Unfortunately, the original scheduled speaker for the evening (Mark Conway) was unable to attend the event. The evening was well attended and required extra seating, so luckily for us, TAP Council member Caroline Barrett
stepped into the breach and heroically presented `Physical Wellbeing & Mental Health` with just twenty minutes notice!
​



In a presentation that actively encouraged audience participation in a workshop style, Caroline firstly asked `What aspects of your physical wellbeing do you maintain, to support your mental health?   Together with - Are we being negligent if we do not reference our client’s physical wellbeing and how it affects their mental health?  Given a few minutes to work with people next to them, attendees soon shared interesting aspects of their own work and experiences around self care.  The issue of clients actively perpetuating their problems such as anxiety by their own life style was addressed and further posed the question of therapists working with this in their sessions.  An example might be the client staying up late playing computer games and not getting enough sleep or perhaps partaking of alcohol in the mornings. The audience was asked to reflect on how most therapists won’t gain any formal education in nutrition during their training and so their areas of expertise could be rather homespun.

With the aid of slides, Caroline offered more questions for the audience to work with including:   `Are we working from a place of knowledge privilege` and `How did questions about your personal health choices and your practice make you feel?  Do you think you could be asked about this topic in a way which doesn’t provoke an emotional response?`  With no shortage of input from attendees the evening moved swiftly along and Caroline was thanked profusely for rescuing the evening in the vote of thanks.

However, the debate continued over hot beverages and biscuits, when in a conversation with TAP blog writer David Trott, Caroline explained a little about the rationale behind her presentation. `I think the key point I was trying to get across is that whilst therapists are aware of the impact of physical health on mental health, using it a lot in our own self-care practice, there is a lot of chat about promoting wellbeing by our professional bodies and theoretically there is a lot of research to say that improving physical health improves mental health but we are not trained in it and lack theoretical models in most common counselling disciplines therefore it is important we take opportunities to reflect on where it sits within our client work.`

The next TAP Talk takes place on Friday 21st February 2020, when Claire Plews presents 'Resilience in Therapy', which once again promises to be an informative and valuable Talk.  

All are welcome. 

Talk write- up provided by TAP Council member David Trott

Subject: Suicide Awareness & Response


Dr Andrew Tresidder & Alison van Laar


​Participants of the latest TAP Saturday workshop braved a wet and cold wintry morning on the 9th  Nov 2019 to attend a training day by Dr Andrew Tresidder, and Alison van Laar entitled `Suicide Awareness and Response`. Introduced by TAP chair Helena Trump, Andrew and Alison firstly established how the group would work together throughout the day including looking after each other and confidentiality on what can be a distressing and difficult subject. Expectations of the group were examined, which included learning more about suicide running in families, fear of using the word in therapy and therapist’s responsibilities among many others.

Setting the scene with some statistics, workshop participants heard that nationally, of those taking their own life only 30% had any contact with any Mental Health Services in the 12 months before their death.  Research shows that 75% of suicides are male and the highest rate occurs in men aged between 30–59 years old although recently a rise in female rates of suicide has been recorded. In the UK it is said that 1 in 30 of us experience suicidal thoughts each year and that 1 in 10 act upon these thoughts.  Suicide is the commonest cause of death in men and women aged 20-35, significantly above the rates for road traffic accidents, murder and heart disease. 

No longer classed as a `crime` reports of suicide has seen the declining use of the verb `commit`, instead `complete` is more often used. This is in sharp contrast to England in the 13th Century where suicide was condemned as a mortal sin in the eyes of the Church and if proven the person would denied a proper burial and instead would be taken to a crossroads outside of the village in the dead of night and buried in a makeshift grave with no clergy or mourners.  It was not until 1961 that suicide was decriminalised in the UK.
 
Working in pairs or triads, workshop participants were asked to consider when they have had someone concerned about suicidal thinking come and talk to them and to reflect on how it went and any risk factors identified. It was heard that `risk` is heightened by access to means, being bereaved, alcohol abuse, living alone and isolation, financial and legal problems, criminal proceedings, divorce, being bullied and unemployment among many other influences.
 
Andrew and Alison offered the view that suicidal thinking does not lead inevitably to the actual act and that suicidal thoughts occur in response to emotional or physical pain. It’s thought that most people just want to feel better in the present time and not end their life forever. Encouragingly the most powerful medicine for people with suicidal thoughts is `Hope`.
 
Andrew Tresidder is an accomplished author and copies of his book `Health and Self-Care` were on sale to participants of the workshop. For those keen to stay `paperless`, a free download of the book can be obtained here:  www.healthandself.care

The day was punctuated with breaks for coffee, lunch and tea, which gave the group time to interact with each other, the presenters and to compare notes.  By the end of the day it was clear that the workshop had been a great success and Alison and Andrew were thanked with a warm round of applause. Those interested in future TAP workshops are encouraged to regularly visit this website to view exciting new events for 2020. Remember, all welcome.
 
Workshop write-up provided by TAP Council Member David Trott

​​
Open to the general public as well as professionals, Taunton Association of Psychotherapists (TAP) hosted another interesting talk on Friday the 15th November at the Quaker meeting House in Taunton. The talk, ‘Diversity in Practice’ was given by Berkeley Wilde, founder and director of The Diversity Trust.

Berkeley has extensive experience within the field of diversity stretching back 30 years and encompassing a variety of settings including Relate, Terrence Higgins Trust, Department of Health, an All Parliamentary Group and with the European Men's Health Forum in Brussels. Berkeley also received the Ann Wood Award for making an Outstanding Contribution to Tackling Domestic Abuse in 2016.
 
The Diversity Trust, established in 2012, provides training and consultancy across a range of services; private, public sector and social purpose, to support and promote equality and inclusion. Berkeley describes the core tenets of the trust as research and evidence-based, this includes established links with higher and further education and researcher partnerships. The trust is also ethics led, this is clearly demonstrated by their policy of ‘open access’, making large amounts of research and materials freely accessible to the general public from their website www.diversitytrust.org.uk 

Berkeley covered a huge amount of information, delivered in a relaxed and engaging way, which made a potentially challenging topic accessible to all. Not only was the historical and political context of gender and sexuality outlined, but also a critical eye was cast over the complexities and impact of language. In addition, how these and other barriers experienced by members of the LGBT+ community may prevent support seeking and inclusion and how services can make small alterations to indicate their recognition of diversity, making them a safe space.
 
Diversity and inclusion, whilst terms increasingly common, are arguably, nuanced concepts, the depths of which are not often explored. By using easy to understand models and case studies to help people visualize the concepts being discussed, interesting insights were gained by all who attended.
 
This talk also whets the appetite for TAP’s March conference ‘Exploring Gender Diversity and Bias in Therapeutic Settings’ with eminent speakers Dr Jay Stewart, MBE and Russell J. Thomas, which presents professionals and public alike the opportunity to gain a wealth of understanding about issues related to diversity, structural and unconscious bias.

Talk write-up provided by TAP Council Member - Caroline Barrett

The next TAP talk takes place on the 17th January 2020 with speaker Mark Conway on ‘Working with trauma and emotional dysregulation from a skills based perspective’.  
​All are welcome.

If you would like to attend the next talk, please register your interest on the form below or e-mail taplimited@hotmail.co.uk

Widely anticipated as an especially valuable and useful presentation for TAP members and guests, a large audience gathered on 18 October to hear Dr Jane Woodend present her talk.

​The Talk was built around Jane’s research, findings and learning for her PhD (and included theory from Freud) together with the some of the life stories she heard from interviewees. Jane’s early career included working as an Occupational Therapist and NHS Manager and following her training as a psychodynamic counsellor she then completed a post-graduate training and is now with Five Valleys Counselling in Gloucestershire where she works with individuals and couples with a wide variety of issues. Jane also has a MSc in applied Psychology. 

With the aid of slides, Jane offered the observation that endings were an inevitable part of life and can be experienced in personal relationships, family life, work and social life and of course in counselling and psychotherapy. The impact of these endings on our lives and how that plays into our endings in therapy was examined and looked at from the perspectives of both the client and the therapist. The rationale behind Jane’s work was revealed and may have surprised the audience who might have expected Jane to have experienced a raft of dreadful endings: the reality was very different.  Jane explained that within her childhood there had been no divorces, house moves or deaths and her education was comparatively local. Her upbringing had been happy and consistent and this very state of affairs had spurred her into her research.

The title of Jane’s Talk comes directly from her investigation for her PhD where the 1953 book The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler was studied. The book concerns the nature of attachments and the illusion of endings, cleverly presented within the genre of detective fiction.  A literature review early on in her research took Jane to Freud and she spoke about what he had to say about endings including the quote “We must first of all decide what is meant by the ambiguous phrase ‘the end of an analysis’…”.  The audience heard how Freud addressed issues of loss in his 1917 paper ‘Mourning and Melancholia’, where he defines `mourning` as the reaction to the loss of a loved one or one’s country, liberty or an ideal. So we see that Freud is writing about mourning and loss and not exactly endings.  Jane suggested that Freud inadvertently set the theory and practice for ending psychotherapeutic relationships where we see the connection between endings and death running through the psychodynamic model.

All too soon this beautifully sculptured and presented Talk came to a close and ended with a number of thought provoking questions, observations and a warm round of applause.  

Talk write-up provided by TAP Council Member - David Trott

The next TAP Talk takes place on 15 November 2019 when BERKELEY WILDE presents 'Diversity in Practice', which addresses how professionals can improve the engagement, services and support offered to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people. All are welcome. 

If you would like to attend the next talk, please register your interest on the form below or e-mail taplimited@hotmail.co.uk

The talk subject: "Perspectives on Fibromyalgia"
​
On 20 September, the Taunton Association for Psychotherapy opened it’s doors after the summer break and welcomed members and guests to another of it’s legendary Talks.  In a change of speakers due to ill health, TAP Council member Caroline Barrett introduced Beth Livingston and Maddy Newson who presented Perspectives on Fibromyalgia : a fascinating and informative talk on a debilitating and often misunderstood condition.  Both speakers revealed their own struggle with Fibromyalgia while living busy and demanding lives: Beth is a psychotherapy trainee, currently in her fifth year of a six year training at the Bath Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling, while Maddy runs a private practice in Wiltshire and is in her fifth year of training also at the Bath Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling.

The Guest Speakers: Beth Livingston (Left) & Maddy Newson (Right)

Beth and Maddy freely admitted that they don’t have the answers to this mysterious condition; instead they work with their own experience.  Labelling themselves as `Research Queens`, they spoke of amassing a huge amount of knowledge and information in the journey to teach themselves about Fibromyalgia. It was explained that Fibromyalgia is a long-term, chronic, widespread pain condition which causes no tissue damage, can’t be seen, cannot be tested for and is not fatal, which makes diagnosis very difficult. Sufferers sometimes find medical professionals quite dismissive of their condition, which adds to an often lengthy period of diagnosis, which can run into years. It was recommended that sufferers should keep returning to their GP and restate the fact that they didn’t feel like this before. If a Fibromyalgia sufferer is referred, the first port of call will be Rheumatology and then after that Neurology. If these avenues fail then the patient’s mental health can be looked into.

The link between trauma and Fibromyalgia was examined and the audience heard that people who are depressed or have suffered physical, verbal or sexual abuse are very much more likely to develop the condition than others of the population. The range of symptoms of Fibromyalgia are enormous and include insomnia, nausea, joint and muscle pain, numbness, pins and needles, muscle knots and spasms, restless legs, sensitivity to light and noise, confusion, anxiety and depression among countless others.  These symptoms vary from day to day and from person to person. Medication used to help with these symptoms include: painkillers, antidepressants, muscle relaxants, anticonvulsants and antipsychotics. Other approaches include diet control, exercise, acupuncture, massage, CBT, Psychotherapy, relaxation techniques, CPD oil and supplements.

The NHS estimates that 2-4.5% of the UK’s population, which equates to almost 3 million people; suffer from Fibromyalgia, of which 75%-90% are women.  The speakers suggested that with this significant figure it is highly likely that therapists will encounter a client with the condition at some point and so it’s useful to have a basic knowledge of it. This would enable the therapist to make the necessary adjustments to the therapy room, such as lighting, chairs etc. 
Finishing on an alternative view of the causes of Fibromyalgia, Beth and Maddy explored the possibility that sufferers might find that the symptoms actually serve them in some way. Do they protect them? Do they form a barrier? Has the body found a way of putting something in place to help them keep a distance from people and help them hide? Not wanting to imply that it’s something that the sufferer has made up, it was offered that counselling might uncover some unconscious aspect to the condition.

At the meeting TAP Council member Robin Pfaff gave the vote of thanks and discussion around this intriguing and enlightening presentation continued over hot beverages and the now celebrated biscuits.

The next TAP Talk takes place on 18th October 2019 when Dr Jane Woodend presents The Long Goodbye (A psycho-social investigation of endings in life and therapy).

All are most welcome - to book your place complete the form here: (www.taplimited.org.uk/talks.html)

Talk notes by David Trott - Council member

A warm summer’s evening on 21 June welcomed Rachel Freeth back to TAP, to present her Talk 
entitled "Psychiatric Diagnosis - What might this mean for your client and you?" Rachel is a 
psychiatrist, counsellor and author and works in General Adult Psychiatry in Herefordshire.  
Having trained as a Person Centred counsellor in the late 1990’s, she now ​straddles the world 
of Psychiatry and counselling. 

rAnother assumption is that a diagnosis is the ​duty of a doctor​and that it is made through 
assessment and examination of the person using a formal medical process that focuses on the
symptoms and signs of the patient. 

Posing the question; What is a diagnosis?  Rachel explained that the name of a physical illness 
gives information about the condition, whereas in a psychiatric diagnosis that information 
is not provided.  Therefore the psychiatric diagnosis is not based on knowing what and where the underlying mental disturbance is.  It was surprising for many of the audience to learn that after 
decades of research we still only have a range of theories on the causes of mental distress and 
disturbance, we do not have any conclusive scientific evidence on it’s origins. 

Rachel moved on to Psychiatric classification and the audience heard how the American 
Psychiatric Association publishes The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 
(DSM), which is used by clinicians and psychiatrists to diagnose psychiatric illnesses.  
Another clarification is the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) which is published by 
the World Health Organization and is currently in it’s 10th edition.  The ICD 11 has now been
published although it is not due to come into full effect until 2022.  Importantly, in a world of 
7.4 billion people speaking nearly 7000 different languages, the ICD provides a common 
vocabulary for recording and monitoring health issues. 

How the diagnosis affects our attitude towards the person given the diagnosis was discussed 
and how the diagnosis affects how that person sees themselves.  It was suggested that there is a possibility that the patient will be influenced by the `label` assigned to them and consequently 
adopt that role.

Following the vote of thanks, the discussion continued over tea and coffee and the now 
legendary biscuits, where it became apparent that many of the audience would take away 
something useful to integrate into their own work.  

The next TAP Talk takes place on September 20 after the summer break, when Lizzy Oakley 
presents: "Fibromyalgia – Journey to acceptance".  All are most welcome. 

​Article by David Trott - TAP Council member.

If you would like any information about the benefits of being a TAP member, follow this link: www.taplimited.org.uk/join-tap.html

Taunton Association for Psychotherapy (TAP) held its annual conference on Saturday 30th March at the race course, which has splendid facilities.

TAP has been holding these conferences for more than 30 years, attracting audiences from around the south west.  As usual, more than seventy-five attendees, mainly but not only counsellors and psychotherapists, enjoyed an interesting and informative day. 

The subject this year was “De-mystifying Trauma’, and the speakers, John Hendon and Dr. Robert Sharpe, have both lectured and run workshops in the UK and around the world.

The conference was opened by Helena Trump, the TAP Chair.

John Hendon told TAP that many avoid working with survivors of severe trauma for the fear of making it worse; or of re-traumatising. His approach is one known as ‘Solution Focused’, which is described as ‘practical techniques, balanced with well documented scientific research’. He exemplified this by examples from his experience which includes extensive work with military veterans and survivors of motor accidents. John has written a very accessible ( and successful )  book aimed at ex-military personnel.

His aim is help people through three stages, that of ‘victim’ where the story can be told and the isolation broken down, ‘survivor’, involving the identification of personal strengths and resources, as well as external support and finally the ‘thriver’. This is about learning to live in a fulfilling way, exploring dreams and hopes for the future and strengthening relationships.

Some of his techniques were illustrated in practical ways in his second session. One example was the use of elastic band on the wrist, pulling and releasing it to recognise that ‘that was then and this is now.’ Some people might have intrusive thoughts up to eighty times a day and with this and other methods that number could be reduced significantly.

Dr Robert Sharpe has a humorous style which he has used to engage audiences such as top lawyers and bankers. He wrote some of the original books on stress management back in the 1970s when the field was still developing.

Both speakers believe ‘There is no one right way’, but their talks were entirely complementary.
Dr Sharpe started by getting the audience to think of their needs and wants and then to think of recent successes. The audience was encouraged to identify their core ‘bedrock skills’ and not be embarrassed, in an English way, to acknowledge them.

It is important to give attention to people’s successes rather than raking over failures, and Dr Sharpe used as his example Arsene Wenger and his period as manager of Arsenal Football Club. 

Trauma can damage self-esteem and it is important to ensure that is dealt with.  Dr Sharpe talked about turning ‘whys into hows’, stating that it is about finding the necessary resources within one’s self.

He then turned, briefly, to the neuro-science, explaining how therapeutic interventions can affect the functioning of the brain.

One entertaining example was a woman who had been involved in an armed bank robbery and had to lie on the floor, when she noticed one of the robbers had odd socks on. Robert was able to use this to interrupt the flow.

Trauma can lock people into a loop of re-occurring thoughts, but therapists can find ways of breaking into that circle and leading them out of the ‘misery go round’.

​Both speakers left attendees with informative handout sheets.
​
Audience feedback was overwhelmingly positive and TAP is already planning for Conference 2020.

The conference was closed by the vice chair Andrew Wilcox.

TAP ended its current programme of evening talks with “Unlocking the secrets of dreams”.  
The talk was due to be delivered by Matthew Harwood, who  had to withdraw and his place was taken by Jane Renton, who  gave a talk which thoroughly engaged the audience and promoted a lot of questions and discussion.

Jane introduced the topic with examples of dreams; one by the poet Coleridge and one from Anglo-Anglo-Saxon England 1400 years ago. 

Freud said that dreams are ‘the royal road to the unconscious mind’. Jane used a more recent definition -‘the royal road to integration.’

Her work is informed by Internal Family Systems theory whose approach is that within all of us are sub-personalities which can consist of wounded and painful parts that might try to protect the person from them. These can be in conflict with each other and the core of the person which is confident and compassionate. 

Jane explained , ‘what you put into a dream is within you.’ The job of the therapist is not to interpret but to bring the dream alive and work with the client for the deeper meaning to emerge and, one hopes, to be healing. 

There are a number of steps to be followed for safe practice. 

We start by narrating the dream in present tense to bring it more alive then check for any feelings it arouses and what parts might be important. Other things we might do is to look out for SQUIDS , what is strange, quirky, uninteresting, interesting and different. We may ask the client to speak as if they were a character or even a thing in the dream. Does any of this resonate with anything happening in your life at the moment or the time of the dream? 

Jane offered several ways to illustrate the process and the one chosen was for a volunteer, one of the committee, to act as client. He was given a dream. It was the one from Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. 
‘Last night I  dreamed of Manderley.’ 
His interesting response was what arose for him and did show the power of the technique.

The audience was invited to do an exercise in groups and select one of four printed dreams form the table. In one group when the dream was read out, a member of it remarked ‘this is spooky. it is a dream I have.’  

It was agreed that what  it showed is that it can be a way of getting to the core of the person.

This was followed by a lively question and answer session. The vote of thanks given by Caroline Barrett (who new to this role and did it very well ) The evening ended with  biscuits and tea or coffee.

The next TAP event is the annual conference on 30th March entitled ‘De-mystifying Trauma’ with two international speakers, John Hendon and Dr Robert Sharp. See our TAP Conference page  for more details.

The evening talks resume on Friday 17th May 2019 with ‘Responding to our client’s metaphors’ by Matthew Cott at the Friend’s Meeting House. 

At our November 2018 TAP Talk, one of the young people who came along to describe their personal experience shared a piece that the audience found so moving we asked their permission to share it with you on the website. The name has been changed but otherwise this is their vivid account of their mental health journey. We would like to thank Jane for allowing this to be shared.

Hello, my name is Jane and I am 19 years old. When being asked to talk about my mental health and the journey it took me on, I stumbled on where exactly I should start. Do I start with the little 8 year old girl and what she felt or more on what being ill has taken away from me. I decided on the latter. 

When people talk about mental health, the information that is shared is often correlated with the symptoms presented and how mental health works. The understanding of this is of course very important, but this evening I would like to focus on the internal and external impacts of anorexia and the array of other labels that were thrown at me. 

Starting at 8, my world was very small and complex. In my head you see, it all made sense. I won’t be able to explain the cognitive battle that was going on up there, because I am not really sure I understand it now. Never the less I could see me friends were not interested in my anxious temperament and shy ways. I didn’t like seeing them dwindle, because then they were gone.

After I moved up to the senior school, I was met with angry voices and hierarchical ways. My mental health took a dive in the deep end. This was when the world stopped spinning and came to a halt, my world at least. Gone. 

Hospital became my home whilst the world stopped spinning. Hospitals that weren’t close to home. Hospitals that were dotted around the country like joining a dot-to-dot. Nottingham was were the furthest dot was placed and the Cotswolds was the closest. I had lost the comfort of my home. In physicality I wasn’t met with familiar faces and two very happy puppies in the morning. Another thing gone. 

Everyone else’s world seemed to carry on spinning, I knew that because I would be told on the telephone about birthdays and Christmases. I would be told about new candles on the cakes and countries that had been travelled. I was happy they were living their lives, but I couldn’t bare what my life had come to. Sitting between the same four walls, knowing every door and window was locked. Gone. 

My teenage years were spent being weighed and sedated by various concoction’s. My serotonin levels were fake. I saw my friends being happy; real happiness that is. But of course I didn’t get to see the few that were left, because 200 miles (pause) separated us. The simplicity of what I missed was almost forgotten. 

A hug. A simple thing you see, but safeguarding rules and cameras understandably restricted staff to patient contact, but there were days when I couldn’t understand why. A hand to hold seemed so far away. Reassurance and comfort swiftly left. 

Talks of periods and girly chats were non-existent as anorexia smiled. Gone. 

A walk in the garden; gone. Going outside involved being well. 

Having a bath by myself; gone. I now had two people awkwardly hoovering over me watching my every splash.

I didn’t have any choice over my care, my voice was not being heard. Gone.

Everything was going. Gone.

Although somehow everything that was going didn’t matter to me. I was okay with what my illnesses were giving me- it felt somewhat safe. I began to feel comfortable in the pain I was causing myself. It was what I knew, and it was who I was. I did not see myself as poorly. I was just myself. 

So, for that exact reason I couldn’t see what I was missing. My world had paused. It became a rusty cassette that didn’t know how to play. Coming back into the real world felt near impossible. Rekindling friendships and greeting my two puppies in the morning felt strange. I didn’t have to wait for someone else to unlock three doors before I was met with a blast of fresh air. It was all so strange… I could now have clothes in my room and my blanket to sleep under. At the beginning I felt like a stranger in my own home- naturally waiting to be strip-searched before entering my room. 

It did get easier. Sadly it took longer than I would have liked, but I began to like the new world I was living in. It became something I wanted to explore and cherish, the world became a warmer place. The little things in life became my very best friend. 

The Jane that was poorly was shrinking. Gone.