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Counselling, Class and Politics: Undeclared influences in therapy
Anne's motivation for writing Counselling, Class and Politics back in 1996, was `to persuade readers to the view that politics and political ideas matter in counselling'. This new edition of the work contains a wide range of commentaries from practioners working in the world of counselling today, who all argue that Anne's message is as relevant today as it has always been. So too is driving belief of the author that counselling training, regulation and awareness in general too often fails to acknowledge the political environment that practitioners and their clients inhabit and its influence on the counselling relationship. Anne's book, accessible, unashamedly unapologetic and searching in the questions it asks of readers, is still a vibrant, challenging text for any student, practitioner or trainer today.
160 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 8, 2016
Written in 1996, the issues covered seem (sadly) to be just as relevant today.
Taking a person-centred view of class politics as it relates to counselling, the author argues that seeking to maintain a politically-neutral stance and ignoring class and any counsellor/client class differences, leaves unexamined whole dimensions of experience, the influence of which, being unacknowledged, cannot be dealt with congruently.
The author's own political leanings are left-wing, with much criticism made of Thatcherite and Blairite policies. To me, these criticisms read convincingly, but then I lean leftwards myself.
As well as developing her argument for an open recognition of class and the political environment in counselling and counselling training, (though, to be fair, she does not specify any partisan position in this), the author also provides a number of activities for trainee counsellors and training groups.
Where I feel the author could have improved her argument would be by providing more detailed references in the text. Some few are supplied, and there is a reasonably extensive reference list and bibliography in which to try to hunt stuff down, however the relative dearth of in-text references gives an air to much of her argument of being personal opinion, rather than evidenced by research of relevant literature.
Taking a person-centred view of class politics as it relates to counselling, the author argues that seeking to maintain a politically-neutral stance and ignoring class and any counsellor/client class differences, leaves unexamined whole dimensions of experience, the influence of which, being unacknowledged, cannot be dealt with congruently.
The author's own political leanings are left-wing, with much criticism made of Thatcherite and Blairite policies. To me, these criticisms read convincingly, but then I lean leftwards myself.
As well as developing her argument for an open recognition of class and the political environment in counselling and counselling training, (though, to be fair, she does not specify any partisan position in this), the author also provides a number of activities for trainee counsellors and training groups.
Where I feel the author could have improved her argument would be by providing more detailed references in the text. Some few are supplied, and there is a reasonably extensive reference list and bibliography in which to try to hunt stuff down, however the relative dearth of in-text references gives an air to much of her argument of being personal opinion, rather than evidenced by research of relevant literature.
January 16, 2022
The second edition of Anne Kearney's important work provides useful updating and some development of the issues she raised in the first edition, and which she was planning to do herself before her untimely death. While it still misses the in-text referencing I think would bolster her arguments (and which Kearney confirms in her introduction as a deliberate authorial decision), the greatly expanded bibliography is welcome.
The drive for the professionalisation of counselling and psychotherapy, in direct opposition to the values of the person-centred approach, by the BACP and other UK organisations which Kearney warned against is, sadly, as strong as ever. It is, however, heartening to see a collectivised push-back from within the counselling community against the neoliberalisation and commodification of therapy and 'wellness', inspired at least in part by Kearney's book.
The drive for the professionalisation of counselling and psychotherapy, in direct opposition to the values of the person-centred approach, by the BACP and other UK organisations which Kearney warned against is, sadly, as strong as ever. It is, however, heartening to see a collectivised push-back from within the counselling community against the neoliberalisation and commodification of therapy and 'wellness', inspired at least in part by Kearney's book.
April 25, 2024
Can anyone tell I'm cramming for an essay
March 4, 2020
Radical (i'd do the rock emoji but i'm on desktop and am too boomer)
January 9, 2025
Powerful
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews