Tag Archives: politics

Information on the Government imposing therapy and unpaid work

UK people are being forced into unpaid work and therapy

The Workfare scheme in the UK forces people with mental health issues into unpaid work and motivational therapy in order to make them work, fit or not.

Forced therapy

Therapy disguised as confidence or motivation training, personal skills etc tries to force people into being “fixed” in order to work. Failure to cooperate means benefits being cut / sanctioned. Now known as “psycho-compulsion”

Forced unpaid work

Working unpaid is apparently “magic cure” to make people motivated and well! Working without pay, normal work rights etc!

What is mental health

Mental health is a concept and not a fixed biomedical term. It is hard to evaluate and can not be fairly tested in the same way a s a physical injury.

The individual and the society

We live IN society. We are not 100% responsible for depression, anxiety and other mental health issues. These are often partly due to environment, experience and society. Yet neo-liberal thinking treats people as responsible entirely for their mental wellbeing.

 

Please take time to watch this video to learn more

 

Key Words

Critical psychotherapy, critical psychology, politics, self and society, welfare state, workfare, mental health and employment, counsellors, counselling, psychotherapy for work, sanctioned benefits, neo-liberal politics. politics and psychology

Contact via the contact us page HERE

Ongoing Mindfulness and philosophy service expansion

Development of existing service continues….

Both Stuart and his colleague and Scotlandtherapy partner Denise are dedicated to ongoing learning and development, and therefore complete additional university based and practical Ongoing Professional Development training each and every year. This is all on top of existing professional qualification training.

Mindfulness and Philosophy

Stuart in particular has completed additional trainings this year in MBCT (mindfulness based cognitive therapy), CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) for depression and additional training in general mindfulness. He is booked to attend additional specialist training in the use of philosophical models in psychotherapy later in the year, which should nicely complement his nearly completed BA (Hons) in Psychology and philosophy of the mind. This is on pause at the moment since the last university model will not become available until late 2017.

Additional University based learning

Both Stuart and Denise has multiple university awards. Stuart has two University Certificates of Education (Undergraduate) from Lampeter and Edinburgh Universities, Bachelor degrees from City of Birmingham University and the Open University, and a Masters Degree from the Open University. He is about to begin a new degree alongside completing a Psychology and Philosophy of the Mind degree, this time in International Relations, specialising in the effect of ecology and politics on people, with specific regard to mental health issues and disability issues. This ties in with his work writing a regular political column for Self and Society professional journal and other publications and articles.

Denise has completed an undergraduate certificate of Education from Edinburgh University and two bachelor degrees from the Open University. She is about to embark on a third degree, focusing on Business, in particular human resources.

Keywords
Business studies, psychology, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, mindfulness, MBCT, CBT, politics, human resources, mental health, disability issues, social studies, social policy, social environment, depression, anxiety, bipolar, environmental psychology, Edinburgh, Falkirk, psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, counsellor, psychoanalyst

Contact via the contact us page HERE

Book Review published, critical psychotherapy

 

Critical psychotherapy, psychoanalysis and counselling: implications for practice

Edited by Del Lowental and contributed to by leading writers in the field of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, including some colleagues, this book is a major contribution to critical thinking in the psychological therapies.

 

My review is available to those with university / Taylor and Francis access HERE

 

Key words
Critical psychotherapy, critical psychology, critical thinking, counselling, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, psychology, ideology, politics, scientific terminology, reasoning, therapy

Contact via the contact us page HERE

Political Diary in Self and Society

Political Diary

From this current issue I will be writing a political diary in Self and Society, a professional Journal for a major professional body.

The diary covers the events of the day, focused around the effects politics have on the psychology professions and our clients.

Accessing the diary

Self and Society is a Routledge published journal via their Taylor and Francis section and if you have academic access via your university then you should be able to log in.

Direct link: HERE

Key words
Psychology, politics, psychology profession, psychotherapy, psychotherapy clients, politics in the UK, UK Politics, social science, philosophy, counselling professions, regulation and standards in psychotherapy, humanistic psychology

Contact via the contact us page HERE