2025... (28.12.24)
2025... (28.12.24)
A quick post ahead of time to wish everyone a happy, healthy 2025! I thought it an idea to post a little about plans for next year, provisional resolutions...
Every year is a blessing, and 2024 qualifies as I'm still here and ticking. The huge renovation work at my place in Shoreham has been, on the whole, very enjoyable. Although I don't think local tradesmen will lose any sleep, I can at least say I'm now capable enough to repoint walls, do some basic plumbing, do some basic woodwork. That feels great. The project here was always going to be a big one and outside of my competence - converting an 11 bed ex-Nunnery to a 6/7 bed family home - but the end is now in sight. That's the target for 2025.
On the therapy side of things it's been a privilege to know so many wonderful people and play whatever part I have played in being a help. 2025 feels right to take some more training so I am thinking over the new year as to what course would be most helpful for clients. The risk any therapist runs, in my humble opinion, is a deepening of knowledge (gained through experience) as we figure out our own style, but with the risk that the approaches or interventions we use in our work become more narrow. We gravitate to the things that appeal to us. As the saying goes 'If your only tool is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail'! So training is on the list. It should probably be an approach, or set of techniques that I feel a little cynical or nervous about, and something that appeals less to the existential approach that I tend to favour in my work.
On the supervision side of things, this work continues to be a pleasure. It's been great in particular watching the practices grow of those I work with. As a supervisor I've been determined to approach supervision in a very egalitarian (e.g. non-managerial / 'expert') way. A major factor in this is that I've had my fill of being managerial, but I believe in the utility of this approach for a bunch of other theoretical reasons too. I have found this approach is not for everyone that initially expresses interest in working with me. Maybe it is my personal style or tone, rather than the theoretical approach itself, I am not sure... I sometimes wonder if my contributions as a supervisor seem too non-commital - too genial or laced with a sort of over-cooked humility or just plain old 'kind' - rather than definitive statements or challenges, delivered with the force of a remote old psychodynamic therapist! Maybe, dear reader, in a bid to set up conditions that strike me as being 'equal' between two therapists, I am overdoing it. Or perhaps I am overthinking it. On this I'm not sure. Things to think about in 2025.
2024 was a little bit plagued with illness and injury, especially the second half with a couple of health scares in the family and one operation for me. This has been a drag on mood and on quite a few occasions has pulled my attention away from important things. For 2025 one goal is to take steps to resolve niggling mechanical issues, and focus on diet and exercise and ditching the vapes.
For 2025 I want to see if there are ways I can get a little more involved with the local community or more politically engaged in some way. At risk of being a pessimist I do think there are tough economic times ahead as I'm not sure the labour cabinet has anyone remotely competent. I'll be glad to be wrong but, if I'm wrong, I think it'll be a happy accident. More importantly I think the UK is quickly turning into a 'low trust' society - not more than a couple of generations from being perhaps the highest trust society the world had ever known. This is not a good direction of travel and we must stop being mealy-mouthed about saying so for fear of being called names. There seems little out there I would want to squarely stand behind (and I am heartily sick of people who view politics like a tribal match of football with bovine loyalty to their favourite colour, regardless of the collapses happening all around them), but we are (I fear) in the territory of 'least worst options' at this point. Sorry to be downbeat.
Finally, I'd like to experiment with work/life balance next year. At the moment I plan to be in Spain for the whole month of July, with a view to seeing whether the move could be made more permanently (this would be a few years away yet). I will be encouraging anyone who would like to see me in July to continue to do so, but online during that month. Unconnected, I want to explore therapy frequency a little more. I'm convinced the most helpful amount of time between sessions is somewhere between 7-14 days. Most of us therapists have weekly sessions, but the research indicates that 'reliability' of meeting is the most important factor, rather than arbitrary frequency. It's a given that meetings cannot be too spaced out. 8-12 days is unworkable as most of us (therapists and clients) don't have calendars that can chop and change like this, and we have weekends. Therapy would become 'unreliable'. So although weekly (or more) is absolutely needed for those in real need and those starting therapy, I am thinking of perhaps offering new clients (happy to talk to existing clients about this too) a 2 week cycle after a short while. It goes on my list of things I'd like to look at in 2025.
That will do! I hope everyone has had a decent Christmas and found some moments of happiness and peace. Best wishes to all.
Steve
Comments
Post a Comment