May 2018

Presenting the Life Events Systematic Review at the BACP 2018 conference

This weekend I had the pleasure of presenting a systematic review of the research literature on life events that occur over the course of counselling/psychotherapy for young people. For the full-text, please follow the reference below. This review fed directly into my current research project with the YP-CORE. Whilst considering how best to explore patterns of change and stability in YP-CORE scores over time, I found myself returning again and again to the question of 'why would we expect these scores to be so stable?' and how can we account for the fluctuations in circumstances and events in our environments that influence these patterns of change? My thoughts around psychological distress are grounded in a psychosocial and public health persepctive, heavily influenced by researchers such as David Smail, Barabara Dohrenwend and Rappaport. I chose to carry out a systematic review looking into life events and socioeconomic status in studies of psychotherapeutic interventions with young people. I have since developed a brief measure of life events for adolescents, which I am currently piloting in this project. One of my main observations from the BACP conference this weekend, was how concerned and committed many of the therapists and researchers presenting and in attendance were to improve mental wellness on a large scale, through working closely with policymakers to effect real change. I was particularly inspired by a presentation from Labour MP Luciana Berger, in which she asked the researchers present to help her to do her job. As a backbench MP with a small staff, but strong dedication to mental health, she admitted that the questions she uses to hold the goverment to account could be strenghtened with the support and guidance from mental health researchers, who know how to interpret and present data that is often available in the public sphere, but in many ways hidden from view. For me, this aspect of the conference was the one that affected me the most and I will be thinking about the ways in which my research can inform and challenge policy and contribute to a collective effort in the mental health research community to better public wellbeing. References When life gets in the way: Systematic review of life events,... Power, Interest and Psychology : Element of a Social Materia... Symptoms, hassles, social supports, and life events: Problem... Community Psychology Is (Thank God) More Than Science