Hi Wendy, ( and all) Yes - echoing what Lisa says here from Exeter _ I'd be glad to give support from a distance based on our previous experience. I'd love to come to the east coast. Also to hear about local issues from where you are. I wonder if one possible theme could be community psychology and sustainability - this seems to flow from some of the good stuff we had at Newcastle, has been an issue that the community members of the Southwest network have brought to us.It's a growing pre-occupation of mine - has anyone read Jonathan Porrit's latest book - Capitalism as if the World Matters - there is so little from psychology in the debate around sustainability and yet we could/ should be be contributing .. Links with the need for us to be active about political/global issues, violence, war, inequalities etc. Also there is another worry about the growing political move towards cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) as an proposed answer to alleged nationally growing levels of individual and collective levels of unhappiness and distress (and the consequent cost of this distress to the Treasury) . I had a concerned email today from a member of Exeter DClin's service user advisory group about the narrow perspective taken in recent national public pronouncements about obsessive compulsive disorder, for example. Has anyone seen the recommendations coming out via the work of Lord Richard Layard regarding the aspiration to train (many) more CBT therapists ? See http://www.strategy.gov.uk/downloads/files/mh_layard.pdf> for the original presentation to the cabinet office and <http://www.bps.org.uk/dcp/news/layard.cfm> for a discussion on this in clinical psychology ( Tony Roth) ). Could we have a conference theme on challenging the CBT hegemony perhaps? And on how we could raise awareness politically about issues of prevention and victim blaming etc in relation to distress? Maybe we could invite Lord Layard who I believe to be sensitive to issues of social inequality and give him some input regarding other ways beyond clinical psychology and CBT that psychology could contribute?? Good wishes, Annie --On 24 November 2005 11:32 +0000 "Thorne Lisa (Devon Partnership NHS Trust)" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi Wendy > Really pleased to hear the enthusiasm already brewing in > Great Yarmouth - it will be lovely to be beside the sea!! > > Having been involved in the organisation of the Exeter > conference, I would be quite happy to take a backseat and > leave you to plan the conference locally with the occasional > email to the group, perhaps simply to discuss a theme/focus > as this was something that there wasn't time for at the end > of the conference in Newcastle. I do think that it would be > helpful to have some space to think further about the role > of community psychology in commenting on political/global > issues - the conversations that took place in Newcastle were > very thought provoking but i'm not sure that we managed to > come to a an agreement about how/when/where to make any > statements on such issues. > > However, if you are asking for help/advice, I'm sure we at > Exeter would be able to fill you in on any of the challenges > & how we overcame them + practicalities etc - & offer > anything else we can from a distance - just let us know! > > Good luck with it! > > Lisa > > ************************************************************************* > ** This e-mail is confidential and privileged. If you are not the intended > recipient please accept our apologies; please do not disclose, copy or > distribute information in this e-mail or take any action in reliance on > its contents: to do so is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Please > inform us that this message has gone astray before deleting it. Thank you > for your co-operation. > ************************************************************************* > ** > > ___________________________________ > > COMMUNITYPSYCHUK - The discussion list for community psychology in the UK. > To unsubscribe or to change your details visit the website: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/COMMUNITYPSYCHUK.HTML > For any problems or queries, contact the list moderator at > [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask] Annie Mitchell Lecturer in Psychology, Clinical Director, Doctorate in Clinical and Community Psychology, School of Psychology, Washington Singer Building, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QG Phone 01392 264621 or Liz Mears, Programme Administrator 01392 403184 ___________________________________ COMMUNITYPSYCHUK - The discussion list for community psychology in the UK. To unsubscribe or to change your details visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/COMMUNITYPSYCHUK.HTML For any problems or queries, contact the list moderator at [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]