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Monday, May 20, 2013
The counselling blog: attachment in childhood and emotional disturbance in adulthood; my book about the childhood of albert
ellis; walking in the countryside and the importance of counselling and therapy research and education; telling life stories;
spirituality in cent counselling, the buddhist component; self esteem and self transcendence; parent, adult and child ego
states; counsellor training; cent couples therapy and disturbance in relationships; the cbt approach to counselling... The Counselling Blog: A counsellor writes about: My book about The Childhood of Albert Ellis; CENT
counselling and spirituality - the Buddhist component; Reviewing the principles of CENT
counselling; and: CENT couples therapy... Copyright
(c) Jim Byrne, 2013 No.46: Monday 20th May 2013 ~~~ Attachment-based approaches to counselling maintain that the early childhood experiences of the client have a huge impact
on the shape of their adult lives. "My approach to understanding emotional life is a systemic one.
I argue that human beings are open systems permeated by other people as well as by plants and air and water. We are
shaped by other people as well as by what we breathe and eat. Both our physiological systems and our mental systems
are developed in relationship with other people - and this happens most intensely and leaves the biggest mark in infancy".
For this reason, CENT counselling is very interested in what happened to you in your childhood.
Quotation
from: Sue Gerhardt (2004) Why Love Matters: How affection shapes a baby's brain. London: Routledge. Page
10. (71) ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ 1. Introduction Last week I began to write a new book - on The Childhood of Albert Ellis - which looks at the ways
in which the childhood suffering of Poor Little Albert maps towards certain aspects of his later philosophy of therapy.
Most important among those elements is his development of an ‘insecure attachment' to his mother, which maps towards
his later denial that anybody needs to be loved.
...More...On The Childhood of Albert Ellis...*** Saturday was a busy day, but yesterday, we had our usual Sunday (secular) Sabbath, and
went for a long walk in the countryside. The weather was warm and sunny, and we got some nice flowers from the Alpine
flower centre in Heptonstall. We also watched a very strange film which seems to have been based on the life of Lafayette
Ron Hubbard (or somebody of similar background!) - which helped me to see the importance of anchoring our theories of emotional
healing to the most reliable and tested research traditions that preceded us, so we do not stray into risky territory of over-reliance
on intuitions and hunches ungrounded in deep education in the theory and practice of the field. ~~~
Telling your life story in a more empowering way is one of the major functions of narrative
therapy: "Some psychoanalytic theorists have suggested that one of the purposes of (counselling and) therapy
is to enable the client to retell their life story in a more satisfactory and coherent manner..." John McLeod, An Introduction to Counselling, 2003. Page 241. (72) ~~~ 2. Part 7: Spirituality in Counselling: The Buddhist component I have already
emphasized that the CENT approach to spirituality is completely secular. We do draw upon Buddhist and Stoic philosophy
for elements of our theory, but neither of those traditions emphasized the existence of a god, or the need to seek help from
a god or gods. From Buddhism we take:
1. The need for a system of moral commitments, such as: avoiding harming
others; avoiding intoxicants; avoiding sexual impropriety; and some others; 2. The need for mental
training, including meditation, Koan training, and moment to moment mindfulness; 3. The need
to engage in moral forms of work (right livelihood); moral forms of speech (right speech); and moral and prudent action (right
action); 4. To resist the craving for ‘things'; and to detach from unrealistic or unreasonable
desires (such as for fame or wealth); And: 5. To aim for peacefulness, mindfulness, and compassionate
wisdom. 6. To aim for ‘enlightenment', by recognizing that ‘life is difficult' for
most people much of the time; that life involves both difficulty and non-difficulty; and that most of our difficulties fall
away when we accept life just the way it is today, right this moment - instead of desiring or demanding that it be different
from the way it is. One way to implement these aims is to practice daily meditation; to read books
on Zen Buddhism, like Alan Watts (‘The Way of Zen'), or Shunryu Suzuki's ‘Zen Mind, Beginners Mind'; and to practice
loving kindness in our relationships with others - (which does not preclude the possible action of defending our interests
and needs when necessary; or of asserting our rights appropriately!) ~~~ Another way is to teach yourself the Six Windows Model of CENT.***
~~~ The full, seven-part paper on spirituality in counselling can be found
here: ‘CENT Counselling and Spirituality'.*** ~~~ Self esteem is important, in counselling and in life, but it is also a two-edged sword. Dave Wilmot, speaking about the Reality
Therapy approach to counselling, says this: "Whereas at one time I felt quite sure that what people were about
was maximizing human growth potential, I now think that (that is the payback) you get for what I call the drive towards raising
your self-esteem, the drive towards being seen and acknowledged as being a significant person - both to have that feeling
internally for yourself and for it to be recognized amongst others..." CENT counselling theory goes along with
this idea of the importance of self esteem, and social recognition, to some extent; however, beyond a certain point it could
become mere egotism. Paradoxically, we need to be able to esteem ourselves, and also to recognize that, in a special
(Zen) sense, we don't really exist (apart from being physical organisms with driving stories)!
Wilmot
quote from: Brigid Proctor, Counselling Shop: An Introduction to the Theories and Techniques of Ten Approaches to Counselling.
Page 146. (75). ~~~ ~~~ 3.
The core principles of CENT counselling and therapy So far we have reviewed the first eleven out of 19 core principles of Cognitive Emotive Narrative Therapy (CENT); so here
is the twenfth:
Twelfth: We mainly operate from one of three so-called 'ego states', or 'ways
of being' (as described in Transactional Analysis [TA]). These are: (P) Parent ego state,
when we think, feel and behave just like some parent figure from our past experience; (A)
Adult, which is the logical, reasonably cool and rational, computing part of the brain-mind. And: (C) Child ego state, which is characterized by our thinking, feeling and behaving just like we once did as a young
child. ...To learn more about the ego state model, take a look at my ‘What is Transactional Analysis' page.*** ~~~ A good counsellor should have training and
experience in helping clients to solve their own emotional, behavioural and relationship problems: "Counselling
denotes a professional relationship between a trained counsellor and a client. This relationship is usually person-to-person,
although it may sometimes involve more than two people. It is designed to help clients to understand and clarify their
views of their life-space, and to learn to reach their self-determined goals through meaningful, well-informed choices and
through resolution of problems of an emotional or interpersonal nature". Burks and
Steffire, 1979. Quoted in McLeod, 2003, Introduction to Counselling, page 7. (76) ~~~
4. The principles of CENT couples therapy Over the past few weeks, we have looked at principles 1-9 of my 18 principles of couples therapy (or principles of happy couple
relationships). Today I will present number ten:
Principle 10. Couples are either in
(1) a state of occasional dissatisfaction (or ‘reasonable upset); (2) a state of disturbance (or over-upset); or (3)
are experiencing an emerging incompatibility. Dissatisfaction is normal some but not all of the time: i.e. occasional
sadness, disappointment, frustration, etc. Disturbance is due to irrational beliefs interacting with noxious activating
events: e.g. anger, rage, hostility, depression, intense jealousy, etc. And emerging incompatibilities mean you no longer
seem to have an adequate basis for the continuation of your relationship. However, regarding
incompatibility, it is important to know about what Dr Erich Fromm said about incompatibility. He argued, in The
Art of Loving, that perfect compatibility is impossible, and that seeking perfect compatibility
is a good way to avoid intimate relationships totally. Rather we should seek to establish relationships with individuals
with whom we are broadly compatible, and to learn to tolerate the ways in which they deviate from perfect
compatibility - their imperfections of fit with our values/goals/beliefs/expectations. ...For further information on Couples Therapy, see my ‘What is Couples Therapy?' page.*** ~~~ The CBT approach
to counselling came out of the field of Behaviour Therapy, which sees the client as being shaped or determined by their environment.
"The Behavioural model is a very deterministic one. The individual may think that s/he is free to decide on a particular
course of action, but in fact s/he is just behaving as s/he has been trained to. What s/he ‘chooses' to do at
any particular point in time is a direct result of past environmental experiences which have themselves occurred in a fairly
haphazard sort of way. So the individual is just the product of his past experiences". CENT counselling does
not accept this over-emphasis on the environment; nor the (sometimes extreme) REBT over-emphasis on the innate qualities of
the individual. We see the ‘individual ego' as a dialectical social construct,
arising out of the interaction of the physical individual (with innate qualities) and the cultural
environment (of mother, father, etc). Page 62: Brigid Proctor, Counselling Shop: An introduction
to the Theories and Techniques of Ten Approaches to Counselling. (77). See my papers entitled ‘What is CENT?'***;
and ‘The Social Individual'*** ~~~ That's all for this week. Best wishes, Jim Dr Jim Byrne ABC Coaching and Counselling Services*** Jim.byrne@abc-counselling.com Telephone: 01422 843 629 (from inside the UK)
44 1422 843 629 (from outside the UK) Postscripts About Dr Jim Byrne Seven counselling specialisms The five main services The Institute for Cognitive Emotive Narrative Therapy (I-CENT) Membership services for counsellors, psychotherapists, and psychologists ~~~ To subscribe to my blog, use this url: http://user1749648.sites.myregisteredsite.com/blog_rss.xml ~~~
Also, please support the work of the Equality Trust.*** Equality if better for everybody, and a less unequal society would be less depressed and less angry.
(See Dr Oliver James's 'Britain on the Couch' - or Wilkinson and Pickett's 'The Spirit Level', for the scientific data supporting
this conclusion). ~~~ If you like this Counselling Blog, please post a link to your favourite
social networking site (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc) so your friends and associates can also enjoy it. Please
click the button that follows:
~~~
 ~~~
Mon, May 20, 2013 | link
Monday, May 13, 2013
British Psychologicla Society (BPS) - DSM 5 - Oliver James - 'mental illness' and hollywood; emotional problems begin in society,
not in our genes! - The Observer articles on psychiatry; Defining the 'spirit' in sprituality - the human qualities of the
counsellor - humans as non-conscious beings - science and philosophy in counselling - being right and being happy in couples
therapy; counselling as problem solving conversations... The Counselling Blog: A counsellor writes about: A call
for a new approach to ‘mental disorders' - BPS - DSM 5; CENT counselling and spirituality;
Reviewing the principles of CENT counselling; and: CENT
couples therapy... Copyright (c) Jim Byrne, 2013 No.45:
Monday 13th May 2013 ~~~ 1. How do we deal
with emotional wellbeing? Renata and I had a busy week last week, and we reached Friday evening in need of a switch-off and wind down experience - so
we reached for a DVD. We chose a film from 2009, based on the true story of a journalist and a ‘mentally unwell'
dropout from the Julliard School of music. Entitled ‘The Soloist', and starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr,
the film features a lot of Beethoven an some Bach music, played on a cello, which is, in itself, moving. I was not expecting
much from this film, but I was pleasantly surprised. It seemed to deal sensitively with difficult problems of homelessness
and emotional distress (‘mental health' problems, in the medical vernacular). See two newspaper reviews below:
1. The Guardian review: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/sep/25/the-soloist-review 2. The telegraph review: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/6227806/The-Soloist-review.html I found the film so moving that I felt like
apologizing to Hollywood for - some weeks back - suggesting that those filmmakers never show the 140 million Americans who
live below the poverty line. This film (by a British director) was different. However, it was probably just the
exception that proves the rule: that America likes to hide the ugly reality of American poverty and inequality - largely produced
by neo-liberal economic policy advocated by Hayek and implemented by Regan onwards. I thought
the film was very good, and that it raised a very interesting idea of friendship as a source of balm for people with emotional
distress problems - (read ‘schizophrenia' in medical language). However, on Sunday, Renata brought in The Observer newspaper, and I quickly spotted the article
on the bottom right hand corner of the front page: "Call for new approach to ‘mental disorders'.", it announced.
It begins like this: "There is no scientific evidence that psychiatric diagnoses such as schizophrenia and bipolar
disorder are valid or useful, according to the leading body representing Britain's clinical psychologists". The British Psychological Society's division of clinical psychology "...will tomorrow issue a statement declaring
that, given the lack of evidence, it is time for a ‘paradigm shift' in how the issues of mental health are understood". In the process, the BPS casts serious doubt on the psychiatrists' biomedical model of mental distress, for which
there are no biomarkers, nor any significant evidence whatsoever. (Most people do not know that the so-called ‘Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual', DSM-5, is not based on any statistics whatsoever. It is based on a system of ‘voting'
for particular made-up disorders, by a committee of blokes and birds!) Read the fuller article
by the same author - Jamie Doward - at the Observer online: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/may/12/medicine-dsm5-row-does-mental-illness-exist Also on page 11 of this week's Observer, I found an article by Oliver James, a doctor of psychology, who has written a lot
about the link between society and emotional distress. Problems in families of origin are a big part of the causes of
emotional distress. According to Dr James: "...13 studies find that more than half of schizophrenics suffered childhood
abuse. Another review of 23 studies shows that schizophrenics are at least three times more likely to have been abused
than non-schizophrenics. It is becoming apparent that abuse is the major cause of psychoses. It is also all too
clear that the medical model is bust".
James goes on to argue that early childhood experience
combined with later experience of adversity is a much better explanation for emotional distress and that poverty in adulthood
is positively correlated to emotional distress and breakdown. And, he points out, Britain and American have twice as much
‘mental illness' as mainland Europe, because of the economic policies initiated by Thatcher and Reagan. "Forget about genes", he advises. "We would halve the amount of emotional distress in this country
if we had the more equal, relatively cohesive, less debt-ridden political economics of our European neighbours". See the whole statement by Oliver James here, following a defence of the psychiatric medical model by Simon Wessely:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/may/12/dsm-5-conspiracy-laughable ~~~ 2.
Part 6: Spirituality implies a ‘spirit'; but what is it? Science and spirituality appear to be incompatible, on the face of it. However, many scientists have had a spiritual
sense. Einstein said he wanted to know ‘the mind of God', and that the rest is mere detail. And theoretical
physics has often suggested that the more you explore the material world, the more it tends to disappear into strangely behaving
energy fields.
As suggested by the Venerable Bede, there is a mystery regarding 'the flight of
the sparrow' - of the beginning and end of a human life. What goes before and what comes after remains a mystery to
us. Of course, an ‘eliminative materialist', or positivist will insist that nothing comes before and nothing comes
after an individual human life. But that is an act of faith on the part of the materialist, just as metaphysical as
the act of faith that says ‘God made the world'. But I, as an individual enquirer into the
nature of reality, still have to satisfy myself that the concept of spirituality is grounded in some related concept of ‘spirit',
which has some kind of referent which can be pinned down; at least theoretically.
...More on defining the 'spirit'...***
~~~ Good counsellors are good philosophers and good human beings: "Counselors
can acquire an extensive theoretical and practical knowledge and can make that knowledge available to their clients.
But to every therapeutic session they also bring themselves as persons. They bring their human qualities and the life
experiences that have moulded them". Gerald Corey, 2001, Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy,
page 41. (66) ~~~ 3. The core principles of CENT counselling and therapy
Last week we looked
at the tenth principle of Cognitive Emotive Narrative Therapy (CENT); so today let us look at principle number eleven: Eleventh:
CENTsees humans as primary non-conscious beings, who operate tacitly, automatically, from layers of cumulative,
interpretative experience, stored in the form of schemas and stories, in long-term memory, and permanently beyond direct conscious
inspection. At least 95% of all of our daily actions are executed non-consciously and automatically, in response to external
or internal stimuli. So change is not easy; delusion is our normal state (i.e. our perceptions of ourselves, others and the
world are false to facts); and we project our own 'stories' onto our environments, and judge them accordingly. To wake up
to a more accurate understanding of life - with our adult-functioning in the driving seat - is not easy, but it is possible.
~~~ Effective counselling depends upon science and philosophy, and includes morality:
"If the object of counselling psychology is to help people live lives that are more fulfilled, one enters inevitably
into the realms of morals and ideology, subjects which are the domain of philosophy rather than science". However,
the BPS contends that "...counselling psychology is grounded in a human science perspective and that this (perspective)
offers a sound scientific approach that acknowledges the significance of philosophical and moral questions and values and
artistry in professional work". Strawbridge and Woolfe, 2003, Counselling Psychology in Context, page 11. (68). ~~~
4. The principles of CENT couples therapy Last week, by accident,
I posted the first half of principle number 9 of CENT couples therapy. Here is the whole statement of principle: 9.
Do you want to be ‘right', or do you want to be ‘happy'. Choose! In most cases you will have to choose.
It is very rare that you will be able to be consistently ‘right' - in your disputes with your partner
- and also experience long-term happiness. Why is this so? Because, when I say ‘I am right', I also imply
(very often) that ‘You are wrong!' And most people are not willing to be cast in the role of "being wrong".
(Doing a wrong thing is different from "being wrong"!) If you make your
partner "wrong", they will not want to "play with you"! (Sometimes you might have good reasons to
support your argument, and it might be important to push your point; but all the time?) The third principle
that Werner Erhard taught about relationships was this: If you want to have a really powerful relationship with somebody,
you have got to stop making them wrong! (And making them wrong means inferring that because
you don't like their ideas/values/goals/behaviours, and you can logically fault their ideas/values/goals/behaviours,
that therefore they [as a whole person] are wrong [and possibly also even
bad]! ~~~ Counselling is essentially about talking through your problems; exploring the practicalities,
the possibilities, the interpretations and the scope for change: "At the heart of any form of counselling is
making a space to talk it through. This phrase is offered as a kind of touchstone ... and operates as a reminder
of what the role of counselling actually is in relation to the troubles that people experience..." Quotation from:
John McLeod, 2007, Counselling Skill, page 3. (69). ~~~ That's all for this week. Best wishes,
Jim Dr Jim Byrne ABC Coaching and Counselling Services*** Jim.byrne@abc-counselling.com Telephone: 01422 843 629 (from inside the UK)
44 1422 843 629 (from outside the UK) Postscripts About Dr Jim Byrne Seven counselling specialisms The five main services The Institute for Cognitive Emotive Narrative Therapy (I-CENT) Membership services for counsellors, psychotherapists, and psychologists ~~~ To subscribe to my blog, use this url: http://user1749648.sites.myregisteredsite.com/blog_rss.xml ~~~
Also, please support the work of the Equality Trust.*** Equality if better for everybody, and a less unequal society would be less depressed and less angry.
(See Dr Oliver James's 'Britain on the Couch' - or Wilkinson and Pickett's 'The Spirit Level', for the scientific data supporting
this conclusion). ~~~ If
you like this Counselling Blog, please post a link to your favourite social networking site (e.g.
Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc) so your friends and associates can also enjoy it. Please click the button that follows:
~~~
 ~~~
Mon, May 13, 2013 | link
Monday, May 6, 2013
Work/life balance for counsellors and coaches; the childhood of albert ellis; stories used in narrative counselling and therapy;
spirituality in cent counselling and therapy; counselling for everyday problems; cent theory, principle ten; childhood experience
and whole of life emotional functioning - attachment theory; cent couples therapy, principle nine; counselling supports client
problem solving... The Counselling Blog: A counsellor writes about: Work/Life balance; The childhood of Albert Ellis; CENT
counselling and spirituality; Reviewing the principles of CENT counselling; and: CENT
couples therapy... Copyright (c) Jim Byrne, 2013 No.44: Monday 6th May 2013 ~~~ 1. Introduction It is important for counsellors and coaches to lead a balanced life; to have a good balance of work, rest and play, in order
to recharge their batteries for their demanding work with their clients.
This weekend, on Saturday,
Renata and I had a nice lunch in The Bear, in Todmorden. High quality organic salad platter
- delightful! We than went to the gardening centre in Walsden, and bought some flowers and a window box. On Sunday,
our secular Sabbath, we walked through Hardcastle Crags, to Gibson Mill, for a nice, light lunch. And now back to work. I am working on updating my main book on Cognitive Emotive Narrative Therapy; and trying
to finish off the editing and polishing of my anger book. I am also pecking away at my project for 24th July
- the 6th anniversary of the death of Dr Albert Ellis: which deals with The Childhood of Albert Ellis***. And, I have a few counselling clients this week, and a few supervisees. ~~~ Narrative counselling deals with buried stories of experiences, plus stories about the present and future: The concept
of ‘narrative' in Narrative Therapy "...refers to self-stories, the multiply-stranded and often inconsistent images,
thoughts and conceptualizations of their past, present and future, and of the world within which experience takes place, which
people continually reinforce, expand, revise and explore".
Martin Payne (2007) Narrative
therapy: in Dryden's Handbook of Individual Therapy, page 404. (53) ~~~ 2.
Spirituality in CENT counselling Part 5 I have said that the CENT approach to spirituality is a secular one, informed by Buddhism, mainly Zen; but also by some other
wisdom traditions, such as Stoicism; and some modern approaches to life, including Positive Psychology - especially the development
of personal strengths in line with the wisdom of many societies over long periods of history.
In
the absence of a god, or a priestly caste, what does spirituality mean, in a nutshell? According to Philip Sheldrake:
"...all approaches to ‘spirituality', including contemporary secular ones, imply what might be called ‘beliefs
about life', (and) the quest for an effective world-view". (Page 7). In other words, spirituality involves the quest
for personal wisdom as a guide to living the good life. He goes on to say that spirituality involves
adopting certain values - like moral guides - and striving to live a principled lifestyle, as opposed to the mere pragmatic
pursuit of self interest alone. And for me, this is one of the central points. It is not possible to live a spiritual
life which is also an amoral or immoral one. The essence of ‘the sacred' is respect for the vulnerability of the
fleshy body and the fearful mind of the average human being. Or, to put it in one word: compassion! Sheldrake describes how we have shifted ground in the West, from being religious to wanting to have some kind of sense of
being ‘spiritual'. This involves the adoption of values and practices which point us towards how to live a meaningful
life.
One study, by David Hay, conducted in the UK between 1987 and 2000, "...showed
that the proportion of people who did not attend a place of worship yet believed in a spiritual reality' increased from 29
per cent to 55 per cent". (Page 7, Sheldrake). A second study, by Heelas and Woodhead, looked at attitudes towards religion
and spirituality in the north-west of England. These authors concluded that, "...what they called ‘holistic
spirituality' was replacing religion in a kind of evolutionary development because it was a better fit with contemporary needs".
Sheldrake, page 7). The emphasis in the West on individualism and the downgrading of social institutions
and social enterprises has placed a great strain of loneliness and isolation on the mind of the so-called individual, who
is in truth a social being. (See my paper on The social roots of the individual***). The burgeoning interest in spirituality is a craving for a sense of connection, to all other humans and to
all of life. It may suit the economic interests of capitalism to fragment families and communities, but it serves the
human soul-heart-mind to seek reunification in a spiritual practice and a set of socially responsible values, such as charity,
compassion, kindness, and social care. ...end of part 3... ~~~ Counselling helps people to solve their problems of daily living: Professional counselling psychologists
do not assume that their clients are suffering from some kind of ‘pathology', but rather from the ordinary human difficulties
that are "part and parcel of the human condition": "At the heart of this philosophy is a belief that the therapeutic
relationship involves working towards an authentic meeting of equals and has the intention of enhancing the self-determination
and fulfilment of potential of the person in the client role". Strawbridge and Woolfe, 2003,
Counselling Psychology in Context, page 11. (55) ~~~ 3. The
core principles of CENT counselling and therapy The
tenth principle of cognitive Emotive Narrative Therapy (CENT) is as follows: Tenth: CENT
theory represents the new born baby as containing two fundamental potentials: to develop pro-social and caring attitudes;
and to develop anti-social and egotistical attitudes. Part of the process of socialization is to ensure that the new person
mainly develops their 'good side' (or what the Native American Cherokee people called the 'good wolf' and Freud called ‘Eros')
through the moral teachings of their parents, teachers and others; and that their 'bad wolf' (or ‘thanatos' - or ‘death
urge') - is constrained and contained. (It cannot ever be totally or permanently eliminated. We each contain the capacity
for significant levels of 'evil' to the ends of our days!) But the happy functioning of social animals depends upon the extent
to which we develop our pro-social, moral virtues, and resist our anti-social, immoral or amoral vices. Some clients are clearly
operating mainly from 'good wolf' and some are significantly operating from 'bad wolf'. That latter client group needs coaching
in moral philosophy; and encouragement to operate mainly from 'good wolf', for both the sake of their community and the sake
of their own happiness. ~~~ Counsellors must be clear
that early childhood experiences are powerful influences on the shape of our personality and our emotional functioning for
the rest of our lives: "In my work as a clinical psychologist it has become increasingly clear to me that even
though personality patterns may be based in genetic or innate conditions, they are shaped, to an equal degree, by our personal
life and experiences, with childhood and early experiences as particularly crucial sources of influence". Susan Hart (2011) The Impact of Attachment. New York: W.W. Norton and Company. Page xi.
(56) ~~~ 4. The principles of CENT
couples therapy The ninth principle of couples therapy, as practiced in CENT counselling,
is this: 9. Do you want to be ‘right', or do you want to be ‘happy'.
Choose! In most cases you will have to choose. It is very rare that you will be able to be consistently ‘right'
- in your disputes with your partner - and also experience long-term happiness. Why is this so? Because, when
I say ‘I am right', I also imply (very often) that ‘You are wrong!' And most people are not willing to be
cast in the role of "being wrong". (Doing a wrong thing is different from
"being wrong"!) If you make your partner "wrong", they will not want to "play with you"!
(Sometimes you might have good reasons to support your argument, and it might be important to push your point, respectfully
but assertively; but all the time? Certainly not!) ~~~ A
good counselling experience should be flexible and allow the client to pursue their goals: "The term ‘counselling'
includes work with individuals and with relationships, which may be developmental, crisis support, psychotherapeutic, guiding
or problem solving ... The task of counselling is to give the client an opportunity to explore, discover and clarify ways
of living more satisfyingly and resourcefully". BAC, 1984, cited in McLeod, 2003.
(57) ~~~ That's all for this week. Best
wishes, Jim Dr Jim Byrne ABC Coaching and Counselling Services*** Jim.byrne@abc-counselling.com Telephone: 01422 843 629 (from inside the UK)
44 1422 843 629 (from outside the UK) Postscripts About Dr Jim Byrne Seven counselling specialisms The five main services The Institute for Cognitive Emotive Narrative Therapy (I-CENT) Membership services for counsellors, psychotherapists, and psychologists ~~~ To subscribe to my blog, use this url: http://user1749648.sites.myregisteredsite.com/blog_rss.xml ~~~
Also, please support the work of the Equality Trust.*** Equality if better for everybody, and a less unequal society would be less depressed and less angry.
(See Dr Oliver James's 'Britain on the Couch' - or Wilkinson and Pickett's 'The Spirit Level', for the scientific data supporting
this conclusion). ~~~ If you like this Counselling Blog,
please post a link to your favourite social networking site (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc) so your friends and associates
can also enjoy it. Please click the button that follows:
~~~
 ~~~
Mon, May 6, 2013 | link
Monday, April 29, 2013
The poems of T.S. Eliot; stories for counsellors and therapists; the cent theory of the social individual; narrative counselling
and stories of the past; the childhood of albert ellis; counselling for daily problems; spirituality in cent counselling;
the concepts of the self and ultimate meaning; the impact of childhood on life; developmental psychology of early childhood;
the principles of cent couples therapy - egalitarianism; the impact of attachment. The Counselling Blog: A counsellor writes about: The childhood of Albert Ellis; CENT Counselling and
spirituality; Reviewing the principles of CENT counselling; and: CENT
couples therapy... Copyright (c) Jim Byrne, 2013 No.43: Monday 29th April 2013 ~~~ 1. Introduction This weekend, we had a family event in Manchester. On the Saturday, we went to Waterstone's bookshop, and I found a
collection of poems by T.S. Eliot, which includes ‘The Wasteland' and ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock'.
I enjoyed Prufrock, and excerpted a few of the opening lines for my page on ‘Stories of Childhood for Counsellors and Therapists'.***
I also acquired a new book on the psychology of the self - entitled The
Self Illusion: Who do you think you are? by Bruce Hood - which I hope to use to update my thoughts about the
CENT theory of the self. See CENT Paper No.9: The ‘Individual' and its Social Relationships - The CENT Perspective.*** ~~~ Narrative counselling deals with buried stories
of experiences, plus stories about the present and future: The concept ‘narrative' in Narrative Therapy "...refers
to self-stories, the multiply-stranded and often inconsistent images, thoughts and conceptualizations of their past, present
and future, and of the world within which experience takes place, which people continually reinforce, expand, revise
and explore". Martin Payne (2007) Narrative therapy: in Dryden's Handbook of Individual
Therapy, page 404. (53) ~~~ 2. The childhood of Albert Ellis Beginning today, I hope to review the early chapters of the autobiography of Dr Albert Ellis - entitled All Out!
- probably up to Chapter 3D, which is to say, 162 pages, mainly covering his childhood - including his neglectful parents
and his hospitalization. This is likely to take me a few weeks, including doing some background reading on the impact
of poor attachment on others.
In an open letter to Dr Ellis, in 2011, I wrote this: "...when you met and got involved with, and then married, Debbie Joffe-Ellis, I realized that you had a very
different kind of relationship with her than you had with anybody else that I knew of. You seemed to be much more secure
in that relationship. Then it came back to me that you had neglectful parents, and that you seem to have developed an
avoidant attachment style with them. And your attachment style, in most of your publicly available encounters with others,
on video and audio tape, seems to me to be cool, distant and somewhat avoidant. "A couple
of years ago (in 2008 or ‘09) I began to study the works of Dr John Bowlby and other attachment theorists, including
Dr David Wallin. This helped me to see that what I was trying to work on, in my two ‘training analyses' - in CENT
Papers No.4[1] and No.10[2] - was my attachment style, in relation to my mother, father and family, peers, and ultimately, my clients". I now want to explore the ways in which Albert Ellis's relationships with his neglectful parents affected his attachment
style, and his social orientation in life; and the ways in which this skewed his therapeutic philosophy, away from the importance
of love and affection in all significant relationships. I will keep you posted about my progress
with this research and writing project.
Postscript: It is now 2nd May 2013, and
I am aware that on 24th July it will be the sixth anniversary of the death of Dr Albert Ellis, the creator of Rational
Emotive Behaviour Therapy. On that day, I want to be able to unveil a statement about Dr Ellis, which is designed to
take forward our understanding of who he was; what he contributed; and what we can learn from analyzing his childhood to see
how he was ‘constructed'.
Please click the following link to read about The Childhood of Albert Ellis.***
~~~
Counselling
helps people to solve their problems of daily living: Professional counselling psychologists do not assume that their
clients are suffering from some kind of ‘pathology', but rather from the ordinary human difficulties that are "part
and parcel of the human condition": "At the heart of this philosophy is a belief that the therapeutic relationship
involves working towards an authentic meeting of equals and has the intention of enhancing the self-determination and fulfilment
of potential of the person in the client role". Strawbridge and Woolfe, 2003, Counselling
Psychology in Context, page 11. (55) ~~~ 3. Spirituality
in CENT counselling Continuing my review of Philip Sheldrake's book, Spirituality: A very short introduction:
I have already said that the CENT perspective on spirituality is secular, and related to the Buddhist (especially
Zen) and the Stoic traditions. Thus there are paradigms in the world of spirituality, and as in science or philosophy,
those paradigms see their subject differently; each paradigm differing from the other in terms of ‘angle of orientation',
‘framing' of the subject, etc. Spiritual traditions are group mindsets and group ideologies. They are not
better or worse because of this fact - they are simply different, each from the other. The CENT
perspective seeks to be integrative, in the sense of integrating the Buddhist and Stoic paradigms; and also adding in anything
else which seems helpful, and compatible with those perspectives: such as the Positive Psychology perspective. According to Sheldrake: "... ‘spirituality' has become an alternative way of exploring the deepest self
and the ultimate purpose of life. Increasingly, the spiritual quest has moved away from outer-directed authority to
inner-directed experience which is seen as more reliable. This subjectivist turn in Western culture has created a diverse
approach to spiritual experience and practice. For example, spirituality often draws from different religious traditions
as well as from popular psychology. However, some commentators, such as Jeremy Carrette, are sceptical about these developments,
suggesting that the contemporary enthusiasm for ‘spirituality' is merely another offshoot of consumerism". (Pages
6-7). Here are some of my observations on this statement: 1. "The
deepest self" is a problematic concept. Exploring ‘myself' could involve working through my personal history,
using psychological processes; but I would never advocate that anybody try to find "their deepest self". The
self is constructed by interpersonal experience, involving actions and language, which weave a sense of self; or self concept
- over the course of development time. This can be distorted by less than ideal developmental experiences, and a person
can seek to use psychological and spiritual traditions to sort out a ‘better narrative' of ‘who I am' and what
my life is about. 2. "The ultimate purpose of life" is also a problematic concept.
Existential philosophers often point to the ‘meaninglessness' of life; while many religious traditions ascribe a specific
meaning to the journey through life. The truth may lie halfway between these two positions. For examples, we could
say: (a) Life is both meaningless (sometimes) and meaningful (sometimes); or: (b) Life is neither meaningless nor meaningful, as these are mere linguistic concepts, with no physical referents. The "ultimate purpose" for me might be to become a fully integrated person, who enjoys life to
the full, and makes his best possible contribution to the world in which I live. That "ultimate purpose" would
not be shared by a hedonist, or a religionist. So we each, group by group; or community by community; or society by
society: create our own meanings - the core of which will often be some statement of ‘value in action', or hope for
the future; or, perhaps, some way of living happily in the present moment. And then, again, in Martin Seligman's view,
the meaningful life "...has one additional feature: using your signature (or special, personal) strengths in the service
of something larger than you are". (Page 249 - Authentic Happiness). And that "something
larger" does not have to be a god. In Buddhism it is the liberation of all sentient beings from suffering.
The Buddhist monk takes on that challenge, to liberate everybody from mental suffering! 3.
Then there is this statement in the Sheldrake quote, above: "...the spiritual quest has moved away from outer-directed
authority to inner-directed experience which is seen as more reliable". To the extent that this means "people
are no longer willing to be dictated to by priests", that seems to be a good development. However, to the extent
that it could mean "every individual making up their own mind" about the nature of life, without the need to consider
existing traditions, then that seems like a decidedly backward step, since in the arts and sciences, progress most often involves
building upon, and surpassing, the pre-existing traditions. 4. The idea that "...the contemporary
enthusiasm for ‘spirituality' is merely another offshoot of consumerism" seems to me to be a cynical view.
Some of the enthusiasm for spirituality is most likely expressing a deeply felt need for a sense of a higher meaning to life
than consumerism; and some of it might be merely a way of expressing a ‘cool lifestyle'. But no matter how large
the latter ‘lifestyle' group might be, that does not detract from the fact that many humans, if not most humans, seem
to have a hunger for some kind of transcendent experience - which the Soviet Union ignored to its very great cost. People
will have their sense of ‘the divine', or the transcendent, regardless of how powerful the political forces are that
try to suppress it. ...More next week... ~~~ Counsellors must be clear that early childhood experiences are powerful influences on the shape of our personality
and our emotional functioning for the rest of our lives: "In my work as a clinical psychologist it has become
increasingly clear to me that even though personality patterns may be based in genetic or innate conditions, they are shaped,
to an equal degree, by our personal life and experiences, with childhood and early experiences as particularly crucial sources
of influence". Susan Hart (2011) The Impact of Attachment. New York:
W.W. Norton and Company. Page xi. (56) ~~~ 4.
The core principles of CENT counselling and therapy Today
I want to review the ninth principle of Cognitive Emotive Narrative Therapy (CENT): Ninth:
From the Object Relations school, CENT takes the view that the first three phases of development of childhood
can be disrupted, between birth and about the age of six years - or the first four subphases from birth to age three - resulting
in specific forms of relationship dysfunction in later life. The solution to these problems tend to include a mixture of 'being
with' the client in relationship; 'holding' the relationship in a suitable dialogue; helping them to make conscious and then
process their un-experienced or resisted emotions; providing analysis and models as cognitive-emotive ways forward; and providing
a ‘secure base' for the client, so they can learn how to have a secure relationship, perhaps for the first time. ~~~ There is no "unified theory" of counselling and therapy in use
today: "Probably the three main schools that influence contemporary individual counselling and therapy theory
and practice are the psychodynamic school, the humanistic-existential
school, and the cognitive-behavioural school". CENT incorporates the most useful aspects
of all three of these theories into one, combined with Attachment Theory and moral philosophy, Zen Buddhism, Transactional
Analysis (TA), and other philosophies. Richard Nelson-Jones, 2001, Theory and Practice of
Counselling and Therapy, page 19. (60) ~~~ 5. The principles
of CENT couples therapy In our review of the core principles
of CENT couples therapy, we have now reached the eighth principle: 8. In a marriage,
because it involves two individuals, it is not sensible to expect to be centre stage more than 50% of the
time, since the other person also desires to be centre stage for their 50%! How much of the time do you try to be centre
stage? How good are you at being "the audience" for your partner? How could you improve your democratic
functioning in this area of your life? (This, of course includes the idea that you are entitled to be centre stage for
your full 50% of the time, and it is your responsibility to work at getting that balance for yourself, but not exceeding it!) ~~~ Multimodal and integrative approaches to (attachment) counselling are likely
to prove more effective than those that emphasize one or other modality - thinking, feeling, acting, hearing, seeing, touching,
or speaking. "More than a hundred years ago, Freud argued that the brain develops through experience,
and that it may change as a result of psychotherapy; ever since, various approaches to psychotherapy (and counselling) have
competed, each laying claim to being the most effective. It would, however, be more productive to develop multimodal
intervention forms based on principles that incorporate neurobiological growth, regulation, and integration". Susan Hart (2011) The Impact of Attachment. New York: W.W. Norton and Company. Page 312.
(61) ~~~ That's all for this week. Best
wishes, Jim Dr Jim Byrne ABC Coaching and Counselling Services*** Jim.byrne@abc-counselling.com Telephone: 01422 843 629 (from inside the UK)
44 1422 843 629 (from outside the UK) Postscripts About Dr Jim Byrne Seven counselling specialisms The five main services The Institute for Cognitive Emotive Narrative Therapy (I-CENT) Membership services for counsellors, psychotherapists, and psychologists ~~~
Also, please support the work of the Equality Trust.*** Equality if better for everybody, and a less unequal society would be less depressed and less angry.
(See Dr Oliver James's 'Britain on the Couch' - or Wilkinson and Pickett's 'The Spirit Level', for the scientific data supporting
this conclusion). ~~~ If you like this Counselling Blog, please post a link to your favourite
social networking site (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc) so your friends and associates can also enjoy it. Please
click the button that follows:
~~~
 ~~~
[1] Byrne, J. (2009) A journey through models of mind. The story of my personal origins. CENT Paper No.4.
Hebden Bridge: The Institute for CENT. Available online: http://www.abc-counselling.com/id166.html. [2] Byrne, J. (2010) The story of relationship: Or coming to terms with my mother (and father). CENT Paper No.10.
Hebden Bridge: The Institute for CENT. Available online: http://www.abc-counselling.com/id202.html.
Mon, April 29, 2013 | link
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Attachment relationships in counselling; musical restimulation of childhood memories; counselling and emotional intelligence;
the imperfections of science and other forms of research - the example of Rogoff and Reinhart (2010); narrative counselling
and the client's stories; new videos on counselling and anger management; the role of interpretation in narrative therapy;
spirituality in cent counselling; counselling for complex problems; principle number eight of cent counselling and thearpy
- we are primarily social animals; counselling helps with managing complexity of modern life; the seventh principle of cent
couples therapy - it's okay to want to be loved; counsellors should practice what they preach. The Counselling Blog: A counsellor writes about: Piano music and emotional memories of childhood; The imperfections of science and other
forms of research; New videos on counselling and anger management; CENT Counselling and
spirituality; Reviewing the principles of CENT counselling; and: CENT
couples therapy... Copyright (c) Jim Byrne, 2013 No.42: Monday 22nd April 2013 ~~~ Attachment relationships in counselling facilitate client change and growth: "Very much as the original attachment
relationship(s) (with mother and father) allowed the child to develop, it is ultimately the new relationship of attachment
with the (counsellor) that allows the (client) to change. To paraphrase Bowlby (1988), such a relationship provides a secure
base that enables the (client) to take the risk of feeling what s/he is not supposed to feel and knowing what s/he is not
supposed to know".
Dr David Wallin, Attachment in Psychotherapy, 2007, page 3. (46) ~~~ 1. Introduction Last Friday, 19th April, Renata and I went to listen to Anthony Goldstone's piano recital, at the Waterfront Hall,
Hebden Bridge, at 8.00pm. He played some divine Beethoven, Schubert and Tchaikovsky before the interval. (Programme link.***). After the interval, this remarkable pianist performed Mussorgsky's ‘Pictures from an Exhibition', going
back to the composer's (more peasant influenced) original manuscript, instead of the more popular re-arrangement by Rimsky
Korsakov's (which is more bourgeois, and sweetened).
Something about this performance was so
moving that it initiated within me the complete rethinking and rewriting one of my recent manuscripts, which I am hoping to
revise over the summer. See Stories of Childhood for Therapists.*** for some introductory ideas. ~~~ A good counsellor
will help you to learn more about your own emotions: "All of us have something to learn about our emotions.
Some of us grow up with a high level of emotional literacy, but I believe that few are as smart in the area of emotions as
they should be. We all make emotional mistakes, and because of that, we can benefit from some form of Emotional Literacy
training. Claude Steiner, Achieving Emotional Literacy, page 11. (48) ~~~ 2. The imperfections of science and other forms of research Positivistic sciencists, who are a form of secular religion, like to mislead us into believing in the infallibility of scientific
research. On the other hand, I had characterised scientific research as ‘blokes and birds trying to make sense
of stuff'. (See my ‘What is Research' page.***)
I have probably been overly generous
in describing science and other academic approaches to research as ‘blokes and birds trying to make sense of stuff'.
That is only the best case scenario. In the worst case scenario, Marx's words apply: "The scientists are the prize-fighters
of capitalism", Marks averred; and this may often be the case. It is certainly true that many psychiatrists have
added their names to ‘academic papers' they did not write, and sometimes did not even see, in exchange for a fee.
The papers were written in-house by hacks in pharmaceutical companies, lauding some questionable drug, so that it would sell
well and make fat profits for the company (regardless of the safety implications). So, sometimes
people in positions of responsibility use ‘good research' to justify their actions; and sometimes they manufacture ‘bad
research' in order to justify their actions. But very often the agenda is simply to justify an action which is going
to be taken anyway, for reasons of ideological conviction. An interesting case in point was presented
in The Guardian newspaper (UK), yesterday (Friday 19th April 2013). An article entitled: ‘The
error that could subvert George Osborne's austerity programme', by Charles Arthur and Phillip Inman, appeared on page 26. ...continued...*** ~~~ See also my page on ‘Counselling Research'.*** ~~~ Narrative counselling is the most post-modern of counselling systems: "The idea of a narrative approach (to
counselling) refers to a significant movement within the social and health sciences in recent years... The concept of narrative
(or the stories of individual lives - JB) provides a succinct and yet powerful means of reminding ourselves of our human qualities,
and bringing emphasis to these qualities in our thinking and practice." CENT counselling - being post-postmodern - explores
the aspects of a client's narrative which are causing them their emotional and behavioural problems. But we do not undermine
the positive aspects - especially the good, moral aspects - of the client's cultural narratives, which we support.
Quotation above from: John McLeod, Counselling Skill, 2007, pages 2-3. (49) ~~~ 3. Links to recent videos In the past week, I made a couple of new video clips.
Here are the links to YouTube: (1) The paradoxes and mysteries of counselling and therapy.*** (2) How to control your anger.*** There are now 50 video clips on my page at YouTube: to review them, please go to ABCCoaching.*** ~~~ Narrative counsellors help their clients to
develop an interpretive story about some aspect of the client's life, which empowers the client to integrate and complete
previously undigested experiences: "Whereas Freud and other early psychoanalytic therapists believed that free
association and dream analysis were unearthing evidence about early childhood conflicts that actually occurred, Spence points
out that it is seldom possible to verify in an objective sense whether or not these childhood events took place. He
suggests that what therapists do is to help the client to arrive at a narrative truth, a story that makes sense and has significant
correspondence with the historical data that are available". John McLeod, An Introduction
to Counselling. 2003. Page 230. (51) ~~~ 4.
Spirituality in CENT counselling The concept of spirituality has evolved to include both the religious and the non-religious approaches to integrating a life
into a meaningful, purposeful and moral whole. According to Philip Sheldrake: "Spirituality concerns what is holistic
- that is, a fully integrated approach to life. ... Thus, rather than being simply one element among others in human existence,
‘the spiritual' is best understood as the integrating factor - ‘life as a whole'." (Page 5, Spirituality:
A very short introduction).
It's about seeking meaning and purpose in life, plus "an
understanding of human development and personality development". (Sheldrake: page 5). This transcends the purely
material aspects of life, and involves values and virtues. It involves being self-reflective,
living the ‘examined life' recommended by Plato/Socrates. It involves finding happiness and contentment in life,
and thriving rather than merely existing. Again, according to Sheldrake, spirituality involves "a sense of ultimate
values" in contrast to a life of pragmatic relating to things. Those kinds of values are examined in the writings
of Martin Seligman and some of the other Positive Psychologists; and include: Wisdom and knowledge; courage; love and humanity;
justice; temperance; and transcendence. I, personally, would add: kindness, charity, compassion. And transcendence
means rising above the hum-drum concerns of our little egos, to reach for an appreciation of all of nature as "it";
and each of use as just a miniscule part of "it". ~~~ Counselling Goals 3 - Managing Complex Problems: "Though some problems
are limited, many other problems can be larger and more complex than specific situations within them. Take the example
of a client, with children, who is going through a divorce. Here dimensions of the problem might include obtaining a
just divorce settlement, maintaining self-esteem, relationships with children, a possible move of home, and learning to live
as a single adult again". From: Richard Nelson-Jones, 2002, Essential Counselling and
Therapy Skills: The skilled client model. London: Sage Publications. Pages 6-7. (52) ~~~
5. The core principles of CENT counselling and therapy So far in the current series of posts, I have reviewed the first seven principles of Cognitive Emotive Narrative Therapy (CENT)
- the system of counselling and therapy developed by me since 2007, to take forward the best of Albert Ellis's ideas, combined
with elements of Transactional Analysis (TA), Attachment theory, Moral philosophy, and various other systems. Here is
the next principle:
Eighth: CENT starts from the assumption that we are primarily social animals,
and not solitary individuals. We are social to our very roots, especially from the moment of parturition, when we are handed
into the arms of our mothers. Everything that happens from that point onwards - and also including the original birth trauma
- is significant for the development of the so-called 'individual' (who is really an amalgam of significant other 'individuals'
with whom we are related from birth onwards, and who we 'internalize' as 'models'). In particular, our mothers and fathers
are braided into the very foundations of our personality and character. ~~~ A good counsellor helps clients to overcome those difficulties they cannot manage in their normal ways:
"Counselling is a wonderful twentieth-century invention. We live in a complex, busy, changing world. In this
world, there are many different types of experience that are difficult for people to cope with. Most of the time we
get on with life, but sometimes we are stopped in our tracks by an event or situation that we do not, at that moment, have
the resources to sort out". If we cannot find ways to sort this out in our family, with our friends, or with a
priest or doctor, etc., then "Counselling is a really useful option at these moments". John McLeod, An Introduction to Counselling, 2003. (50) ~~~ 6. The principles of CENT couples therapy I
have reviewed the first six principles of CENT couples therapy, and here is the seventh: 7.
It's OK to want to be loved, admired, accepted and approved of. But it is most sensible to want to be loved, accepted
and so on for practical reasons, such as your companionship, sociability, loving nature, vocational advancement,
your "mental accomplishments", and so on; rather than (like a child) for your "self", or for the sake
of artificially raising you "self-esteem"! Do you seek to be loved for practical reasons, or do you insist
upon being loved for your "self"? Only a mother-substitute is likely to love you for your "self",
and who wants to be a mother-substitute for you? Probably no one! So it's better to grow up and not demand maternal/paternal
adoration! Are you willing to grow up in this area of your emotional life? ~~~ A counsellor cannot promote the road less travelled, unless he or she is on it themselves: "If
counselors are to promote growth and change in their clients, they must be willing to promote growth in their own lives by
exploring their own choices and decisions and by striving to become aware of the ways in which they have ignored their own
potential for growth. This willingness to attempt to live in accordance with what they teach and thus to be positive
models for their clients is what makes counselors ‘therapeutic persons'." Gerald Corey
(2001), Theory and Practice of Counselling and Psychotherapy. Sixth edition. (52) ~~~
That's all for this week. Best wishes, Jim Dr Jim Byrne ABC Coaching and Counselling Services*** Jim.byrne@abc-counselling.com Telephone: 01422 843 629 (from inside the UK)
44 1422 843 629 (from outside the UK) Postscripts About Dr Jim Byrne Seven counselling specialisms The five main services The Institute for Cognitive Emotive Narrative Therapy (I-CENT) Membership services for counsellors, psychotherapists, and psychologists ~~~
Also, please support the work of the Equality Trust.*** Equality if better for everybody, and a less unequal society would be less depressed and less angry.
(See Dr Oliver James's 'Britain on the Couch' - or Wilkinson and Pickett's 'The Spirit Level', for the scientific data supporting
this conclusion). ~~~ If
you like this Counselling Blog, please post a link to your favourite social networking site (e.g.
Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc) so your friends and associates can also enjoy it. Please click the button that follows:
~~~
 ~~~
Tue, April 23, 2013 | link

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