Alan McPherson
Tutor: BSc (Hons) Counselling & Psychotherapy
Journal article: “Are you analysing me?” A story completion exploration of having a friend who is becoming a psychotherapist.
Within European Journal for Qualitative Research in Psychotherapy, Volume 12 (2022), 64-80.
Many assumptions and myths about the role and identity of counsellors and psychotherapists persist among the public and within popular culture, often perpetuated by anecdotal experience. In this article, I explore how the therapist role may be viewed by a friend, and how this may both reflect and contribute to public perceptions of therapists.
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Journal article: ‘Dissertation to published article: A journey from shame to sharing’
Within European Journal for Qualitative Research in Psychotherapy, Volume 10 (2020), 41-52.
This paper describes Alan’s experiences of re-presenting his research from a master’s degree in Integrative Psychotherapy into a paper suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Bringing together two different approaches in qualitative research: autoethnography and reflexivity, Alan reflects on his personal journey of creating an article for publication and becoming a researcher-practitioner.
Ambika Connelly
Tutor: MSc Person- Centred & Experiential Psychotherapy
Ambika has contributed a section on the Person-Centred Approach in training to:
Step in to study Counselling & Psychotherapy (4th Edition),
Deborah A. Lee & Pete Sanders (2022) PCCS Books
This fourth, updated and revised edition of this bestselling classic offers essential guidance to student counsellors and psychotherapists starting out on their training. Most books about training focus on the training; this book is about you, the trainee and student, and your needs. Written by two highly experienced trainers/lecturers, Step in to Study Counselling and Psychotherapy will be your friend and guide across this new terrain. An array of voices from the world of counselling and psychotherapy training also contribute their expertise on the topics discussed. Training in counselling and psychotherapy demands much of the trainee in terms of what you give of yourself to the process, as well as the academic and practice skills required to successfully complete the course. This book will help you choose your course and where to study, fund it, manage your relationships with fellow trainees and teaching staff, prepare for and write/deliver your assignments, negotiate placements and follow your learning through into continuing professional development. It also covers clinical supervision, personal therapy, experiential learning and self-care, and – as a one-stop resource – it provides useful links to other sources of information and support.
Dave Mann
Tutor: BSc (Hons) Counselling & Psychotherapy
Gestalt Therapy: 100 Key Points and Techniques by Dave Mann (Second Edition)
Gestalt therapy offers a present-focused, relational approach, central to which is the fundamental belief that the client knows the best way of adjusting to their situation. By working to heighten awareness through dialogue and creative experimentation, gestalt therapists create the conditions for a client’s personal journey to health.
Gestalt Therapy: 100 Key Points and Techniques provides a concise guide to this flexible and far-reaching approach. Topics discussed include:
- the theoretical assumptions underpinning gestalt therapy
- gestalt assessment and process diagnosis
- field theory, phenomenology and dialogue
- ethics and values
- evaluation and research.
As such this book will be essential reading for gestalt trainees, as well as all counsellors and psychotherapists wanting to learn more about the gestalt approach.
Book Chapter: ‘A Safe Place for Katie’ co-written with Karolina Krysinska & Jan Roubal, in:
Perspectives on a Young Woman’s Suicide: A Study of a Diary
Edited By John F. Gunn III, David Lester, (2022) Routledge, New York
Perspectives on a Young Woman’s Suicide is a unique and updated analysis of a diary left behind by “Katie,” a young woman who took her own life.
By drawing on clinicians, researchers, survivors of suicide loss, and those closest to Katie, this book delves into common beliefs about why people die by suicide and into the internal worlds of those who do, as well as ethical and moral questions surrounding those deaths. Several contributors discuss Katie’s suicide from the perspective of recent theories of suicide, including Joiner’s interpersonal theory and Klonsky’s three-step theory. Two contributors who have lost a child to suicide look at Katie’s diary from their perspective, one of whom discusses whether it is truly possible to prevent suicide. Finally, Katie’s sister reveals her reactions to this project and her ex-boyfriend shares his account of her death.
Book Chapter: ‘Assessing Suicidal Risk’ in:
‘Gestalt Therapy in Clinical Practice: From Psychopatholgy to the Aesthetics of Contact’
Edited by Francesetti, Gecele, Roubal (Eds) FrancoAngeli, Milano, (2013), Istituto di Gestalt HCC Italy.
“A Gestalt therapy handbook on psychopathology, and t a relational approach to this complex topic. This book is revolutionary in its effort to tackle the topic of psychopathology from a Gestalt relational perspective and it offers a specifically formulated Gestalt therapy
view of understanding psychopathology. It views psychopathology as a co-created phenomenon of the field that emerges at the contact boundary and as being able to be
transformed in the process of contact. This is a laudable attempt to expand the core concepts of a Gestalt theory of human functioning to understanding seriously disturbed clients and psychotic functioning”.
Addison Raven (Writing as Michelle J. Cooke) & Michelle Oldale
Michelle Oldale – Tutor – MSc Person-Centred & Experiential Psychotherapy
Making the Most of Counselling & Psychotherapy Placements
Michelle Oldale (former tutor MSc Person-Centred and Experiential Psychotherapy), and Michelle J. Cooke (Programme Leader MSc Person-Centred and Experiential Psychotherapy) have used their extensive experience in the field to address a gap in the counselling and psychotherapy training literature. ‘Making the Most of Placements in Counselling and Psychotherapy’ is a highly acclaimed one-stop shop providing counselling and psychotherapy trainees with everything they need to know to secure, survive and thrive in their practice placement.
‘Bravo’ to the writers of this excellent book, which puts together all the information on student placements in an easy to read, accessible format. Valuable not only for students on counselling and psychotherapy courses, but also for trainers, supervisors, and organisations, it offers a wealth of practical information.’ Jo Sansby, counsellor, psychotherapist and supervisor, Central Manchester University Hospitals – Healthcare: Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal
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Ryan Bennett-Clarke
Skills Tutor: BSc (Hons) Counselling & Psychotherapy
Conversations with Annalisa Barbieri: Discussions on Envy with Ryan Bennett-Clarke:
Article in The Guardian advice column:
‘Ask Annalisa Barbieri: My friend copies things I say, wear and do, and watches my house. Is this stalking?’
Journal article: ‘The Insidious Dance of Love & Hate: An Examination of Envy and Greed in the Stalker-Victim Dynamic. Part One: Theory
Within Psychodynamic Practice, Vol 28 No 2, p 170-186, Taylor & Francis.
This article is split in to two parts. Part One of the article aims to explore the theory, processes and presence of envy and greed in the dynamic between stalkers and their victims. In doing so, I wish to contribute to, rather than critique, the current vast and existing field of understanding of the psychodynamics of stalking as well as furthering an understanding of how such processes impact the victim.
Journal article: ‘The Insidious Dance of Love & Hate: An Examination of Envy and Greed in the Stalker-Victim Dynamic. Part Two: Clinical Application
Within Psychodynamic Practice, Vol 28 No 2, p 170-186, Taylor & Francis.
This article is split in to two parts. Part Two will draw upon a case vignette to further illustrate these ideas and how these processes might be worked with therapeutically to enable recovery and a reclaiming of the violated-self in the aftermath of being subjected to envy-driven stalking behaviours.