I was lucky enough to go to the All in the Mind BBC4 awards last night (broadcast next Tuesday night at 9pm if you are keen). It was a very moving event to be a part of, where the winners in three categories of awards were announced – individuals, groups and professionals who had made a significant contribution to someone’s mental health. The judges had hundreds of nominations to sift through, and what struck me most, is something I know: people’s lives were changed or even healed by the way they were treated by another human being (whether that was a mum or mental health nurse or psychologist) rather than a certain ‘treatment’ being employed.
The psychotherapy and counselling profession increasingly has to evidence-proof their ways of working, which, in turn relies upon one treatment method being tested against another. But most of us know that the true healing nature of therapy rests upon the quality of the relationship forged between therapist and client.