Therapies, Techniques and Interventions including Early Intervention.

Group Therapy

A group analytic approach to the education of children and teenagers Educational settings, from classrooms to entire districts, are besieged by numerous internal and external problems.  This paper presents situations that utilise group therapy concepts and methods within education settings.  Reasons for resistance to using group strategies are discussed as well as methods for resolving resistance.  The need for building basic trust and cohesion is examined.  Theoretical constructs are discussed.  Finally, current research is described.

The Children’s Group Therapy Association The Children's Group Therapy Association was established by a group of professionals who are actively involved in the field of Children's Group Therapy. The association functions as a support system for group therapists and as an advocate for quality group services for children, adolescents, and parents. The site contains a resource page and the text of association newsletters.

Group Psychotherapy Resource Guide Haim Weinberg's Group Psychotherapy Resource Guide  and Home of the Group Psychotherapy Online Discussion List.

Shame and Group Psychotherapy This website explores the nature of the shame experience, highlighting the role of shame in group psychotherapy. This paper discusses how and why shame appears in the group context and how it can be therapeutically managed to the benefit of group members. The website also includes a discussion about scapegoating, and there are a number of information sheets about group psychotherapy.

Sunderland Introductory Course in Group Analysis This course will give participants a working knowledge of what happens in groups and a fuller understanding of themselves derived from first had experience of participating in a group. The emphasis is on learning by experience in both Small Groups and a Median Group, and through discussions about their own work places. Teaching sessions will cover the theory of groups and group dynamics, emphasising the group analytic approach.

Group Therapy for Adolescents Adolescents are social creatures, in the midst of learning their social skills, and are often more trusting of others their own age than of adults. This makes the group therapy setting an ideal choice when counselling becomes necessary for this age group. They are excellent at being able to learn from one another while observing and teaching appropriate skills as they grow. However, adolescents cannot be treated as merely young adults in the group therapy setting. They come with their own dynamics which must be acknowledged and understood in order to work effectively with them.

Role of Art in Child and Adolescent Group Therapy In art therapy groups, members create art that reflects the culture of the group. How and why artwork is made can teach us so much about a specific group and its members. This is as true now as it was in ancient cultures. It can give us information that we may otherwise overlook or undervalue.

Institute of Group Analysis The IGA is the premier institute in the UK for the training of group psychotherapists. Group analysis is an exciting and innovative approach to psychotherapy and has many fascinating and useful applications. On this website you will find information about the IGA and advice on how to train and how to get therapy. We offer a comprehensive and stimulating programme of short courses and workshops. You can begin at Introductory Level and go on to full professional qualification as a group analyst.

Group Work, Group Counselling, and Group Psychotherapy Webring  A ring of sites with content related to group therapy theory and practice. Site material may relate to systems theory, organisational dynamics and consultancy, theoretical perspectives on groups, different types of groups and differing theoretical and practice traditions, the history of group therapy, and material relating to group therapy and group work centres throughout the world.

Why you need to increase your use of group therapy How many of your patients are in group therapy? Ten percent? Five? None? Whatever the number is, it should probably be higher since: 1) in many cases it's just as effective as individual treatment; 2) private-pay clients can more easily afford it; 3) managed care is often more willing to pay for it; 4) it's a more efficient, and therefore profitable, use of your time.

Effectiveness of Group Therapy Group therapy is as effective as individual therapy but far more efficient. Group therapy places less demand on staff resources relative to individual therapy. MacKenzie estimated that in a given health care system, 15% of patients in the system will require long-term therapy (approx. 50 sessions). If these patients receive individual therapy, they will use 37% of staff resources. If these same patients are treated in group therapy the percentage drops to 25, freeing up staff time for the much larger group of patients who require crisis intervention (approx. 8 sessions). Roller (1997) noted, “A group therapist can treat from two to three times as many patients in one-half to one-third of the time”.

The effectiveness of short- and long-term psychodynamic group psychotherapy The empirical evidence for the general effectiveness of group psychotherapy is substantial (e.g. Fuhriman & Burlingame, 1994; Burlingame, Fuhriman, & Mosier, 2003), and comparisons between group and individual psychotherapy yield no significant differences in efficacy (e.g. Smith, Glass, & Miller, 1980; McRoberts, Burlingame, & Matthew, 1998).

Cost-effectiveness of individual versus group psychotherapy for sexually abused girls Children who have been sexually abused may suffer from emotional and behavioural difficulties. Recent research found that individual and group psychotherapy have similar outcomes. In this study we compare the costs and cost-effectiveness of the two therapies and support for carers. Subjects were recruited to two clinics in London and randomly allocated to treatments. Total mean costs of individual therapy were found to be £1246 greater than for group therapy. Costs as they would apply in routine practice were relatively unchanged. Group therapy was thus more cost-effective than individual therapy. Carefully considering the impact of different therapies could allow more treatment to be offered from available staff resources and budgets.

Cost Benefit Analysis of Brief Focal Group Psychotherapy (BFGPT) Dispelling the Myth of the Ineffectiveness of Intensive Group Therapy This study evaluates the efficacy of an intensive 5-day group psychotherapy (BFGPT) for three closed groups of heterogeneous psychiatric outpatients in private practice. Twenty-two patients with a range of common psychiatric disorders, participated in a 27-hour group over 5 days. A self-report measure with nine subscales was administered before, after and 12 months later. Statistically significant and clinically substantial improvements were obtained on completion of the group psychotherapy; these changes were substantially increased at 12 month follow up. The results, when compared with norms of consultation by psychiatrists in Australia, revealed significant cost benefits of BFGPT.

Association for Specialists in Group Work The ASGW WEBPAGE was established to provide a resource base for teachers, students, and practitioners of group work. The ASGW WEBPAGE includes both organisational information (e.g., the purpose of the organisation, its structure, and its calendar of events) and professional resources (e.g., ASGW products, ASGW institutes, and links to other webpages of interest to group workers).

Group Therapy Theory outline notes which describe some of the best known approaches to the therapeutic process in groups.

Clinical Papers written by Peter Zelaskowski including Adolescence and Group Therapy.

Articles on Psychotherapy including Group Psychotherapy and Schools.

Childrens Groups - Parents Groups: Psychodramatic Method in Child Psychotherapy some aspects of the psychodramatic method which are present in the management of child psychotherapy groups.

Submission For Surgeon General's Report On Mental Health Group psychotherapy is effective with emotional disorders in children ranging from severely disturbed children to young people with mild emotional disorders or situational emotional crises. Play group therapy for the pre-school aged child, activity group therapy and discussion-activity group therapy for younger and older latency-aged children, and theme centred groups, organised around a specific emotional disturbance such as bereavement, are proven as a preferred intervention that successfully heals children at risk with emotional traumas and problems when conducted by a qualified group psychotherapist. Group therapy is particularly suited to meet the developmental needs of adolescents, whose major psychological task is separation-individuation. Affiliation to a peer group is primary so that dependency can shift from parents to peers. Thus, in order for adolescents to develop normally, they need the social skills to operate in a group and connect with peers or adolescent pathology arises. The therapy group provides a constructive transitional object to build ego development, learn social skills and eventually achieve constructive independent functioning.

Multiple Family Group Therapy This association focuses on promoting multiple family group therapy to help families obtain their treatment goals.  A unique feature of working with a group of families is the connections families make between members and with other families in the group.  Multiple family group foster the exchange of knowledge and information about local resources while modelling problem-solving skills.

The Essential Elements of Multi-Family Group Therapy The purpose of this Delphi study was to explore and identify a panel of experts’ opinions of essential elements for successful multi-family group therapy (MFGT) and to propose the identified elements as guidelines for future MFGT theoretical and program development.

Multiple-Family Therapy: A Model For Social Worker's At Children's Homes Multiple Family Group Therapy (MFGT) involves working with a collection of families, including the families identified patient, in a group setting. It combines the power of group process with the systems focus of family therapy. MFGT is ideally suited to working with families facing similar problems i.e. schizophrenia, chemical dependence, domestic violence, sexual abuse, having a child in out-of-home placement, etc.

Efficacy of group therapy Find this report half way down the page. An early metaanalysis by Smith, Glass and Miller (1980) concluded that group psychotherapy is an effective model of intervention. Subsequent reviews (Luborsky and others 1993) and meta-analyses (Tillitski 1990; Burlingame and others 1995) further confirm that patients treated in group therapy improve in a manner equivalent to those treated by individual therapy significantly better than wait list controls. Group therapy is utilised both as a stand-alone therapeutic intervention and as an adjunct to other psychiatric treatments, or to medical treatments, in the expanding use of group psychotherapy in the treatment of the medically ill.

Whom to refer for group psychotherapy The authors believe that group psychotherapy is a useful modality in terms of both economic use of resources and manpower and effective treatment for many common problems. Three major indications for group therapy are inappropriate patterns of interpersonal relationships, the tendency to act immediately on feelings, and the potential or existence of a transference that impedes individual therapy. Patients in these categories who are also in crisis or have a neurotic problem for which the development of a transference neurosis is indicated may require individual therapy instead of or in addition to group therapy. The attitude of the referring physician is crucial; he/she must provide support during the transition and must believe that group therapy can substantially benefit the patient.

Group Psychotherapy in the Soviet Union The decisive influence on the theory and practice of Soviet collective psychotherapy came not from psychiatry but from the field of education. Thus a major aspect of it is education and re-education; employing the powerful influence of the peer-group collective under the therapist's guidance. The major emphasis is on emotional support, guidance, and re-education. The author discusses the historical development of collective psychotherapy and the four major contributors to it.

Use of Group Psychotherapy in Posthospitalisation treatment Eight patients on trial visit were treated for 1 year in group psychotherapy. During this time none of the members was rehospitalized and all were discharged, though many had had numerous previous admissions and had been unable to remain out of the hospital during the 1-year trial visit period.

Twenty years of Group Psychotherapy The integration of all available information into one body of knowledge would be a Herculean task; but group psychotherapy may be able to accomplish what psychiatry has been unable to do; integrate the various dynamic theories into one body of scientific knowledge. It is the medium of group psychotherapy itself that may promote such long-overdue integration. The therapy group provides facilities for controlled observation that hardly exist in individual cases. Furthermore, a spirit of increased co-operation characterises all those who have experienced group psychotherapy and benefited from it, patients and therapists alike. Group therapists seem to be willing to exchange their findings and, regardless of their orientation, discuss their observations in a give-and-take way, essential for scientific progress. In this sense psychiatry may experience a true revolution through the new methods it has invented for the treatment of patients.

Group Psychotherapy for Patients Recovering from Psychosis The literature concerning group psychotherapy is briefly reviewed. A report of group psychotherapy in a group of officers recovering from functional psychoses is made. Patients' opinions of this method are reported. It is believed that group psychotherapy is especially adaptable to patients of above average intelligence, and can be used as an adjunct to other forms of therapy. It cannot and should not replace other forms of psychotherapy. It has the special advantage of economy of time. Discussions are carried on in an impersonal manner, patients learn that their illnesses are not individualized, and mass catharsis is noted.

Group Psychotherapy with Hospitalised Patients We have presented some observations regarding group therapy. In the opinion of the writer, group therapy has certain specific and unique advantages for the acutely disturbed patient of the type described. These advantages are: (1) schizophrenics appear to be able to understand one another's behavior and symbolic productions successfully; (2) the learning of new behavioral patterns or modification of old behavior is best achieved for some patients in group therapy; (3) group therapy facilitates the transition and adjustment of the patient to the hospital, and to discharge from the hospital; (4) group psychotherapy greatly facilitates the patient's ultimate adjustment to society.

Group Psychotherapy with Depressed Women At the Mental Health Clinic of De Paul University 14 depressed middle-aged women have been treated in outpatient group therapy. On the basis of demonstrated improvement of patients in the group, the authors suggest that group therapy may be a preferred form of psychotherapy for similar patients.

Issues in developing psychotherapy groups for preschool children in outpatient clinics A survey of 10 randomly selected clinics indicated that only 1 offered group psychotherapy for preschool children. Reasons given for the lack of such programs resembled the resistances encountered in the authors' clinic. The authors describe the solutions they found in creating and running therapy groups for preschool children and in integrating parent counseling with this treatment. It is suggested that professional groups provide in-service training opportunities in this area to counteract resistances resulting from clinic staffs' perceived lack of experience and expertise.

Group Psychotherapy: A Superior Method of Treating Larger Numbers of Neurotic Patients Four years experience with the group method indicates that it is one which may solve the problem of giving adequate psychiatric care to greater numbers of neurotic patients. All of the psychotherapeutic methods of individual therapy are utilised, and their effect seems to be increased in the group because contact with other sufferers gives the patient courage and causes him to lose his feelings of isolation. He is inspired by his fellow sufferers to greater effort in his own behalf. As he improves and can offer encouragement to newcomers he gains a sense of being important in the lives of others. These mechanisms seem to give group treatment greater force than individual therapy. The method permits students to observe and participate in a dynamic psychotherapeutic relationship and has been shown to be of value in military service.

The group psychotherapy dropout phenomenon revisited In this two-year study, patients referred for group therapy were extensively screened and carefully prepared for the therapy. In spite of this effort there was a 29% dropout rate after group therapy began. All of the therapists reported that they disliked the patients who dropped out, and many of these patients were seen as hostile toward the therapists. The author suggests that for many groups the dropout phenomenon may be basic to the establishment of group cohesiveness and that instead of trying to prevent or reduce the dropout phenomenon, efforts should be directed toward reconceptualising the more positive aspects of it.

The use of a written summary in group psychotherapy supervision Clinical supervision is an important feature of the education of the group therapist. The authors describe the application of a summary written by trainee co-therapists in their supervision. They found that the summary, which is supplied to the patients as well as to the supervisor, serves several functions that contribute to improved quality of clinical supervision and training of group therapists.

Psychoanalytic group therapy in clinic and private practice The author reviews the process of psychoanalytic group psychotherapy in private practice and in the clinic setting. He describes the patients who are most likely to be referred for such therapy, most of whom have "failed" in other types of therapy. The group therapist begins with an empathic diagnostic evaluation of the patient's difficulty. As the patient engages in the group, he or she can compensate his or her ego; at the same time the patient develops a transference that is the main source of future work. In time, ego analysis and analysis of the infantile neurosis can be done. Finally, all the analytic work is consolidated during the process of termination.

Group Therapy with Parents The marked improvement shown in home behaviour as well as in school in this brief experimental period points to the effectiveness of this method of approach to the problems of the preadolescent child.

Group Therapy for Mothers and Children in Parallel The author describes the use of parallel therapy groups for mothers and children in dealing with childhood psychiatric problems, particularly those related to separation anxiety and school phobia. The therapy groups have proven successful in cutting down the treatment waiting list and in providing a new source of group therapy manpower from among the mothers.

Group Therapy with Aggressive Adolescent Boys This paper deals with group therapy of 8 adolescent boys in a mental hospital. The group was dominated by the impulse-ridden acting out destructive members. How to keep the group going with these boys who were bent on destroying it became the therapists' central problem. The theme of most of the sessions was "I just care about my own self." Pillars of treatment were 1. sameness of meeting place, time and therapists and attendant; 2. relatively bare room with strong furniture; 3. individualisation of limits; 4. active intervention in fights and withdrawals from the group; 5. the use of tangible incentives for remaining in the group, that is, extra activities planned such as games and parties with the girls. Special difficulties for the therapists in working with such a group were discussed.

A Reassessment of Group Treatment of Latency-Age Children The authors present a new model of group therapy for latency-age children that is based on the unique psychic, physical, and social tasks of the latency phase, including cognitive growth, physical mastery, transition to the reality principle, and entry into group life. The model stresses developmental progression toward these responsibilities rather than resolution of conflict and a multifaceted form of therapy using not only peer groups but also individual, family, and environmental resources.

Concurrent Treatment Groups for Mothers & Children Behaviour problems in 22 children were approached by group treatment of the mothers aimed at the modification of their attitude to the children. Results are better than for a matched number of children treated by orthodox play-therapy for the child and case-work for the mother.

Adler's Psychology and Group Psychotherapy Adler's concept of the social nature of man favoured the use of group treatment, as exemplified by the Child Guidance Clinics in Vienna. Adler considered social interest the criterion of mental health, and the interactions in group therapy foster the development of this social interest. The author deals with the growing use of group therapy, its bases in the principles of Individual Psychology, and the value of a social setting as the mode of treatment.

Child Psychotherapy/Play Therapy

Understanding Childhood Understanding Childhood offers leaflets on children’s emotional development from birth to adulthood. These popular and well-regarded leaflets were written by experienced child and adolescent psychotherapists for the Child Psychotherapy Trust (CPT), which operated successfully from 1987 to 2004. Evaluation shows that the leaflets provide helpful insights into the emotional development of children. The leaflets are widely used by families, health visitors, Sure Starts and other child and family practitioners. They are useful in training and parenting education.

Anna Freud Centre The Anna Freud Centre is the world's leading centre for psychoanalytic child psychotherapy, dedicated to the well-being of children and their families. The Centre's cutting edge neuroscientific and psychosocial research is carried out in collaboration with Yale University and the Menninger Department of Psychiatry at Baylor Medical College.

PTUK Our site is intended to provide a complete information resource for therapeutic play, play therapy and creative arts therapies.  It is designed for anyone interested in helping children with emotional literacy, behaviour or mental health problems including parents, carers, teaching staff, nurses, care workers, social workers, counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, play therapists, students etc.

Theraplay: An Overview Anne Marshak Jernberg originally developed the therapy methods that would become Theraplay through working with children in headstart programs in Chicago. She and colleagues noticed that many of the children they worked with had "failed to make proper early attachment to their parents" (Jernberg 1993b, p. 46). In addition to poor parental involvement in the lives of these children, their home environments were often what could be described as being "deprived"--- deprived of positive stimuli and of an atmosphere in which the child felt "special". In interactions with these children, Jernberg repeatedly found that these were children who seemed to be lost in the shuffle among the adults in charge of their lives. She quickly formed the impression that they "needed a therapy that could bond poorly bonded parent and children at the most primitive (nonverbal) level" (Jernberg, 1993a, p. 47).

Ethics, Psychology, and Therapeutic Practice I argue that how the relationship between psychology and ethics is constructed has important implications for the way therapy
is defined and the way it is practised. The chapter draws on social science and thus offers a somewhat different view from texts that attend more specifically to professional ethics and codes of practice, such as Bond (2000) and Jones et al. (2000), and from those that explore a broader ethical territory, such as Holmes and Lindley (1998) and Tjeltveit (1999).

Clare Winnicott: Life & Work Clare Winnicott was one of the leading British social workers of the 20th century.   The wife of Donald Winnicott, an analysand of Melanie Klein, a wartime innovator in caring for evacuated children, a teacher and mentor to a generation of social workers, and a gifted psychotherapist, Clare Winnicott's life encompassed a remarkable richness of relationships and accomplishments.

Psychodynamics

British Psychoanalytical Society Papers The primary purpose of our website is that of providing a medium for the open communication and exchange of information about psychoanalysis and the clinical and theoretical contributions of the British Psychoanalytical Society in particular. In doing this we intend to convey and uphold the distinctive values and ethics of psychoanalysis, including the essential privacy and confidentiality of patients, without which authentic psychoanalysis could not take place.
 

UKCP The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy's purpose is to promote the art and science of psychotherapy for the public benefit; to promote research and education in psychotherapy and disseminate the results of any such research; and to promote (or assist in the promotion, preservation and protection of public health by encouraging) high standards of training and practice in psychotherapy and the wider provision of psychotherapy for the public.

Psychotherapeutic Practice and Theory Webring  Ring of sites with content related to psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, psychodynamics, family therapy, group therapy, cognitive therapy, art therapy, and the multitude of other psychotherapeutic practices that are in some way supported by mainstream professional practice.

Faulty Schema of Cognitive Therapy In the land of psychotherapy for depression, crowned by the research literature, cognitive therapy has long reigned supreme. Is the emperor as fully clothed as everyone seems to think?

The Efficacy of Psychotherapy Summary of research findings.

Effectiveness of Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy Research study.

Self Psychology

Self Psychology Page This site is dedicated to discussion, information, and communication regarding Heinz Kohut's psychoanalytic psychology of the self and contemporary developments.

Art Therapy

Art Therapy This page will hopefully answer some questions you may have about Art Therapy, what exactly it is and who may be able to benefit from it.

Art Therapy Resources The American Art Therapy Association, Inc. serves as a clearinghouse for information about the field of art therapy.

British Association of Art Therapists The web site includes: What is Art Therapy? About the British Association of Art Therapists; BAAT membership; News and events; Qualifications required and training courses.

Family Therapy/Systems Theory/Cybernetics

Gregory Bateson Links Bateson has been a very important inspiration in the field of family therapy, and Neuro Linguistic Programming, having served as a mentor to both Richard Bandler and John Grinder and introducing them to medical hypnotist Milton Erickson. One of the threads that connects Bateson's work is an interest in systems theory and cybernetics. Bateson's take on these fields centres upon their relationship to epistemology, and this central interest provides the undercurrents of his thought.

Gregory Bateson: Ecology of Mind Gregory Bateson [1904 - 1980] - Anthropologist, Social Scientist, Cyberneticist - known as Gregory - was one of the most important social scientists of this century. Strongly opposing those scientists who attempted to ‘reduce’ everything to mere matter, he was intent upon the task of re-introducing ‘Mind’ back into the scientific equations - writing two famous books Steps to an Ecology of Mind, and Mind & Nature as part of this task. From his point of view Mind is a constituent part of ‘material reality’ and it is thus nonsensical to try to split mind from matter. Before being championed by the counter-culture of the 1960’s Bateson had been busy in the 20’s and 30’s as an anthropologist in Bali, and in helping to found the science of cybernetics among many other things. Adopted by many thinkers in the anti-psychiatry movement because he provided a model and a new epistemology for developing a novel understanding of human madness, and also for his invention of the theory of the double bind.

Resources for Marriage and Family Therapy MFTSource is designed to assist mental health professionals seeking resources for marriage and family therapy. By gathering links to National Public Radio broadcasts on various mental health topics as well as links to books, magazines, forums and clinical tools, MFTSource will have some valuable clinical resources to offer you.

Family Therapy History & Links The practice of treating psychological problems in the context of the family did not actually begin until the mid 1950's. However, the developmental roots of family therapy were founded much earlier in social and theoretical changes and developments in the field of psychology. Family therapy evolved out of the reigning paradigm of psychoanalysis and the medical psychiatric model as patients' treatment needs seemed to go beyond the psychoanalytic workroom (Nichols & Schwartz, Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods. Fourth edition. Allyn & Bacon). Today more contemporary cultural influences such as managed health care have favoured the usually quicker approach of treating the entire family as opposed to each individual member.

Cybernetics and Systems Theory The following links provide general background information on the field of Cybernetics and Systems Theory, an interdisciplinary academic domain.

Humberto Maturana Humberto Maturana [1928] - Biologist, Cybernetician, Scientist - invented his theory of autopoiesis following in the pathways of Bateson, Wittgenstein, the social ‘ricorso’ of Vico, the self-production notion of Paul Weiss, and many others. He has spent his career elaborating this theory within a biological research programme in his laboratory in Santiago [above which was written ‘Experimental Epistemology Lab’]. Known world-wide as Humberto {except in Italy where he is ‘Umberto’}, he continues to elaborate his theory generating experimental evidence for the thesis that reality is a consensual communal construction while appearing to be ‘objectively’ existing. The notion of ‘objectivity’ is replaced by that of ‘constructivism’.

Association for Family Therapy AFT is the Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice in the UK. There are over 1,800 members of AFT. The membership of AFT is multi-disciplinary; it includes family therapists, teachers, social workers, psychologists, child and adult psychiatrists, occupational therapists, community psychiatric nurses, conciliation and court welfare officers, guardians ad litem, general practitioners, health visitors and other psychotherapists, as well as those who train and manage these professions. Overseas members are welcome.

Systemic Practice Network This section of the forallthat web-site was originally to link you to papers from the conference in Stirling in March 2000, "Connections in Practice". Now it also carries any other material on the themes of Demystification and Systemic Practice. This website, Forallthat, and the (initially Scottish) Systemic Practice Network was conceived and coordinated by Nick Child.

Family conflict and Child Development The theoretical underpinnings of the present case study are those of Object Relations Family Therapy.

Projective identification in common couple dances This paper integrates the object relations concept of projective identification and the systemic concept of marital dances to develop a more powerful model for working with more difficult and distressed couples. This integrated model explains how some couples use the defences of splitting and projective identification to externalise and transpose internal conflicts into interpersonal conflicts in five common marital dances.

Brief Therapy

Brief Therapy The Brief Solution Focused Therapy Practice was founded in 1989 and is now Europe's largest provider of solution focused training with over 4000 professionals from the NHS, local authorities, education and private sector attending courses each year.

Brief Family Therapy Because of it's emphasis on solutions rather than problems, Solution Focused Brief Therapy is perfectly suited to work wherever people want to get along and to live with each other in more harmonious manner.

Prevention/Early Intervention

The Prevention Researcher Over the years, The Prevention Researcher has evolved into a quarterly journal providing evidence and results-based research articles focused on adolescents that are applicable for real-life situations. Designed as a science-to-service connection, each issue focuses on a single topic, providing in-depth information written in a straightforward style by top researchers. In addition to our quarterly issues (published each February, April, September and November), we also produce an annual Resource Issue. This issue is filled with Q & As, interviews, website and book reviews, a cumulative subject index and other prevention-related resources.

What is Early Intervention? After nearly 50 years of research, there is evidence--both quantitative (data-based) and qualitative (reports of parents and teachers)--that early intervention increases the developmental and educational gains for the child, improves the functioning of the family, and reaps long-term benefits for society. Early intervention has been shown to result in the child: (a) needing fewer special education and other habilitative services later in life; (b) being retained in grade less often; and (c) in some cases being indistinguishable from nonhandicapped classmates years after intervention.

The Global Early Intervention Network The Global Early Intervention Network (GEIN) is an online informational resource and discussion community. We are dedicated to helping parents, service providers, students, faculty and others learn more about early intervention. The GEIN is intended to provide high quality information, peer support, problem-solving assistance, continuous learning, and research related to early intervention.

International Society on Early Intervention Providing effective early intervention programs for vulnerable children and their families constitutes one of the most important challenges for contemporary societies. State-of-the-art intervention requires the contributions of specialists from many disciplines, the construction of programs that are firmly rooted in biomedical and behavioural research, a program development component that is capable of incorporating emerging research findings, and advocates and administrators to ensure that funding, personnel, and related resources and policies are available and consistent with the knowledge base and goals of early intervention.

Infant and Toddler Mental Health Increasingly, research points to the wisdom of investing resources "upfront" in the areas of promotion, prevention, and early intervention for children's mental health . Meeting the mental health needs of all young children and families through careful planning, integration of services and supports, and the full participation of families, providers, and other community members, makes good economic sense and helps assure good outcomes for our children, their families, and our communities.

Improving Mother/Child Interaction This document is a practical manual for the facilitators in the World Health Organization/ International Child Development Programmes for promoting the optimum psychosocial development of children by improving the interaction between children and their caregivers. The facilitators would normally be trained paraprofessionals who undertake the training of the caregivers.

Mental Health in Infancy Babies do not exhibit the classic symptoms of mental illness and disorder and thus the importance of mental health services in infancy is not well understood. But babies do demonstrate through, for example, poor sleep patterns, difficulties with feeding, restlessness and gastric disturbance, that they are anxious and tense, distressed and fearful. These emotions need to be responded to with love and empathy by those on whom they depend for survival. Supporting families to provide this response is essential, in order to reduce the incidence of mental health problems and their consequences in later life.

Early Childhood Mental Health & Development Toolkit Identifying difficulties early, in the 0-to-5 year age range, and providing families with the proper assessments and interventions can make a difference in a child’s earliest years and for many years thereafter.

Association for Infant Mental Health UK The Association aims to bring together professionals working to promote the mental health of infants, such as psychiatrists, psychotherapists, psychologists, social workers, nursery nurses, teachers, CPNs, health visitors, midwives, GPs, paediatricians and others. AIMH UK plans to provide information to support those campaigning for resources for infants and their families and to promote infant mental health through publicity, strategic discussions and conferences.

Building Capacity for Mental Health From mid July 1998 to the end of May 1999, Auseinet provided seed funding and intensive support to eight agencies that provided services to children and young people to reorient an aspect of their service to an early intervention approach to mental health. The aim was to give the agencies the opportunity to build their capacity by developing a range of tailored, potentially sustainable strategies.

Early Intervention The Mental Health Foundation commissioned this report on the basis of its National Enquiry into the Mental Health of Children and Young People, ‘Bright Futures’. It aims to summarise a variety of interventions designed to improve parenting, family functioning and young children’s mental health and to promote thinking about future work rather a definitive summary of existing knowledge.

Prevention in Psychiatry This report aims to provide psychiatrists and others involved in the promotion of mental health and the care of the mentally ill with an evidence-based approach to preventive interventions. It begins with a background section introducing concepts related to mental health promotion and the prevention of psychiatric disorders. Prevention is then considered in relation to the different stages of the life cycle, beginning in the womb and ending with the approach of death. Life cycle chapters are provided for the prenatal period and infancy; childhood, puberty and early adolescence; late adolescence and young adulthood; adulthood; older people; and the stage of approaching death. Account is taken of the fact that the influences acting at one stage of the life cycle will impact on the rates of disorder in later stages. Further, traumatic events such as physical or sexual abuse will impact not only on the individual concerned throughout the life cycle, but on subsequent generations.

Preventive activities are then considered in relation to the different settings in which they can take place. Settings considered include the neighbourhood and the community; early years provision, school and higher education; the workplace; residential care settings; the criminal justice system and prisons; primary care settings; the general hospital; and specialist psychiatric settings. In all of these preventive activities relevant to psychiatric disorders need to be placed and maintained on the agenda, and the report provides practical, evidence-based information how this may be achieved.

Perinatal Period This current series deals with clinical approaches to early intervention for the mental health of young people. The AusEinet team asked some leading clinical researchers in Australia to review the evidence base for recent clinical approaches to early intervention in their particular fields of interest.

Crisis Intervention

Crisis Intervention A number of links to crisis intervention sites and papers.

Effective Models This report is part of the New Zealand Mental Health Research and Development Strategy. It attempts to systematically review the literature since 1990 on the provision of mental health crisis services. We developed a search strategy of electronic databases and found about 350 relevant articles. The vast majority of these studies were descriptions of “model” services with few analytical studies. There is no evidence that one model of service provision is better than another.

Multisystemic Therapy

Multisystemic Therapy Here you will find an abundance of information regarding Multisystemic Therapy (MST). MST is a unique and exciting treatment methodology proven to have positive effects on serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders. It is a treatment model that can be adopted by any organization that provides services to the families of youths with serious behaviour problems in the interest of improving their overall long-term effectiveness, while realising significant cost savings.

MST Institute The Institute is responsible for setting quality assurance standards and monitoring the implementation of Multisystemic Therapy in all programs worldwide. This site provides information about the measures and procedures used to monitor MST programs.

Attachment Theory

Attachment Theory Attachment theory is meant to describe and explain people's enduring patterns of relationships from birth to death. This domain overlaps considerably with that of Interpersonal Theory. Because attachment is thought to have an evolutionary basis, attachment theory is also related to Evolutionary Psychology.

Centre for Family Development Parents of attachment disordered children experience a high level of stress and need support and understanding in order to help their children and survive as a family.  The Centre for Family Development offers a support group which is intended as an opportunity for parents to share parenting strategies, learn about approaches that work, support others, find support, and develop co-operative respite arrangements. This site contains information, reading lists, articles.

Parenting: Attachment, Bonding and Reactive Attachment Disorder Online resources on parenting and attachment.

A Brief Overview of Adult Attachment Theory and Research Research on adult attachment is guided by the assumption that the same motivational system that gives rise to the close emotional bond between parents and their children is responsible for the bond that develops between adults in emotionally intimate relationships. The objective of this essay is to provide people who are new to the field - or people who may simply be interested in learning more about research on adult attachment - a brief overview of the history of adult attachment research, the key theoretical ideas, and a sampling of some of the research findings.

Attachment Theory and Psychotherapy In this article, I would like to speak about attachment theory and its application to psychotherapy in general.  I will first begin with an overview of attachment theory and the assessment of attachment status.  Then, I will discuss other contemporary authors who are exploring the clinical aspects of attachment theory.  The article will finish with how I believe attachment theory may inform our understanding and development of the therapeutic alliance.

Positive Psychology

Authentic Happiness Positive Psychology, a new branch of psychology which focuses on the empirical study of such things as positive emotions, strengths-based character, and healthy institutions.

UK Positive Psychology Network The UK Positive Psychology Network is a collective of UK researchers with shared interests in the science and practice of positive psychology. There is a resource and web link section.

Motivational Interviewing

Introduction to Motivational Interviewing Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a counselling technique that was originally developed within medical settings to help people with addiction problems (Miller and Rollnick, 1991, 2002). It was based on the idea that people are not always in a state of readiness to change their patterns of drinking, smoking, drug use, exercise or diet. MI differs from many other counselling techniques in that it does not assume a person wants to change a particular aspect of his or her behaviour. It also acknowledges that there may be reasons why a person chooses to maintain a behaviour.

Humanistic Psychology

UK Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners Humanistic Psychology emphasises the uniqueness of every human being, and the growth and development of the individual as the result of experience allied with understanding. UKAHPP practitioners are therefore concerned with helping their clients and students realise their own unique potential.

Eye Movement Desensitisation

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) therapy has emerged as a procedure to be reckoned with in psychology....Almost a million people have been treated .... Also, further research appears to support the remarkable claims made for EMDR therapy."

Hypnotherapy

National Council for Hypnotherapy NCH currently represent over 800 practitioners within the United Kingdom and are committed to ensuring the highest possible professional standards amongst our members. Find out how we deliver our services, training, accreditation and support our members.

Personal Construct Psychology

Personal Construction Theory & Repertory Grid The key message of the Personal Construction Theory is that the world is 'perceived' by a person in terms of whatever 'meaning' that person applies to it and the person has the freedom to choose a different 'meaning' of whatever he or she wants. In other words, as suggested by George Kelly, the original proponent of the theory, the person has the 'freedom to choose' the meaning that one prefers or likes. He called this alternative constructivism. In simple words, the person is capable of applying alternative constructions (meanings) to any events in the past, present or future. The person is not a prisoner of one's 'biography or past' and could liberate oneself from the misery of 'miserable' events if one desires by reconstruing (reinterpreting and redefining) them. The theory rejects the existing schism between affect, cognition, and action and recommends that they be construed together for developing a fuller understanding of human behaviour. This site contains links to other personal construct psychology sites.

Narrative Therapy

Narrative Psychology: Internet and Resource Guide This site focuses upon narrative perspectives in psychology and allied disciplines and provides an introductory and interdisciplinary guide to bibliographical and Internet resources concerned with "the storied nature of human conduct" (Sarbin, 1986) broadly conceived. Narrative in psychology itself has developed particularly notable links with the emergent discipline of cultural psychology (Bruner, 1990).

Narrative Approaches Dissertations, Teaching Materials, Supervision and Training, Bibliographies etc.

Narrative Therapy Narrative therapy is premised on the idea that the lives and the relationships of persons are shaped by: the knowledge and stories that communities of persons negotiate and engage in to give meaning to their experiences: and certain practices of self and of relationship that make up ways of life associated with this knowledge and stories. A narrative therapy assists persons to resolve problems by: enabling them to separate their lives and relationships from knowledge and stories that they judge to be impoverishing; assisting them to challenge the ways of life that they find subjugating; and, encouraging persons to re-author their own lives according to alternative and preferred stories of identity, and according to preferred ways of life. Narrative therapy has particular links with Family Therapy and those therapies which have a common ethos of respect for the client, and an acknowledgement of the importance of context, interactlon, and the social constructlon of meaning.

Journal of Pastoral Counseling. Narrative Therapy Issue Special Issue on Narrative Therapy

Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt Therapy Page All about Gestalt Therapy

Interpersonal Theory

Interpersonal Theory Interpersonal theory deals with people's characteristic interaction patterns, which vary along the dimensions of dominance and friendliness. Interpersonal theory's two dimensions are part of the Five-Factor Model, and its interpersonal focus is shared with Attachment Theory.

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

Research Studies on Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Article abstracts.

Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder Dialectical Behaviour Therapy is based on a bio-social theory of borderline personality disorder. Linehan hypothesises that the disorder is a consequence of an emotionally vulnerable individual growing up within a particular set of environmental circumstances which she refers to as the 'Invalidating Environment'.

Cognitive Therapy

All You Need is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Psychological therapies increasingly form an integral part of government planning for mental health care, and cognitive behaviour therapy tends to be seen as the first line treatment for many psychiatric disorders. The superior showing of cognitive behaviour therapy in trials may be more apparent than real. Psychotherapy is concerned with people in a developmental context and cannot be reduced to the technical elimination of "disorders". Psychotherapy research and practice must move beyond "brand names" of different therapies to an emphasis on common factors, active ingredients, specific skills, and psychotherapy integration

Cognitive Therapy Cognitive therapy or cognitive behaviour therapy is a kind of psychotherapy used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, phobias, and other forms of mental disorder. There are several approaches to cognitive-behavioural therapy, including Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, Rational Behaviour Therapy, Rational Living Therapy, Cognitive Therapy, and Dialectic Behavior Therapy. A related approach, Cognitive Analytic Therapy, can be regarded as a form of integrative therapy, integrating insights of both psychodynamic (especially Kleinian) therapy with a broad cognitive approach to therapy.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) invests ultimate control in the individual, suggesting that by using thought, individuals can effect seismic shifts in their outer worlds, with nothing whatsoever attributed to social structures, cultural roles, interaction, genetics, or just dumb luck. It posits that thoughts create reality, investing in the individual both extraordinary power and extraordinary responsibility. Egocentricity is central. Craving becomes having. Wanting becomes deserving. Entitlement is all. The right to perpetual happiness is a given.

Letting the Cartesian cat out A sharp and revealing critique of ‘The middlebrow land of cognitive therapy’. In Fancher’s view the fundamental value of the culture of cognitive therapy is ‘approval of and conformity to the conceptual and social status quo’. Its basic norm is this: ‘Except for how the patient thinks, everything is okay. Reality is not pathogenic. Just think straight and life can be good enough.’ In the course of contesting one of the central tenets of cognitive therapy, ‘that one cannot rationally hold sweeping negative beliefs about oneself, one's world and one's future’, Fancher produces an argument that is complex and interesting and should be widely read.

BABPC The British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP)is a multi-disciplinary interest group for people involved in the practice and theory of behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy.

"Once you permit those who are convinced of their own superior rightness to censor and silence and suppress those who hold contrary opinions, just at that moment the citadel has been surrendered." Archibald MacLeish (1892-1982)

 

Counselling

Diagnosing the Growth of Counselling The counselling field has come in for significant media criticism in recent times, but of at least as much concern is the increasing attention being paid to the growth of counselling by other 'mental health' professionals (Persaud, 1996; Wessely 1996) - not least, no doubt, because of the potential threat that the rise of counselling and its undoubted popularity poses to those professions. In the August edition of Counselling, Consultant Psychiatrist Raj Persaud detailed at some length his own unease about the growth of counselling. In what follows I offer a detailed response to his arguments; and while there are some significant points of agreement between us, ultimately, and as I will try to show, Persaud's analysis is based on an inadequate understanding of the nature and assumptive base of counselling

Assessment

Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale has been developed to assist primary care health professionals to detect mothers suffering from postnatal depression; a distressing emotional condition more prolonged than the "blues" (which occur in the first week after delivery) but less severe than puerperal psychosis.

HoNOSCA Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents was developed for children and adolescents (under the age of 18) in contact with mental health services. The use of HoNOSCA has been fully supported by the Department of Health and was employed in the Audit Commission survey of child and adolescent mental health services in 1998. A very basic screening questionnaire of limited usefulness.

Kiddie-SADS-PL The K-SADS-PL is a semi-structured diagnostic interview designed to assess current and past episodes of psychopathology in children and adolescents according to the limited classificatory categories listed by DSM-III-R and DSM-IV.

Rosenberg Self esteem Scale The scale is a ten item Likert scale with items answered on a four point scale - from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The original sample for which the scale was developed consisted of 5,024 High School Juniors and Seniors from 10 randomly selected schools in New York State.

SDQ Information for researchers and professionals about the Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaires.

Salford Needs Assessment The S.NASA is a flexible Needs Assessment instrument designed to help with care planning. It is intended for use by staff assessing adolescents with complex needs.