexts and I monitor the influence of my own socio-political positions. But the issue of justice does not go away. I found all these tensions powerfully brought home in this narrative, and was deeply affected by Marion Cotillard’s portrayal of resilient vulnerability. Julian Edge is a counsellor in private practice and with Age UK Manchester. Two Days, One Night (Deux Jours, Une Nuit) is directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne. Les Filmes du Fleuve, 2014 (15; 95 minutes). In French with English subtitles. Have you seen a new film or been to a concert, exhibition or event that you think has special resonance for counsellors/psychotherapists? If you’d like to write a short, lively review for this page, please contact Chris Rose, Reviews Editor, at reviews@bacp.co.uk +++
TherapyToday.net reviews Lilting
Written and directed by Hong Khaou Film London/BBC Films/Skillset, 2014 (15, 86 minutes) Reviewed by Rachael Peacock Lilting offers an intimate portrayal of love, grief and cultural difference in contemporary London. Kai (Andrew Leung) has unexpectedly died in a road traffic accident. Those closest to him, his male lover and his mother, are mourning his sudden loss and remember him through flashbacks. These say much how about Kai lived two cultural lives: the life with his British lover, Richard (Ben Whishaw), and his intense relationship with his mother, Junn (Pei-pei Chung), a Chinese-Cambodian woman living in a retirement home. Junn does not speak English and Kai acted as interpreter for his mother while never disclosing his own sexual identity to her. Throughout, Lilting delicately balances the cultural loneliness of Junn, a woman stubbornly lost in the privacy of her grief, with Richard’s dogged attempts to connect with her emotionally and linguistically through the services of a Mandarin interpreter, Vann (Naomi Christie). The complexity of cross-cultural communication is handled sensitively and perceptively, emphasised by the key area that Vann chooses to leave out of her interpretation – the nature of Kai’s relationship with Richard. The power of withholding is painfully evident in the scene where Richard attempts to tell the truth about his love for Kai. Vann’s decision to omit this from her interpretation of his words is carried through to devastating effect, and Ben Whishaw superbly conveys the pain and frustration of failing to bridge the cultural gap with Junn. Grief is quietly depicted through the multilingual dialogue, illuminated by the ochre half-light that shrouds the film. It is explored in depth as an experience evoking vulnerability, longing and denial in unique ways for both characters, paying attention to the cultural conventions that inform their grief. Overall, the film attempts to find a balance in how it explores both characters and the complexity of their situations. Flashbacks convey the fragility of memory, allowing the audience to feel empathy for both characters while experiencing Kai’s ambiguous feelings about coming out to his mother. Despite Junn’s rejection of Richard’s offer of connection, we are encouraged to empathise and understand how difficult it must be for her to have lost her son and only connection to life in Britain. Equally, the scenes spoken in Mandarin that do not have English subtitles provide insight into Richard’s experience of being unable to communicate with the woman he considers to be the key connection to Kai. Bereavement is not depicted as a neat process of ‘stages’; the film patiently sits with the pain of loss in an authentic way, and ‘coming out’ is similarly presented as a continual, life-long process rather than a single event. This sensitive depiction of cultural differences and their associated impact on sexuality and grief makes Lilting an invaluable film for trainee and experienced counsellors alike. Rachael Peacock is a trainee person-centred counsellor August: Osage County [DVD] Directed by John Wells Smokehouse Pictures, 2013 (15, 120 minutes)
Despite the brutal onslaught of ‘honesty’ from a number of the characters, it is the secrets that are the most toxic. Secrets are stored for future use when their disclosure will cause the maximum harm. The film is bleak and as Barbara says, ‘Thank God we can’t tell the future. We’d never get out of bed.’ Here is a family caught in destructive patterns of relating, with little or no insight into the dynamics. It made me appreciate even more the need to understand our family dynamics, to shed light on our current ways of relating and offer hope for more effective and fulfilling relationships in the future. Jude Fowler is a counsellor working with children and young people The Lunchbox [DVD] Directed by Ritesh Batra DAR Motion Pictures, 2013 (PG, 105 minutes) Reviewed by Chris Rose This engaging and gentle film is set in Mumbai, where the bustling street scenes and packed trains provide the backdrop for a story of isolation and loneliness. Ila (Nimrat Kaur) prepares the daily lunchbox for her unfaithful husband in the hope that her cooking will make him notice her. When the lunchbox is mistakenly delivered to Saajan (Irrfan Khan), a sour widower about to retire from 35 years as an accounts clerk, her culinary talents are finally appreciated. From this a relationship develops that is conducted through food and brief, handwritten notes. The camera never lingers on the food, but the aromas seem to waft from the screen, connecting the characters and the viewers. The written notes are equally powerful, speaking volumes in two or three lines. This eccentric relationship brings both Ila and Saajan a vision of other possibilities, symbolised in the shared fantasy of life in Bhutan, where happiness is more important than GDP. But it is hope, rather than actual romance, that in the end changes their lives. ‘The wrong train may take you to the right station,’ is a saying repeated in the film. Saajan and Ila might want the destination to be a ‘real life’ relationship with each other, but the train doesn’t seem to stop at that station. Instead it takes them to the ‘right station’: a new appreciation of self and others, the emergence of hope, and a motivation to change what needs to be changed. I was reminded of the stage that often occurs in long-term therapy, where the client longs for a personal and intimate relationship with the therapist. We know that fulfilling this fantasy will not bring the changes that the client desires. The therapeutic relationship offers another route, through creating a different experience of relating and a new understanding – and, like the relationship in the film, by bringing hope. Saajan softens and opens himself to others: he befriends a young colleague, an orphan who in many ways is equally isolated. Ila finds the strength to plan her escape from her loveless marriage – a courageous step in a society where, as the film demonstrates, women’s roles are so often limited to caring for men. Beautifully acted throughout, the film pulses with a quiet and contained expression of emotion, drawn from body language and restraint rather than drama and declaration. We can make of the ending what we will. It resists the temptation to deliver the stereotypical romance, playing with it but never fully succumbing to the clichés. Instead it offers a more subtle and thought provoking take upon our ever-present need for genuine connection. Chris Rose is a group psychotherapist, author, blogger and Reviews Editor for Therapy Today +++
From the Chair Thank you to everyone BACP Chair Amanda Hawkins writes her final column in the role So here I am, writing my very last Chair’s column. Stepping down is an interesting space, often reflective and quite confusing at times. I find myself unable to remember what I have done in my time as Chair, or feeling alternately proud of what I have achieved, that I have not done enough, and that I could have done more. But I did what I did and now it’s time to hand over the baton to someone else and move forward. Before I go I want to shine a light on some of the unsung heroes who I feel contribute a huge amount to BACP and the profession but very rarely get acknowledged – our families. My husband David Exall, who is also a counsellor and a member, has supported me unflinchingly through these past three years, without a murmur of complaint. He has looked after our children, mopped me up when things have been tough and put his own career aside to support my work with BACP. Without him, I don’t think I could have coped. My children have also donated their time, patience and understanding, watching their mother unpack an overnight bag only to pack it again, but very rarely moaning and protesting. A huge big thank you to you all. Many partners, children and families have donated this level of support to the role and to past Chairs over the years. The Chair’s role has changed dramatically as the organisation and the profession have grown. It is a voluntary position, with just a small amount of recompense for loss of income. Time spent away from family is not compensated, unlike in a paid position. I entered into the role fired with passion for the profession of counselling. In this reflective space I find myself aware that it has taken more from me and my family than we probably realised, and this feels important to acknowledge. Perhaps passion is not enough; looking forward, perhaps we need to think more about how we support the Chair in this critical role? It is important to enable a wide mix of people to take it on and not be restricted to those who are financially secure and have no family responsibilities. Directory: docs -> doc doc -> Ap english Language and Composition doc -> 2 Pre Columbian-1775 Land bridge- american Revolution doc -> Achievements (2013-14) 2013-14 Another year of coveted credentials at dps vindhyanagar doc -> International Journal of Enhanced Research Publications, issn: 2319-7471 doc -> Review on Wireless Sensor Network Techniques for Security in Railways doc -> Service provider access in mobile networks doc -> Design and Implementation of Home Energy Management System Based on gsm network doc -> Annual Meeting Press Policy asa’s 105th Annual Meeting: Toward a Sociology of Citizenship doc -> Explanatory memorandum introduction Download 465.67 Kb. Share with your friends:
|