In this issue
Features
The (dis)organising effects of working in traumatised organisations: nowhere to run, nowhere to hide
Christopher Scanlon and John Adlam explain that organisations working with distressed people can themselves unwittingly become traumatised
Making people appy
Phil Topham reflects on issues arising from developing a self-help mobile phone application for students
The impact of hypnotherapy on the student experience
How the use of hypnotherapy helped ease the pressure on a counselling service
Speed supervision
At a time when cutbacks and organisational uncertainties are all around us, the need for high quality and efficient supervision may have much to commend it
Introduction to CBT
Mike Owens proposes that cognitive behaviour therapy can be integrated with interpersonal and experiential counselling to benefit clients and counsellors alike
Ruby Wax – off the couch and onto the web
Dawn Hastings reports on Ruby Wax who went back to college as a mature student
Regulars
Notes from the chair
Articles from this issue are not yet available online. Divisional members and subscribers can download the pdf from the University and College Counselling archive.
From the editor
Welcome to the new-look journal – we hope you like it!
In this issue we look at the impact that organisations which have become ‘traumatised’ from the strain of, for example, greater competition, financial restraint and rising costs, can have on us as professionals – and how hard it can be to maintain the capacity to think creatively in the face of our own super-ego-ridden anxieties with fears of cutbacks and restructuring, as well as the inevitable impact on ‘our’ students.
Interestingly, when I popped down to ‘Tent City University’ to listen to some ‘psychopolitical’ talks, the concerns seemed much the same, although the tone and language differed: perhaps the difference between improvisation with its uncertain outcomes, and musicians’ necessary sensitivity to each other’s melodies and rhythms in contrast to ‘classical’ scores where individuals are pulled into a collective by a dominant leader who demands perfect performance and obedience to authority. In the film Shame, a young girl struggling in a harsh grey world of dominance and submission, sings a beautiful jazz standard in her own way, in her own time. Learning to sing in our own way, in our own time, may not be popular in these days of regulated outcomes and preplanned therapies. But it is human, pleasing, pleasurable, aesthetically beautiful and possibly healing...
On a practical note, we take what I hope you will agree is a panoramic sweep covering speed supervision (not dating!), integrating CBT into short-term work, the use of ‘apps’ for social anxiety in learning situations (here I own to still being in the dark ages although now a bit more enlightened). The latter appears to be part of a growing trend, judging by some of the correspondence on the mailbase: we include information on how to join, if you are not already party to this invaluable resource.
As ever, we value your input, in the form of letters, contributions, suggestions, interviews, book/film reviews (anyone seen Dangerous Method?) and opinion pieces. We know you have so much of value to contribute – please do!
Dani Singer
Editor