I was recently asked to take part in a debate about “cyber-psychiatry” (I prefer the term tele-psychiatry). My task (with others) was to oppose the motion, to argue against seeing people virtually rather than face-to-face. I have to confess to some mixed feelings about this. In a pandemic, things are different. It has been safer, …
When the pandemic first led to a lockdown in March of this year, like lots of other people I was precipitated into online working, and this meant that most of my therapy practice moved from face to face meetings to online meetings. This was not new to me, as I had carried out supervision online …
Face-to-face versus online therapy: swings and roundabouts Read More »
During the recent COVID-19 restrictions I have taken part in quite a few webinars. In fact, I’ve almost become addicted to webinars (usually free ones!) I now find them very difficult to resist and am in a quandary when two are running simultaneously and I have to choose between them (although maybe I can watch …
Two colleagues and I edited an edition of Context on working with older adults that were published in the autumn. If you want to find out about Context, this link (click here) should go to a page about it. Context is a magazine produced by the Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice and I …
I recently went to the Association of Family Therapy and Systemic Practice conference in Newcastle upon Tyne, held in a hotel with glorious views overlooking the river. What am I going to take away from the conference? I’m afraid that I can only offer a few fragments here. Both days opened with “the story of …
I’ve been undertaking training in non-violent resistance (NVR) with Partnership Projects and recently attended a two day workshop on adult entitled dependency: I wrote a brief blog about NVR in relation to adult children a few months ago (see link here). Adult entitled dependency isn’t a term I like. It refers to adult-children, maybe in …
Non-violent resistance and dysfunctional dependence of adult-children Read More »
I’ve just been to the International Family Therapy Association conference in Aberdeen. I met family and systemic therapists from all round the world and Aberdeen gleamed for us in the sunshine against a clear blue sky for most of the time we were there. It was really hard to decide what to attend – sometimes …
Family therapists find blue sky and sunshine in Aberdeen Read More »
At the IFTA conference in Aberdeen I also took part in a panel presentation on service integration that brought together an international group of therapists. Preparing and taking part in this was in some ways nostalgic. I’ve been involved in discussions about service integration for years now and I’m not sure that things have improved. …
Integration or disintegration? Politics and practice Read More »
It’s funny how things unexpectedly connect. I took part in a webinar on veterans’ health organised by the BMA last year. I suppose I booked it because, as an old age psychiatrist, I don’t remember seeing many veterans. The blurb for the webinar asserted that “most healthcare professionals don’t ask or know if their patient …
Unexpected connections: veterans, PTSD and dementia Read More »
Mental health. What do you understand that to mean? Of course by mental health we often mean mental ill-health: “I’m seeing someone about my mental health”, “he’s an in-patient in a mental health unit”. How come mental health is used to mean mental ill-health? What is that about? People talk about the stigma of mental …
