Counselling psychology in the United Kingdom

Counselling psychology within the UK has grown over the last three decades, adapting to many changes in the field of applied psychology, whilst remaining true to its core values and humanistic origins. The identity of counselling psychology is strongly rooted in a relational stance and applied psychology, where attention to psychological formulation is given to improve psychological functioning and well-being. This article outlines a brief history of counselling psychology in the UK, the training process, credentialing and looks at some important challenges and future directions for counselling psychology in the UK. A proportion of the members from the British Psychological Society’s division of counselling psychology (DCoP, N = 148) took part in the study. Participants provided demographic, training, employment, workplace and career pathway information obtained through an online questionnaire distributed to all DCoP members. On the whole, DCoP members are working in a variety of areas within the UK and the findings of this article contribute to the international study comparing counselling psychology across the globe.     

Forensic telepsychiatry in the United Kingdom

Forensic telepsychiatry remains in its infancy in the United Kingdom. This article sets out to describe how it can be used within a community forensic service, and the future challenges ahead in the United Kingdom. It looks at relevant academic, governmental, and legal resources and is designed as a scholarly reflection by clinicians rather than as a formal literature review.     

Cancer counselling in the United Kingdom

Abstract

A national survey of 289 people from a variety of professions (nurses, social workers, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, etc) involved in counselling cancer patients and their families within the United Kingdom obtained a response rate of 82%. The primary findings discussed in this paper cover a range of issues, including the working conditions and responsibilities of the counsellors, what professional qualifications they possess, the extent and availability of supervision and support, as well as the types of counselling intervention employed. Particularly disturbing was the fact that only 25% of our sample had any recognised formal counselling qualification and that 75% did not belong to any professional counselling organisation. In view of the wide diversity of qualifications, salary scales, responsibilities and working conditions and practices amongst the respondents, we propose that the National Health Service (NHS) should establish clearer guidelines as to the minimum acceptable qualifications for people employed as oncology counsellors, and that more adequate provision and resources are made available for training and supervision.     

Philosophy of medicine in the Netherlands

This report explores the relationship between philosophy and medicine in the Netherlands. In Section 1 we outline the ups and downs of medico-philosophical research in our country: pre-war flourishing, post-war decline, and modern renaissance. In Section 2 we review recent Dutch literature in the philosophy of medicine. The topics dealt with include methodology of medical science, alternative medicine, the basic concepts of medicine, anthropological medicine, medicalization, medicine and culture, and health care ethics.     

当代美国哲学

本文无意对当代哲学界作一番中立的、不偏不倚的描述,而是要对一些我认为重要的当代哲学的发展情况作一介绍。当代美国哲学虽然极其多样化,但其中仍有一些主题可寻。如今在美国占主导地位的哲学流派是所谓的“分析哲学”。其实,在整个英语世界,分析哲学都是占主导地位的哲学流派。在斯堪的纳维亚国家也是如此,这种现象正日益普遍地波及德国、法国、意大利以及整个拉丁美洲。     

Gender Comparisons of Fat Talk in the United Kingdom and the United States

This study compared different forms of body talk, including ??fat talk,?? among 231 university men and women in central England (UK; n?=?93) and the southeastern United States (US; n?=?138). A 2 (gender) by 2 (country) repeated measures ANOVA across types of body talk (negative, self-accepting, positive) and additional Chi-square analyses revealed that there were differences across gender and between the UK and US cultures. Specifically, UK and US women were more likely to report frequently hearing or perceiving pressure to engage in fat talk than men. US women and men were also more likely to report pressure to join in self-accepting body talk than UK women and men.     

Philosophy of medicine in 2021

Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics -     

Philosophy of medicine in Austria

It seems impossible to completely cover the field indicated by the title of this report because of the many contributions of individual physicians and non-physicians to problems of the philosophy of medicine in Austria, and to their solution. The main trends are rooted in historic developments and in the current problems of medicine and health care, which are similar world-wide. In Austria famous names like empress Maria Theresia or the physician Ignaz Semmelweis have to be mentioned in connection with the development of the ideas of a philosophy of medicine. In recent times again influential and well-known persons in related fields of medicine and health care are Austrians. However, the main line of new developments goes mostly unseen by the public: activities in medical ethics with the goal to humanize health care, carried on by groups of young physicians, biomedical engineers and students.     

Philosophy of medicine in Scandinavia

This article presents a brief general view of the recent literature and the scholarly activity in the field of philosophy of medicine in Scandinavia. The focus of attention is not on medical ethics, but on studies on topics like decision theory, medical classification, causality, causal explanations, concept formation, and on analyses of different ideals of medical science and clinical practice. A few principal works on medical ethics are mentioned by way of introduction and a brief account of a highly topical debate on the legislation on artificial insemination in Sweden is given at the end.     

A Brief History of Jungian Splits in the United Kingdom

The institutionalizing of analytical psychology in the United Kingdom has its origins in the Analytical Psychology Club founded on 15 September 1922. It became increasingly apparent that professionalization of the Jungian movement was essential and this led to the formation of the Society of Analytical Psychology in 1946. This was followed in 1951 by the founding of the British Association of Psychotherapists. The Association of Jungian Analysts split off from the Society of Analytical Psychology in 1975–6, and this was followed in 1982 by the split between the Association of Jungian Analysts and the Independent Group of Analytical Psychologists. The Berlin Congress of 1986 saw the beginnings of a liaison body for the four London societies, which came to be called the Umbrella Group. This has organized joint conferences and workshops, but the split in 1992 between the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy and the British Confederation of Psychotherapists has posed a new threat to the growing harmony between the London societies. In the face of this threat, the Umbrella Group has not been able to articulate a common policy and strategy about the Jungian presence in the United Kingdom.     

The mental health of university students in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

There are increasing concerns globally about the mental health of students. In the UK, the actual incidence of mental disturbance is unknown, although university counselling services report increased referrals. This study assesses the levels of mental illness in undergraduate students to examine whether widening participation in education has resulted in increases as hypothesised by the UK Royal College of Psychiatrists. Patterns of disturbance across years are compared to identify where problems arise. Students (N=1197) completed the General Health Questionnaire-28 either on the first day at university or midway through the academic year for first, second and third year students. Rates of mental illness in students equalled those of the general population but only 5.1% were currently receiving treatment. Second year students reported the most significant increases in psychiatric symptoms. Factors contributing to the problem are discussed.     

Spiritual advisors and old age psychiatry in the United Kingdom

This survey investigates the role and views of NHS spiritual advisors across the United Kingdom on the provision of pastoral care for elderly people with mental health needs. The College of Health Care Chaplains provided a database, and questionnaires were sent to 405 registered NHS chaplains/spiritual advisors. The response rate was 59%. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were carried out. Spiritual advisors describe their working patterns and understanding of their roles within the modern NHS, and their observations of the level of NHS staff awareness of the importance of spiritual issues in the mental health care of older adults. They provide insights into possible negative and positive perceptions of their roles at a service level, and contribute suggestions of topics relevant to shared education between pastoral care and clinical services. This survey further highlights ethical and operational dimensions at the point of integration of the work of spiritual advisors and multidisciplinary teams.     

Dating violence in the United Kingdom: A preliminary study

A small-scale study of “dating violence” in a sample of UK college students is described. Methodology involved the rating-scale used in existing US studies, with the addition of an assessment of inter-respondent reliability, which was found to be high. A high incidence of some form of violence was found, with women showing higher levels than men, thus replicating previous US findings based on victim reports. Violence in the present relationship was found to be unrelated to violence in past relationships.     

Psychological type preferences of Roman Catholic priests in the United Kingdom

This study explores the psychological type profile of Roman Catholic priests. A sample of 79 priests completed the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (Form G). The study shows that Roman Catholic priests tend to prefer introversion over extraversion, feeling over thinking and judging over perceiving. Near equal preferences are shown for sensing and intuition. The type preferences of Roman Catholic priests in the UK are compared and contrasted with the type preferences of Roman Catholic priests in the USA and Protestant clergy in the UK. These findings are explored within the context of the role of the priest within the Roman Catholic Church.     

Labour market careers of immigrants in Germany and the United Kingdom

This article examines the employment careers of immigrants as compared with those of the native-born in Germany and the United Kingdom using existing longitudinal data from the German Socioeconomic Panel and the British Household Panel Study. Results of the sequence analysis show that in both countries employment career sequences of immigrants are similarly remote from those of native-born men. Further analysis reveals that long and frequent spells of unemployment are behind this dissimilarity in both countries. Results of the pairwise Optimal Matching analysis of the occupational career sequences, however, show that immigrants in the UK and Germany pursue largely different occupational paths, the former having occupational careers similar to those of the native-born, the latter being segmented in manual, mostly unskilled, jobs.     

Acculturation and contact in Japanese students studying in the United Kingdom

Acculturation theory has been the dominant model that investigators use in examining the effects of transmigration. This theory indicates the problematic effects of intercultural contact in terms of adjustment and stress. One criticism of this theory, however, is its lack of integration with the more generic contact literature. This literature suggests that intergroup contact can have positive effects on intergroup relations. The authors presented a longitudinal study of 35 Japanese nationals living in the United Kingdom over a period of 12 months. The present results suggested that both conventional acculturation variables (e.g., language ability and perceived cultural distance) and intergroup variables (e.g., in-group bias and intergroup anxiety) were associated with acculturative stress and psychosomatic illness over time. Higher intergroup anxiety was associated with increased acculturative stress, whereas higher in-group bias was associated with reduced psychosomatic illness. The present results indicated the possibility that these variables add an important dimension to the acculturation literature.