The Feasibility of Outdoor Psychology Sessions in an Adult Mental Health Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit: Service User and Psychologist Perspectives

Few studies have explored outdoor therapy when facilitated by clinical psychologists within an inpatient mental health service. In the present study, outdoor psychology sessions were introduced after service users (SUs) expressed a desire to return to face-to-face working during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to explore SUs’ and clinical psychologists’ perspectives on the feasibility of conducting outdoor therapy within the service. A mixed-method approach was underpinned by critical realist philosophy. Three psychologists maintained reflective diaries following outdoor therapy sessions with 16 SUs. A subsample of 14 SUs completed scales measuring therapeutic alliance and comfort during outdoor sessions. A subsample of eight SUs participated in semi-structured interviews. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Quantitative and qualitative data demonstrated high SU satisfaction with therapeutic alliance and comfort outdoors. Six themes were identified: utilising a person-centred approach; the value of multi-disciplinary team support; enhancing therapeutic engagement; the benefits of time away from the ward; managing confidentiality; physical health and safety. This feasibility study demonstrated the introduction of outdoor psychology sessions within an inpatient mental health service to be a viable response to COVID-19. The findings suggest outdoor therapy can be an effective and safe mode of therapy, and can offset the challenges of indoor working, providing certain risk factors are considered and managed. The limitations of this study and implications for clinical practice are discussed. Further research is now required to support future integration into clinical practice.

The process, benefits and challenges of providing psychological consultation in adoption services

Psychological consultation is one way of reaching a greater number of families with limited resources, yet little is known about the benefits and challenges of this intervention in adoption. We qualitatively explored consultations provided to adoption social workers by clinical psychologists. Six social workers and four clinical psychologists participated in semi-structured interviews. Five themes with supporting sub-themes were identified: (1) A context of highly emotive work with scarce resources; (2) consultations draw on Dyadic Developmental Practice and systemic thinking and involve goal-oriented and interpersonal processes; (3) consultations experienced as valuable despite challenges; (4) consultations facilitate learning for both social workers and psychologists; and (5) a collaborative focus and the ‘expert role’. Our findings suggest consultation is experienced positively by social workers and psychologists, that it successfully facilitates the transfer of psychological knowledge, and has the potential to enhance multi-agency working. Future research needs to better understand the impact of consultation on adoptive families.

Current concerns about mental health in Bangladesh

This month's issue of BJPsych International focuses on Bangladesh, one of the most densely populated countries in the world and geographically vulnerable to a wide range of natural disasters. Mental health has been deteriorating since the COVID-19 crisis, but few psychiatrists and clinical psychologists are available to manage the consequences.

Japanese Dictionary for Sentiment Analysis of Counselling Text

Chat-based counselling has become increasingly popular in the era of telecommunication. The need for accessible therapy has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Given its text-based nature, chat-based counselling provides an opportunity for machine-based analysis. It even has the potential to provide machine-based counselling services. However, the informational resources for machine-based analysis and interaction are rather scarce especially in a Japanese-language context. We created a Japanese dictionary for sentiment analysis, using a technique via machine-based text analysis, tailored for counselling related text. It includes 2389 words that were frequently used in chat-based counselling corpora. The following attributes were included for each word: (1) valence rating by the general public, (2) valence rating by clinical psychologists, (3) emotionality, and (4) body-relatedness.

Motivation to lead in trainee clinical psychologists: service evaluation of a UK doctorate programme

Purpose This paper aims to explore whether a United Kingdom (UK) clinical psychology training programme (the programme) was effective in producing graduates who are confident in leadership, within the context of the National Health Service and reflecting the British Psychological Society’s views of leadership. Design/methodology/approach Mixed methods design surveys were administered to prospective-, current- and alumni trainee clinical psychologists on the programme, enquiring about their view of leadership, motivation to lead (MtL) and aspects of the course that are helpful and which need further development. Data collected from 92 individuals were analysed using content and thematic analysis (TA). Findings From the TA, three themes were identified concerning the meaning of leadership as follows: professional identity, Improving the quality of services (team; organisations and wider context), professional skills. Overall, participants thought leadership was important to the role of a clinical psychologist, with prospective trainees reporting that the desire to develop as leaders influenced their decision to apply to the programme. Moreover, participants felt confident in leadership skills and that the training programme helped develop their leadership skills, with the alumni participants demonstrating a greater MtL. Placements, group study and specific modules were identified as contributing to the development of their leadership skills, but participants felt more teaching on leadership is needed. Recommendations have been suggested to improve the development of leadership skills on the programme. Research limitations/implications The research was undertaken on a small cohort of trainees based in the UK. Practical implications Participants were motivated to become clinical leaders but this motivation needed to be nurtured and developed particularly through structured placement and teaching experience. Originality/value This service evaluation is the only audit of the leadership of the programme and the findings will contribute to the existing body of reviews in this area.

The experiences of clinical psychologists in treating traumatic stress at a tertiary psychiatric hospital in the Eastern Cape: A qualitative study

Qualitative data on the experiences of treating Post-traumatic stress disorder in apsychiatric setting in a low-resource context is sparse. We aimed to explore the livedexperiences of clinical psychologists who treat patients who are either trauma survivorsor perpetrators in a psychiatric hospital. A total of six individual semi-structuredinterviews and follow-up interviews were conducted with three clinical psychologistsbased at a psychiatric hospital in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Data were analysedusing Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. All participants reported experiencingsymptoms of vicarious trauma and secondary traumatic stress while treating bothvictims and perpetrators of violence. The findings also revealed an element of danger,as well as socio-political factors that clinical psychologists experience. Participantsfurther reported experiencing vicarious post-traumatic growth, enhanced by theircoping strategies, while providing psychological services to traumatised patients.

You Want to Know the Truth? Then Don’t Mimic!

Clinical psychologists have frequently reported that similarity in movements can be greatly beneficial. It increases rapport and favors a better understanding of clients’ emotions. Social psychologists have shown that mimicking instills greater trust in the mimicker and that mimickees disclose more intimate information. Therefore, mimicry seems to be an ideal tool to implement during therapeutic interventions. However, the current study reveals a potentially perilous outcome stemming from mimicry: mimicked (verbally – Study 1, N = 49; nonverbally – Study 2, N = 40) participants were more eager to cheat the mimicker. This means that incorporating mimicry into the therapeutic process may lead to clients misinforming therapists. The discussion section describes some caveats associated with the experiments and suggests directions for future research.

Ethical Concerns in Clinical Psychology: A Brief Account of Challenges in Pakistan

The present report provides a brief indigenous account of these challenges and issues. The purpose of the report was accomplished through semi-structured interviews conducted with two clinical psychologists who have an extensive experience in the field of clinical psychology