Respect for difference in counselling and psychotherpy [commentary]

Abstract

The publications and critical commentary constitute a body of work spanning the period from 1988 to 2012. This has seen: the professionalisation of the field of counselling and psychotherapy, the development of a wide range of approaches; and an exponential growth of training programmes associated with these changes. The thesis constitutes the response of a systemic psychotherapist and academic engaging with the expanding formal knowledge of the field as it informs intervention with clients and the training of practitioners. This is to be understood as an extended exercise of praxis in the dialectical application of theory to challenges encountered in practice. From this a number of themes have emerged which have made an original contribution to the knowledge base of the subject area. These are: the development of a model for working with process; the application of systemic approaches to intervention with individuals; crosscultural work; a critical response to the ‘post-modern turn’; and a cross-modality approach to training. This response to an unfolding epistemological context opens the way to establishing a cross-modality position; one that argues for a ‘respectful co-existence’ which is appreciative of differences between theories and models but cautious in the face of claims to orthodoxy and supremacy.

Date of Award	May 2013
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Brighton