The launch of the book The Art and Science of Motivation: A Therapist’s Guide to Working with Children was an evening of shared celebrations with an enthusiastic and supportive array of guests. The popular, multiple award-winning Riverbend Bookshop in Bulimba, Queensland was the beautiful venue for the event. Suzy Wilson, proprietor of Riverbend, introduced speakers and reflected on the interest which the book had already attracted.

Editors Anne Poulsen, Jenny Ziviani and Monica Cuskelly

Dr Peter Steer a well-respected pediatrician and, CEO of Children’s Health Queensland,  was glowing in his review of the text, recommending it as required reading for hospital staff. Particular attention was drawn to aspects of the book that he felt would resonate deeply with all service providers. These included the highly accessible practical tools and vignettes in the book, as well as examples of language and behaviors that enhance therapeutic relationships.

The authors celebrate

The book authors were overwhelmed with the support from therapists, teachers and medical staff who attended the launch. All the Queensland contributors were present –traveling many kilometres to attend. The party continued late into the evening – a memorable night for everyone.

“Anorexia is both the result of a protest against the cultural rule that your women must be beautiful.  In the beginning, a young woman strives to be thin and beautiful, but after a time, anorexia takes on a life of its own.  By her behavior, an anorexic girl tells the world, ‘Look, see how thin I am, even thinner than you wanted me to be.  You can’t make me eat more.  I am in control of my fate, even if my fate is starving.’” – Mary Pipher, “Reviving Ophelia”

Many people believe that the young woman who suffers anorexia epitomizes our culture’s definition of what it means to be feminine:  thin, passive, and eager to please. The metaphor is that she will become what our culture asks of its women:  to become non-threatening, taking up little space while being decorative and not intimidating and non threatening.

Beauty is a defining characteristic for women.  Girls worry about clothes, makeup, skin and hair – but mostly about weight. In our book, Healing Eating Disorders with Psychodrama and Other Action Methods: Beyond the Silence and the Fury with co-author Karen Carnabucci – we  talk about how this societal standard for beauty influences our image of ourselves and is one of the many contributors to the rise of eating disorders and chronic dieting struggles with girls and women.  Sadly enough this emphasis on appearance is quickly spreading to boys and men as well – and eating and body disorders are growing with them as well as we discuss in our book along with specific interventions for these populations.

Why is appearance so important?

We have moved from communities of primary relationships in which people know each other to communities of secondary relationships where appearance is the only dimension available for the rapid assessment of others.

Today’s media portrays desirable women as thin. In 1950, models averaged five feet, four inches in height and weighed 140 pounds.  Today, the standard is five feet, ten inches and 110 pounds!

A recent study found that 11 percent of people in the United States would abort a fetus if they were told it would grow into a child that would have a tendency toward obesity.  Elementary school children have more negative attitudes toward obese children than toward bullies. Obese students are less likely to be granted scholarships.  Being fat means being left out, scorned, vilified, and often bullied.

In order to help our young people value their true selves and grow into healthy adults, we recommend the need for love from family and friends, meaningful work, respect, challenges and physical and psychological safety.  They need identities based on character, talent, interests instead of appearance, popularity and sexuality.  Instead of scales and diets, we do better to promote healthful meals, family exercise, and a value system that de-emphasizes the importance of looks.

Psychodrama and related action methods, through role play and other explorative tools, provide an important route to discovering how to find and sustain these connections and identities in their lives.  These methods can be used in education and in community settings as well as in therapy.

As a psychodramatist and psychodrama trainer, I often ask my clients:

“If you were living on a magical island where weight, size, shape, appearance had no value and, instead were neutral, what would you find yourself focusing on?”

This question is a perfect question to think about – and, better yet, to act out in the psychodrama room. With these actions, we can experientially discover another reality, one that is healthy – and through the power of action methods old roles based upon body obsession can be transformed into new roles based upon character.

The event was hosted by the Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP and the Angus Lawson Memorial Trust (ALMT), and also celebrated the work of the ALMT and their collaboration with bereavement counsellor and co-author of What Does Dead Mean?, Jenni Thomas.

It was both a moving and uplifting evening. Speeches were given by Keith Vaz, the authors of the book Caroline Jay and Jenni Thomas, and Nick Lawson, the founder of the ALMT. Two short films were shown, the first of a young boy, bereaved of his sister, reading and talking about the book. The second of a six year old boy and his sister talking about their mother who had recently died of breast cancer. The film was shot 20 years ago, and the young boy, now grown up, was at the event.

These moving films, as well as the reading of a beautiful poem written by a bereaved mother, served to highlight the importance of a book that helps children to try to understand what ‘dead’ means, and to talk about their feelings. Jenni Thomas, a bereavement counsellor of many years’ experience, spoke of how important it is that children can ask questions about death and be given clear answers.

After the speeches and films, Keith Vaz very kindly treated us all to a wonderful tour of the Houses of Parliament, complete with tour guide patter, jokes, and greetings to politicians, Baronesses and others that we passed along the way! After a visit to the gallery of the House of Lords, where we happened to enter as John Prescott stood up to speak,  we were ushered on to the floor of the House of Commons, where we practiced our ‘hear hears’ and jeers!

The following day, Keith Vaz tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons which mentioned What Does Dead Mean? and noted that it helps adults to talk to children about death and dying.

You can read the Early Day Motion here:

http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2012-13/1049

Hosted by the three editors of the book, Stella Compton Dickinson, Helen Odell-Miller and John Adlam, and attended by many of those who had authored individual chapters, the evening brought together not only music therapists, but many professional musicians, psychiatrists, psychotherapists and other mental health professionals. We were treated to an evening of beautiful music by the Henry Lowther Quartet followed by two solo oboe recitals. The editors, and Dr. Gill McGauley, Consultant Psychiatrist at Broadmoor Hospital, spoke about the ground-breaking work that the book sheds light on, and the proven effectiveness of music therapy with those in secure settings, especially in encouraging feelings of empathy. They also spoke about the rarity of being able to obtain informed consent for case studies involving high security offenders, another factor which makes this book unique.

Click below to see a video of Stella Compton Dickinson’s speech at the celebratory evening:

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

© 2013 JKP blog. All Rights Reserved.

Stella Compton Dickinson, editor

This is an edited extract from Forensic Music Therapy: A Treatment for Men and Women in Secure Hospital Settings edited by Stella Compton Dickinson, Helen Odell-Miller and John Adlam. This case study comes from Chapter 7, ‘Working with Conflict: A Summary of Developments in the Long-term Treatment of a Man Suffering with Paranoid Schizophrenia Who Committed Manslaughter’, by Stella Compton Dickinson and Manjit Gahir.

Introduction

This chapter describes the process of long-term music therapy over seven years with a man who we shall call “Ewan.” Ewan has given informed consent for case material to be used in telling the story of his rehabilitation; his real name has not been used. Ewan suffered with paranoid schizophrenia and whilst actively psychotic with hallucinations and delusions, he killed a man.

Overview

Committed to hospital for an indefinite period after being convicted of the offence, Ewan spent ten years in high secure detention without undertaking therapy until he requested a referral to music therapy, “to learn to play the violin” as his grandfather had done. He engaged in music therapy as his main psychological treatment. The intervention and its impact were new to the clinical team who had to adjust to the fact that internal changes were starting to happen for a patient who they had known to be static for many years. Thus their own past experiences, their judgments of Ewan in the face of fear when he had erupted with violent outbursts, and their perceptions for his future were all challenged.

Music therapy

Ewan’s fundamentally chaotic presentation was marked by fixed perseveration, which is typical of schizophrenia. Notable in his early musical improvisations were repeated, stuck, desperate, and stabbing sounding attacks on the piano keys. This represented exactly his situation and offence: angry, locked in, stuck, as if he had nowhere to turn. The therapeutic work required orientation to the here and now, rather than unlocking too much past material at once. Nevertheless, Ewan recognized how he could receive rather than reject my non verbal musical support. This elicited a maternal transference. Towards the end of the second assessment session, Ewan rushed from the room, having exclaimed his recognition within our musical improvisation that “you are supporting me! I have not felt like that since I was with my mother.”

The significance of this was central to the therapy as Ewan had been unable to mourn the death of his biological mother. He returned explaining that this experience had “brought a tear to my eye.”

Starting the treatment process

Ewan had never experienced any previous psychological therapy at all, so the same weekly place and time was an entirely new experience for him, which he almost religiously observed. As the therapy progressed, he became more proactive in ensuring that regular physical health appointments were not timetabled to coincide, as nothing had to come between him and his music-making. Over time, as he became more trusting in the continuity of his life and less fearful of sudden abandonment, he gradually extended his range and felt safe to play the piano on his own rather than with me. Ewan began to take responsibility for his own actions rather than remaining over-identified with his own victim self-state.

The mother–child dyad and symbolic musical representations

In session 12, Ewan elucidated on his feelings of stupidity and how he played on these as a childhood strategy. He said he had taken to “acting stupid” whenever he felt threatened by his father. The mother–son relationship was enacted symbolically as a maternal transference developed. The merged relationship that developed between Ewan and his biological mother during childhood was cemented when both mother and son cowered from the violence and physical abuse of the father. This relationship was represented musically in session 2 in which initially Ewan played mournfully on the recorder, copying my choice of instrument, then merging with it and introducing a sensual, rocking rhythmic pulsation which indicated an as yet unconscious underlying erotic transference. The music then became violent and angry as Ewan repeatedly hit a small glockenspiel as if he was a frustrated child waiting for dinner. This had a direct correlation to verbal material in which Ewan described the intimacy and frustrations that he felt with his mother. After this the music became mournful and sad although it finished in a resolved, harmonious fashion.

The index offence: developing victim empathy

In reference to the man who he had killed, Ewan attempted to make an offering in musical terms by sitting at the piano to play a piece which he entitled “Requiem.” At the time this felt sincere but also very sad, as I perceived that Ewan felt very clumsy and inadequate in trying to address such a huge and tragic event. From this state, the first expressions of remorse at the magnitude of his violent act began to emerge. Perhaps the fluctuations between reflecting on his offence and reflecting on his childhood suggested how Ewan was trying to make links in understanding why he had committed his offence.

Conclusion

The individual music therapy was characterized largely by a positive transference. Ewan completed his mourning process in the following two years of group therapy where he discovered how to be part of a “family,” as well as how to feel included and valued by others. He remains in custodial care at a lower level of security. At his care program review as the therapy closed, he described his recovery process in music therapy as “akin to the raising of Lazarus.” This biblical reference to Christ’s greatest miracle probably says at least as much about Ewan’s internal morbid state of loss, including loss of hope prior to engagement in music therapy, as it does about his creativity and ability to express himself and to develop through music therapy in a way which, after ten years of stagnation, he may have felt was miraculous.

Copyright © Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2012

To answer a question well, you must understand what is being asked. This may not be readily apparent if you are a literal thinker. Josh was completely confused when he was asked, “Why should I hire you instead of the other candidates?” After thinking about it for a few seconds, he said, “I don’t know how to answer that, because I haven’t met the other candidates.” The interviewer knew that Josh had not met the other applicants. The intent of his question was for Josh to summarize why he believed that he was the best person for the job.

There are several types of interview questions. Some assess your abilities, depth of experience, and knowledge of a job function or an industry. Others are designed to tease out how well you work with others. Behavioral questions look at past actions as indicators of future performance. They typically begin with a statement like, “tell me about a time when,” or, “give me an example of,” or, “describe a project that…”

Here are some common interview questions, and suggestions about how to answer them. Even if you are not asked all of these questions specifically, you can use the information to respond to similar inquiries about your background, hard skills and soft skills.

1. Tell Me About Yourself

Translation: Summarize your relevant skills and experience.

This question is often asked early in an interview. It is not an invitation to share your life story. A good answer summarizes, in five to six sentences, the skills and experience that make you a good fit for the job. Mention your most relevant general and job-specific skills, as well as personal characteristics that are important for the position. An accountant could summarize experience in basic accounting principles, discuss proficiency with computer spreadsheets, and give examples of accuracy and attention to detail.

A bit of humor, if you are comfortable using it, can relieve nervousness and get the interview off to a good start. Accountant Todd could say, “I’m a numbers geek!” But don’t overdo the levity. One or two bits of humor per interview is enough. You want to project friendliness, not goofiness. You are not interviewing to be a company comedian.

Avoid long, rambling responses that contain irrelevant details: where you grew up, a list of classes you took to earn your degree, or your recent divorce. Don’t mention achievements from high school and earlier, unless they are truly significant. Earning the designation of Eagle Scout, for example, requires personal characteristics that include persistence, leadership, and teamwork. These are valuable in any job.

2. Why Did You Choose This Field?

Translation: What excites you about this work or this industry?

A strong response highlights aptitudes and abilities that are related to the job in question. For example, “Engineering appeals to me because I enjoy applying mathematical principles to solve real-world problems. During college, I did a project…”

A weak response focuses on your personal preferences instead of what you can do for the employer, “I like computers,” “There are lots of jobs,” or, “It pays well.”

3. What Are Your Greatest Strengths?

Translation: What makes you good at this work? (Be ready with three examples.)

It is not boastful to discuss your abilities and accomplishments at a job interview. This is your chance to describe knowledge and personal attributes that enable you to achieve results for the organization. Choose strong points that demonstrate your ability to perform the job well. An engineer might say, “I can form detailed pictures in my mind and see how design changes will impact product performance.”

Empty, self-serving answers are those that offer no benefit to the employer, “I’m a fantastic writer,” “I’m a genius at math,” or, “I live to write code!”

4. What is Your Greatest Weakness?

Translation: Do you have insight into your limitations and have you learned from your mistakes?

This is a tricky question. Everyone has weaknesses of some kind, so saying that you don’t have any is clearly not true. On the other hand, being too honest can disqualify you as a candidate. Think about a weakness that is also a strength, or a limitation that you have overcome. Aaron said, “I can be a perfectionist, however this has helped me in accounting because my work is accurate. And, it is always delivered on time.” This answer works because accuracy is important in this line of work, and Aaron added a sentence to let the employer know that his thoroughness would not get in the way of meeting deadlines.

Unacceptable responses are those that communicate a fatal flaw. This refers to an attribute that makes you unqualified for the position. Describing yourself as introverted and a little shy at first would be a fatal flaw for a salesperson, who meets with new prospects. It would not be a fatal flaw for someone, like an accountant, who works mostly with information. Some answers are fatal flaws for any job. Fatal flaw answers include, “I’m not a team player,” “My selfconfidence is low,” and, “I don’t like taking the ideas or direction of others.”

5. Describe Your Worst Boss

Translation: What type of manager have you disliked working with (and am I that type of manager)?

This question is not as simple as it may first sound. I’ll begin with the wrong answer, since it is the one so many of my clients choose. Rob is a good example. I could hear his agitation as he began describing a former manager. “He wouldn’t give me clear instructions, and then blamed me for everything that went wrong,” Rob began. “Once I asked to take a Friday off before a holiday weekend. He was so mean, he said no, but then let one of the other associates take Friday off.”

I’ll bet that you, like Rob, have a story or two about an unreasonable, jerky boss. However, sharing these anecdotes at an interview makes you look bad. Blaming problems on someone else, or making negative judgments about a person’s character, makes you sound like a complainer, and an employee who is difficult to work with. Companies do not want employees who are difficult. Avoid comments like, “He didn’t listen to me,” “She criticized my work,” and, “He was disrespectful and yelled a lot.”

When a hiring manager asks this question, he wants to know whether you will be comfortable with his management style. A manager who gives staff members a lot of autonomy would be concerned if you describe this style as difficult. Obviously, you cannot know a manager’s preferences in advance. If your styles are different to the point of incompatibility, it really means the job is not the right fit, and it’s unlikely that you’re going to get hired.

The right response to this question focuses on professional (not personal) characteristics, and frames negatives as differences in preference or style. For example, “My last supervisor preferred group brainstorming sessions. This was a challenge sometimes because I like to think about a problem on my own, then present my ideas to the group. We worked it out so I could contribute my ideas the next day.”

For more essential advice, tips and strategies for getting a job in the neurotypical workplace, buy your copy of The Complete Guide to Getting a Job for People with Asperger’s Syndrome by Barbara Bissonnette.

Copyright © Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2012.

In this short piece Tony White introduces his new book Working with Drug and Alcohol Users: A Guide to Providing Understanding, Assessment and Support. Using transactional analysis theory, this book explains why some people use substances, exploring different personality types, and covers the basic components of drug counselling.

This book is designed for counsellors and those who come into contact with drug and alcohol users as part of their work or in someway in their life. It provides a somewhat new look at drug and alcohol use using the theory of Transactional Analysis as the underlying approach. Other approaches are also discussed, including the Gestalt approach and cognitive behavioral therapy as these also contribute significantly when working with substance users.

Customary areas including a theory of addiction, the assessment of the drug user and different motivations as to why people use drugs are covered. This different approach allows for the development of new and innovative approaches to well known counselling problem areas.

Central to the transactional analysis approach is the idea of therapeutic contracts. From this is described a technique called the harm reduction contract. This describes how the client and counsellor work together to develop a contract for the implementation of harm reduction strategies. It describes a four step process by which the drug user can make a harm reduction contact with the help of the counsellor. Also covered in the area of harm reduction is self harm and drug use, suicide and drug use, dealing with defense mechanisms in harm reduction counselling and so forth.

Another very common area in drug counselling is motivational interviewing which is covered in this book. By using Transactional Analysis one can develop two different types of motivational interviewing. The usual techniques involving the behavior approach are covered and this could be seen as the adult ego state approach to this area. In addition to this, the child ego state can be used as an avenue of motivational interviewing. This book describes a variety of child ego state approaches. It opens up a whole new approach to motivational interviewing that has rarely been discussed before.

The most problematic type of drug user is the dependent drug user who is usually seen as the drug addict. Considerable time in the book is spent looking at how this person functions and what counselling approaches may be successful with them. The approach in this book emphasises the relationship between the drug and the drug user again using the Transactional Analysis principles of symbiosis and dependency. The drug dependent user develops a symbiotic relationship with the drug in the same way a person can develop a dependent relationship with a partner. Indeed this person will have a pattern of relationships in their life that tend to be dependent in nature such that the relationship they have to the drug is the same in nature. The approach described in my new book looks at how one can end the dependent relationship with the drug and a variety of strategies are described.

You can listen to the podcast here, or go to This is Wisdom – Radio for more details. You can also find out more about Steven’s work on his blog: http://www.dramaticproblemsolving.blogspot.co.uk/

The Who Cares? conference will examine the unique challenges facing adults with autism as they age, and present best practice from experts in the field including JKP authors Dr Wendy Lawson, author of The Passionate Mind and Understanding and Working with the Spectrum of Autism, and Professor Digby Tantam, author of Autism Spectrum Disorders Through the Life Span.

10 October 2012  |  London  |  More Info & Bookings »

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The Women and Girls on the Autism Spectrum conference will present the latest research and practice in diagnosis and support for women and girls with autism.

Featuring presentations by JKP authors Liane Holliday Willey, Sarah Hendrickx, Bettina Riese-Stott, and a special book signing with Jennifer Cook O’Toole.

16 October 2012  |  Birmingham  |  More Info & Bookings »

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An Evening with Liane Holliday Willey is a unique opportunity to hear the world-famous author speak about her life and experiences, ask her questions and purchase signed copies of her bestselling books, including Pretending to be Normal and Safety Skills for Asperger Women.

17 October 2012  |  London  |  More Info & Bookings »

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An Evening with Jennifer Cook O’Toole is a fantastic opportunity to hear the Asperkids author share the unique teaching strategies, parenting perspectives and ‘Aspie’ insight that has won her some of the most coveted prizes for outstanding contributions to the lives and families the world over. You’ll also have a chance to buy signed copies of her new book, The Asperkid’s (Secret) Book of Social Rules.

23 October 2012  |  Manchester  |  More Info & Bookings »

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 The Pathological Demand Avoidance conference will provide professionals and parents with a clearer understanding of the diagnostic criteria for pathological demand avoidance syndrome (PDA).

Featuring a presentation by Phil Christie and Ruth Fidler, co-authors of Understanding Pathological Demand Avoidance Syndrome in Children.

15 November 2012  |  Edinburgh  |  More Info & Bookings »

This new book is about people who experienced domestic violence between their parents or carers, when they were children, and about the impacts these experiences have had on them into adulthood, which have in many cases been scarring and painful.

There is little research regarding adults with experiences and memories of childhood domestic abuse, but the book looks at what studies do exist and at what we can learn from them. It also looks at the more prolific research which has been conducted about children themselves experiencing domestic violence, as this research can sometimes offer insights for what might happen when the person concerned grows up. 

The book goes on to discuss practice, services and policy issues. The idea is that it will be useful to helping professionals, to agencies and to people with this personal history. It also considers recovery techniques including counselling and therapy.  It is written in a relatively non-academic and accessible way, whilst remaining academically rigorous.  We hope it will be use to adult survivors of domestic violence, to students of social work and the social sciences, to academics, to violence against women researchers, and to practitioners, policy-makers, social workers and counsellors.

This issue is one which has been little explored.  Hence the subtitle of the book, a version of which was the authors working title: “Still Hurting, Still Forgotten”.  Many who carry memories and traumas of domestic violence from childhood do indeed feel both; that they are still hurting long after the events themselves occurred, and that their plight is one which has been largely forgotten, overlooked and ignored. This book attempts to open up this previously neglected subject as a new area for further research and practice.  We are pleased that readers to date have identified the book to be a pioneering one which breaks new ground.

It has an unusual structure in that it also includes creative and personal writing, interwoven with the material for professionals, counsellors, social workers, students, survivors themselves and researchers. Most importantly, it includes a series of moving and powerful poems and personal testimonies, specifically produced for the book by adult survivors of childhood domestic abuse. One poem by a middle-aged Scottish women talks about how long the painful impacts of experiencing childhood domestic violence can endure.  Her words might have resonance for others reading the book.  She says that:

       She couldn’t help remembering,
       even though she’s well past 50,

       The feeling of the shades coming down.

       Her father mad with fury.
      
       But she couldn’t stop it,
       couldn’t stop him.
       Crying and sobbing,
       tears dripping off her chin.
       She couldn’t stop him.

       She couldn’t help remembering.

       And she learned not to sleep.
       She dreaded anyone suspecting.
      
       She couldn’t help remembering.
  
       Her expectant young life reduced to
       what felt like fragments
      
       bitter
       and a tangled feeling.

       She couldn’t help remembering.

       Even though she’s well past 50. 
      
       But she couldn’t stop it,       
       crying and sobbing,
       arms outstretched to them.
      
       Even though she’s well past 50.

A final note from Gill Hague:

This is the last and closing book of my career and I am proud of it. The final words of the last poem are: “It is finished.  It is over”.  They apply to the individual poem, to the poet’s personal recovery, to the book itself, and to my own career and 40 year journey working on violence against women issues. I trust that this final book will be of use in the field to both practitioners and researchers, as well as to people themselves who carry life experiences of domestic violence in childhood.