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Background: As social media continues to grow in popularity, many people have become accustomed to publishing information about themselves and others on the web. In this context, it is arguably harder than ever for therapists to keep their personal and professional lives separate. There is little research to help practitioners navigate this. Aims: This research aimed at investigating the effect on the therapist and the therapeutic relationship in cases where clients obtained personal information about their therapist online and subsequently disclosed that information during a session. Methodology: Semistructured interviews were conducted with six participants and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Participants were interviewed twice, with the second interview taking place 8 weeks after the first. Participants were qualified mental health professionals who had experience of a client disclosing personal information about them that had been obtained online. Findings: Four superordinate themes emerged: (1) tension in peacetime, (2) breach of defences, (3) weapons and (4) the aftermath: renegotiation with client and self. These represent the struggle experienced by participants and follow the journey from pre to postdisclosure. The analysis identified feelings of vulnerability and shame, which made it difficult to navigate the therapeutic relationship. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the experience can positively impact the therapeutic relationship, despite challenges. Nonetheless, fear continues to cloud this topic, prompting an avoidance among therapists, supervisors, training organisations and professional bodies. The implications of this study are not concerned with preventing the encounter but rather with preparing for the eventuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Definition: This entry delves into the parenting literature and reveals the complexities, perspectives, and multiple expressions of parenting challenging childhood behavior that distress or negatively impact the parent-child relationship so that we can better understand how to support families who are struggling to cope. The entry specifically focuses on the period of transition to school for children aged five to eight years. This transition can illuminate vulnerabilities previously hidden as children attempt to navigate the demands of their unfamiliar environment, meaning that parents can experience distress and emotional challenges. The entry explores the various expressions of relationally challenging behavior and comments on the intersectionality and reciprocity of explicit and implicit expressions of affect such as frustration and anxiety. To gain context, the entry examines common antecedents associated with relationally challenging behavior, such as academic comparison, forming friendships, hidden neurodiverse development, neglect, attachment dysfunction, and family conflict. Qualitative literature enriches understanding and identifies problems such as parental distress related to social stigma and minority stress and reveals specific struggles, including stress, related to homeschooling children with special educational needs, homeschooling during the recent pandemic, single parenting, grandparenting, parenting neurodiverse children, and the triangulated tensions that exist between the parent, the child, and the school. Holding in mind these diverse and context-orientated perspectives, this entry examines research that evaluates helpfulness and illuminates deficiencies of popular structured parent programs. Lastly, the entry identifies and illuminates the need to know more about the ways in which parent programs work, and it is anticipated that this new knowledge will help practitioners to better respond to the complexities of need and expectations of families who struggle to cope with relationally challenging behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the authors discuss the meaning and relevance of making plans. They conclude that although plans may initially be meaningful, paradoxically the relentless completion of plans can render life meaningless. They can inhibit personal growth if stuck to rigidly and can also inhibit our freedom and the freedom of others, freedom being a fundamental aspect of consciousness. An alternative type of plan is proposed that is more flexible and relational, and a model of the process of modifying plans in light of one's own experience, the world and others is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the lived experience of clients in existential therapy. The research points to the value of the learning perspective for understanding the outcomes of existential therapy. It facilitates a model of learning in existential therapy to help us understand learning outcomes based on learning processes and design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research report follows on from three previous theory-based papers in which the authors explored connections between existentialism, education and psychotherapy teaching, and identified a distinction between teaching about existentialism and teaching existentially. Here, they describe a phenomenological research study in which the primary research question was 'What is it like to teach existential therapy in the UK?'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinician-client touch is controversial, and seemingly widespread. However, talking therapists report little-to-no training on it and major accrediting bodies offer no explicit guidance. Consequently, some clinicians feel a lack confidence and competence around touch and fear accusations of bad practice. There is no research on counselling psychologists’ (CoPs’) ‘in-the-moment’ (in-session) decision-making process about touching their clients. Hence, this study aimed to develop a constructivist grounded theory (CGT) of this process to facilitate best practice by identifying issues and evaluating and recommending changes to existing models, guidelines, and training. Methodology: Following a CGT methodology, cycles of semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine CoPs, one clinical psychologist and two body psychotherapists about their process. The interview transcripts were analysed following Charmaz’s (2014) three-stage CGT coding process. Findings: A dual process model of touch-decision-making was produced, with the core category ‘weighing the predicted balance of appropriateness’: participants use an embodied sense of ‘felt appropriateness’ and a cognitive process of ‘considering the appropriateness’ to assess whether a ‘touch-related action’ is likely to be experienced as minimising harm and maximising therapeutic benefit to the client. Conclusion: The findings indicate a need for a CoP ‘professional stance’ towards touch-decision-making and talking about and upholding touch-boundaries in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urethral obstruction is a relatively common presentation in dogs and cats. The relatively long and narrow urethra of the male results in the presentation being more common in this sex, although cases also occur in bitches and queens. Obstruction by uroliths (including sludge and mucus plugs) is the most frequent cause, but even these common cases can be frustrating to diagnose and manage. Radiography is often key to decision making and both plain and contrast studies should be taken. The technique of retrograde hydropropulsion is extremely useful for managing urethral obstruction by uroliths and should be familiar to practitioners. Other common causes of urethral obstruction include trauma, neoplasia and dys-synergia. In a few cases, definitive surgery of these is possible, but in others salvage surgery (e.g. urethrostomy) or tube cystotomy may be the sensible alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the Kierkegaardian leap of faith and considers whether it is possible for an existential therapist to make such a leap. It is argued that for Kierkegaard the 'how' of faith - a passionate commitment to one's own subjective truth - is inextricably linked with the 'what' of faith - namely a leap into the arms of a creator God. Consequently, it is problematic to take Kierkegaard's leap of faith as a general inspiration to follow one's own truth. It is also argued that Kierkegaard's leap of faith possibly represents an attempt to step outside of relationship with others and, as such, is not necessarily an option for an existential therapist whose subjective truth is always in the process of being co-created in relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents an online discussion conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the course of this, the authors note that psychotherapy teaching is extremely under-documented, under-researched and under-evaluated, and they formulate some preliminary ideas about how existential therapy can be taught in a way that is congruent with the ethos of existential philosophy with the aim of encouraging further work on this important area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]