In Praise of EMDR - A must read! (June 2021)
After a lifetime of ups and downs he was committed to hospital under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act. He is Horatio Clare, the bestselling author of numerous books. His essays and reviews appear on BBC radio and in the Financial Times, the Observer and the Spectator. His latest book, Heavy Light – A Journey through Madness, Mania & Healing – is now available; it’s a truly extraordinary account by one of the most brilliant travel writers of our day, of a different sort of travel - one through complete breakdown and severe mental illness.
It is by turns moving, incredibly intense, humorous, compassionate. It reveals how we treat those who become dangerously ill. It also exposes the extent of the growing crisis in mental health in the UK[1] and the lottery of treatment. It exposes treatments so often limited to pharmaceuticals about which even the “experts” admit to not knowing how they work at a neurological level. He discusses the current reliance on the DSM diagnostic system, which is increasingly being called into question for its unscientific basis, and the growing use of the British Psychological Society’s alternative model called the Power Threat, Meaning Framework [2].
Finally, he describes the power of EMDR, used by his therapist, which releases Horatio Clare from his childhood traumas and the destructive habits he had developed to shield himself, as an adult, their devastating impact.
This is a book that will encourage all EMDR therapists. It made the writer of this blog so pleased to have had the opportunity to practice EMDR and, for a moment, even to consider whether his decision to retire from practice should be put on hold.
[1] Four Trends That Will Shape The Future of EMDR (February 2021 blog)
[2] The British Psychological Society special offer (September 2019 blog)
I have always loved the pastoral side of education, particularly the opportunities to see young people develop and flourish in whatever ways work for them. As a result of this interest, I completed a Masters in Guidance and Counselling in Education in 1998 followed by a PhD in 2002 that bridged the worlds of counselling and education.