CO-COUNSELLING AS THERAPY

Co-counselling uses the healing power of emotional discharge.

Don't get stuck in distress. If you can't

LAUGH IT OFF

TRY:

PREFACE

The title of this booklet "Co-Counselling as Therapy", emphasizes that whilst the methods of co-counselling can be used for therapy nevertheless "Co-counselling" is a wider phenomenon than "therapy". Thus co-counselling is best seen as a set of processes, ideas, and a special relationship which together comprises a toolkit for personal and social change in any setting—therapeutic, educational, in the home—you name it! Whilst acknowledging this, the present booklet is specifically concerned with the application of co-counselling to therapy.

As the CONTENTS page indicates, this discussion is carried out within a conceptual structure intended to map onto the concerns of therapists and counsellors in the wider sense; and not just "co-counsellors". Indeed people whose knowledge and experience is specifically of co-counselling may find the framework adopted surprising. The reason for this particular framework is that this booklet emerged from our struggles to provide a chapter for a multiauthor book called "Innovative Therapies in Britain."

The book was edited by Windy Dryden and John Rowan, and published in 1988 by the Open University Press, London. It was in fact these editors who instructed us, and of course all the contributors, to use the headings seen on the CONTENTS page of this pamphlet. We found this annoying: these headings were not the ones we habitually used! Of course we also found the demand stimulating, obliging us—again and again—to think "Yes, but what do we really mean here?" The consequence of this process has been valuable to us and our readers, so at this point in time we are appreciative of the constrained format.

This second edition diverges from the chapter by more than the updating we've done. We've added more thoughts to the section on 'The change process in therapy,' and a large number of extra diagrams and illustrations. These are aimed to cover the key points about co-counselling.

Our appreciations to John Rowan and Windy Dryden for their repeated efforts to improve the clarity of our writing in the original chapter. We are also deeply indebted to earlier writers on co-counselling, in particular Harvey Jackins and John Heron.

© 1999 Rose Evison & Richard Horobin

Published by Co-counselling Phoenix, Change Strategies
Springbank, 20 Tomcroy Terrace, Pitlochry PH16 5JA, Scotland UK
E-mail: ChangeStrategies@CompuServe.com

CONTENTS

Historical Context and Developments in Britain
Historical context
Developments in Britain

Theoretical Assumptions
Image of the person
Concepts of psychological health and disturbance
The acquisition of psychological disturbance
The perpetuation of psychological disturbance

Practice
Goals of therapy
The person of the therapist
Therapeutic style
Major therapeutic techniques
The change process in therapy

Case example

Footnote on nomenclature

References and further reading

Some notes on themselves by the authors

Go to Historical context and developments in Britain.