scholarly journals Rewilding systemic practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-31
Author(s):  
Chiara Santin
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Therapeutic Process ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Reflecting Team ◽  
Systemic Practice ◽  
Therapeutic Space ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Systemic Practices

This paper is written in the context of the current ecological crisis affecting physical and mental health, social, economic, and political contexts, at local and global levels which calls for the disruption of old ways of thinking, living and moving towards the future through collective action. One way of responding as a systemic and family psychotherapist, has been my experience of rewilding my systemic practice with individuals, couples, and families in the UK since taking therapy outdoors. I will offer some examples of ecotherapy as part of my own personal and professional journey in “coming home” through nature, becoming an outdoor designer of therapeutic space and a minimalist wild therapist. I invite us all to re-think and re-create a therapeutic space which, by its very essence, is wild, meaning boundaryless, infinitely spacious and unpredictable. It can open up opportunities for creativity, for using metaphors to explore meanings beyond words. Nature becomes not only the context in which I practice but my co-therapist or even the primary therapist. Together we can enrich the therapeutic process through moments of magic and facilitate change using a wild reflecting team. In my experience of ecotherapy, voices from the wild carry unique messages, for example, birdsong can provide unexpected voices, useful interruptions or disruptions that can enrich the therapeutic process. Such a wild reflecting team can also be a daring metaphor to welcome the unexpected and unfamiliar into our systemic practices and relationships, to include new emerging and marginalised perspectives which may bring us all more in touch with our wildness, lost indigenous ways of relating and shape our futures through collective action.

Afterword II

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamran Asdar Ali
Keyword(s):  
Social Economic ◽  
Therapeutic Process ◽  
Working Women ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Space ◽  
Working Classes ◽  
Labor Activists ◽  
Cultural Healing ◽  
The City ◽  
Everyday Living

The second afterword to the book by Kamran Asdar Ali returns us to the city, and to the lives of Karachi’s working women and working classes. He draws on women’s poems, diaries, and memoirs to capture some more ephemeral qualities of everyday living and dying. These contrast with the violent suppression of an underclass of trade unionists and labor activists by a coalition of the state, military courts and industrialists, since the fifties. Given the long, progressive erosion of peace in Karachi how, he asks, might we imagine a therapeutic process of social, economic and cultural healing? Through an image of citizens “at work” creating citywide networks and connections, we are offered finally some possibilities of dreaming. Namely, through increased understandings, not of conflict, but also of each other’s intimate everyday lives, the dream emerges of a new political space or public where even intractable disagreements can be managed through gestures of kindness, compromise, and fresh vocabularies of how to carry on and get by.

scholarly journals Perceptions of Peer Support for Victim-Survivors of Sexual Violence and Abuse: An Exploratory Study With Key Stakeholders

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110079
Author(s):  
Alison Gregory ◽  
Emma Johnson ◽  
Gene Feder ◽  
John Campbell ◽  
Judit Konya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Peer Support ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Service Improvement ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Safety Considerations ◽  
The Uk

Experiences of sexual violence, childhood sexual abuse, and sexual assault are common across all societies. These experiences damage physical and mental health, coping ability, and relationships with others. Given the breadth and magnitude of impacts, it is imperative that there are effective, accessible services to support victim-survivors, ease suffering, and empower people to cope, recover and thrive. Service provision for this population in the United Kingdom is complex and has been hit substantially by austerity. Since positive social support can buffer against negative impacts, peer support may be an effective approach. The aim of this exploratory study was to capture the views and perspectives of professional stakeholders concerning service provision for victim-survivors, particularly perceptions of peer support. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted in the UK during 2018 with six professional stakeholders, highly experienced in the field of service provision for victim-survivors of sexual violence and abuse. An abductive approach to analysis was used, applying principles from thematic analysis. Our sample comprised four females and two males, and their roles included psychiatrist, general practitioner, service improvement facilitator, and senior positions within victim-survivor organizations. Interviews highlighted models of peer support for this population, good practice and safety considerations, and a lack of uniformity regarding quality and governance standards across the sector. Findings indicated that current funding models impact negatively on victim-survivor services, and that provision is fragmented and insufficient across statutory and not-for-profit sectors. The influence of the medical model upon service provision was evident, which resulted in apprehension around support delivered in less-usual forms—including peer support. Further research is needed to explore the potential of peer support for victim-survivors of sexual violence and abuse.

A critical review of cardiac rehabilitation in a digital era

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Hazel Nikolov ◽  
Julia Hubbard
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Rehabilitation ◽  
Cardiac Event ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Economic Constraints ◽  
Traditional Approaches

Cardiac rehabilitation improves the outcomes of individuals following a cardiac event; however, only 50% of those eligible for cardiac rehabilitation in the UK sign up to a traditional face-to-face programme. The principal causes cited for non-attendance include living in a rural area, work or career commitments, lack of choice in location, gender, ethnicity and social economic constraints, and dislike of group participation. Alternative methods of delivery could ensure greater participation in cardiac rehabilitation activities, particularly among women, who are underrepresented. Studies into digital cardiac rehabilitation reveal improved quality of life, dietary intake and increased physical activity all equal to or an improvement compared to traditional approaches. Embracing digital approaches to cardiac rehabilitation is now timely with COVID-19 requirements for social distancing.

Music Therapy, a Description of Process: Engagement and Avoidance in Five People with Learning Disabilities

1995 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Toolan ◽  
Shirley Coleman
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Music Therapy ◽  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Therapeutic Relationship ◽  
Therapeutic Process ◽  
Therapeutic Engagement ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Reliable Methods ◽  
Over Time

A number of approaches exist within the field of music therapy. Some models for evaluating the efficacy of therapy have been adopted in the UK in recent years. These have measured the occurrence of specific behaviours within therapy, or compared music therapy with other interventions. There is a need to find reasonably reliable methods of describing change and the therapeutic process occurring within music therapy. This paper describes change occurring in five people with learning disabilities, in terms of their levels of engagement in therapy and in the therapeutic relationship. A method is provided, to evaluate independent observers ‘perceptions of change in the patients over a 30-session period of therapy. A significant increase in levels of engagement over time was found. It was also found that the degree of change over time was not related to the mean level of engagement. We discuss some subtle factors involved in therapeutic engagement for the five patients in the study, and stress the importance of a therapy which emphasises the dynamics of interpersonal communication for people with limited opportunities to express thoughts and emotions.

A Collective-Action Perspective on the Planning of Megaprojects

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuno Gil
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Resource Scarcity ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Organizational Slack ◽  
Performance Targets ◽  
The Core ◽  
Local Searches ◽  
Flexible Designs ◽  
Conflicting Interests ◽  
The Uk

This chapter adopts a collective action perspective to study the planning of large infrastructure developments: so-called “megaprojects.” The research is grounded on the analysis of make-or-break issues that beset four megaprojects in the UK. First it is argued that megaprojects are organizational networks that at the core create large arenas of consensus-oriented collective action. The analysis shows how the conflation of resource scarcity, conflicting interests, and concerns with legitimacy complicates local searches for mutually consensual solutions and brings to the fore bargaining and political activity. The central contribution is a model that proposes a combination of four high-order coordination mechanisms for management to carry the actors along openly: relaxing performance targets, building organizational slack, espousing flexible designs, and creating a structure of umpires to settle disputes that could not be self-resolved. Implications for the megaproject performance debate are discussed.

Poverty and health: The challenges for GPs

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hina J. Shahid
Keyword(s):  
Physical Environment ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Healthcare Access ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Economic Stability ◽  
The Social ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
The Uk

Poverty and poor health are closely linked in a complex relationship. The prevalence of poverty in the UK is growing, resulting in widening health inequalities. Poverty affects the social determinants of health on multiple levels, compromising economic stability, education, social and community contact, lifestyle and healthcare access, and the physical environment. It is associated with an increased prevalence of a range of physical and mental health disorders, with some groups particularly sensitive to the health impacts of poverty, including children, pregnant women, the elderly, refugee and asylum seekers, gypsy and travelling communities, and the homeless. GPs have an important role in identifying the health risks associated with poverty and in supporting individuals and families.

Cultural Adaptations of Dance Movement Psychotherapy Experiences

2017 ◽  
pp. 680-698
Author(s):  
Athiná Copteros ◽  
Vicky Karkou ◽  
Carolyn G. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Dance Movement ◽  
Cultural Adaptations ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
The People ◽  
Management Context ◽  
The Uk

Water plays a key role in all our lives, and in South Africa it epitomizes a space in which political inequalities have played themselves out with devastating consequences. The current ecological crisis demands new ways of engaging with ourselves, each other, and nature. This research is an initial exploration on the use of a body-based creative movement approach within a transdisciplinary complex social–ecological systems researcher group. The research objective was to develop culturally relevant themes from professional dance movement psychotherapy (DMP) training in the UK for application in a South African water-resource management context, using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Artistic inquiry was used to reflect creatively on the themes and to add an embodied response to the discussion. The cultural adaptations of DMP can contribute to a more engaged and non-hierarchical collaboration between practitioners and the people and communities they serve.

scholarly journals Unfinished business

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (7) ◽  
pp. 1532-1535
Author(s):  
Andrew Leyshon
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Business Schools ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Unfinished Business ◽  
Research Excellence Framework ◽  
Short Commentary ◽  
Research Excellence ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Business And Management

This short commentary responds to James et al.’s report on the employment of economic geographers within in departments of business and management in UK universities. An initial ambivalence about the numbers of economic geographers working outside the sub-discipline has been replaced by growing concerns over the supply of early career economic geographers, the immediate pressures of the Research Excellence Framework and the growth and financial significance of business schools within the UK university sector. Collective action and collaboration by the remaining economic geographers is encouraged to stem the tide.

scholarly journals Exploring awareness of age-related changes among over 50s in the UK: findings from the PROTECT study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Serena Sabatini ◽  
Obioha C. Ukoumunne ◽  
Clive Ballard ◽  
Rachel Collins ◽  
Anne Corbett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thought Processes ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Written Comments ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Perceived Age ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Protect Study ◽  
Age Related Changes ◽  
Theoretical Conceptualization

ABSTRACT Objectives: Older people describe positive and negative age-related changes, but we do not know much about what contributes to make them aware of these changes. We used content analysis to categorize participants’ written comments and explored the extent to which the identified categories mapped onto theoretical conceptualizations of influences on awareness of age-related change (AARC). Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Participants: The study sample comprised 609 UK individuals aged 50 years or over (mean (SD) age = 67.9 (7.6) years), enrolled in the PROTECT study. Measurements: Between January and March 2019, participants provided demographic information, completed a questionnaire assessing awareness of age-related change (AARC-10 SF), and responded to an open-ended question asking them to comment on their responses. Results: While some of the emerging categories were in line with the existing conceptual framework of AARC (e.g. experiencing negative changes and attitudes toward aging), others were novel (e.g. engagement in purposeful activities or in activities that distract from age-related thoughts). Analysis revealed some of the thought processes involved in selecting responses to the questionnaire items, demonstrating different ways in which people make sense of specific items. Conclusions: Results support the ability of the AARC questionnaire to capture perceived age-related changes in cognitive functioning, physical and mental health, and engagement in social activities and in healthy and adaptive behaviors. However, findings also suggest ways of enriching the theoretical conceptualization of how AARC develops and offer insights into interpretation of responses to measures of AARC.

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