Editorial 

This Autumn issue of Inside Out is, at last, not dominated by the many challenges and adaptations forced upon us in response to Covid-19. It is still with us, as is “pandemic burnout,” but it feels as if we as a society and a profession are figuring out how to coexist, with optimism and a necessary vigilance.

We could say the same about the subject of our first article, an interview with Dr. Kathleen Nadeau, director of the Chesapeake ADHD Center in the U.S. and author of a new book titled Still Distracted After All These Years. She has been one of the first clinicians to raise awareness of this disorder in older adults, and while aging can bring on many behavioural and personality changes, she has shown we are never too old to be affected by ADHD.

In his article “On writing therapy and being a self-compassionate editor”, Simon Forsyth explores how creative writing, journaling, poetry and just about any related form of written expression can “be like a key to a door; a door to a garden; a garden of possibilities; and perhaps too a compass to help locate each of the above.” Forsyth’s focus is on process rather than product and his aim is to facilitate people to take fuller possession of their lives.

There are some eye-opening statements in the article offered by Emma Philbin Bowman, who challenges us to rethink many of our assumptions about therapy and living in general as we emerge from the limited world of pandemic lockdown. In her view, we are “noticing the world doesn’t work for us anymore.” She addresses our over-dependence on separateness and individuality, particularly in the practice of psychotherapy, and suggests the concept of a communal “We-Space” as a more effective and spiritually rewarding way to move forward.

Jimmy Judge returns with the second part of a trilogy-in-progress and another clever pop-culture title: “Wake up MAGA, I think I’ve got something to say to you.” He builds on his warnings of the dangers of insidious covert narcissists in the workplace and now illustrates how they can use the technique of “gaslighting” to try to flip our reality on its head.

We don’t usually conceive of medication as having a symbolic role in the depressive psyche, but that is the point of Nigel Mulligan’s “Melancholia and the meaning of medication.” In addition, we offer Evan Dwan’s investigation of how “biography becomes biology” through the effects of “The hidden epidemic of childhood trauma,” Liz Gleeson’s exploration of “the depth and breadth of the grief experience”, and an in-depth look into the benchmarks for successful supervision by Debbie Hegarty.

Eleanor Dunn has reviewed the work of Barbara Dowd who poses the question, “Do we really need another book on depression?” and presents the latest in research on this all-too-familiar subject. Effects of the pandemic on our work and personal lives is the subject of Touch by Richard Kearney, reviewed by Aine Hutchinson, and we take a look at Stage Fright as experienced by singing performers and some ways of working with it, in Virginia Kerr’s book reviewed by Diane McDonald. Finally, we are happy to present poetry from Simona Tudor, Ger Murphy and Jim FitzGibbon

IAHIP 2021 - INSIDE OUT 95 - Autumn 2021