Entry for 20 January 2007:
Celtic Connections is a festival of celtic and world music held every year for 3 weeks from mid-January to early February. This year there are over 300 events, concerts, workshops, art exhibits – it’s huge. It started a couple of days ago, and tonight we went to our first concert: Solas, an Irish-American group whose mainstay is their exceptional instrumentalists, most spectacularly their exuberant and amazing fiddle player, Winifred Horan. We dragged Mick and Lorna along (it wasn’t difficult to persuade them), making a pleasant evening of it.
Celtic Connections is closer to a conference that a folk festival, with up to 8 parallel sessions and concerts in which related groups or sets of performers are put together. Solas fitted into the latter pattern by inviting most of the previous members of the band to take part. As a result, there were times when 9 or 10 people were up there performing, making the group into a small folk orchestra and producing what Mick referred to as a “wall of sound”(a reference to Phil Spector’s work as a producer and arranger for early 60’s girl groups). We left in an exhilarated mood and look forward to more such concerts, as time allows.
Celtic music has been important to me for at least 25 years, certainly since The Thistle and the Shamrock began broadcasting on NPR in the early 1980’s, when I followed the work of Clannad (before they got all mushy and commercial), Capercaillie (my favorite celtic group), Altan, and others. This interest grew out of my earlier interest in folk music from my childhood, which later grew into an interesting folk-based classical music (Vaughan Williams, Percy Granger, Dvorak, etc.). So Celtic Connections and the whole importance of this kind of music here is part of the real attraction that living here has for me, and I love the fact that there are regular local folk music programs on the Radio Scotland, including an hour a week of Scottish dance music and another hour of bagpipe music… and of course the Celtic Connections festival.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Friday, January 19, 2007
Telling the Fulltime Counselling Course Students about Quantitative Research
Entry for 19 January 2007:
For today I had to repeat my lecture on quantitative research, which I had given already last term to the Monday parttime counselling course. I was all ready with the same client PE-111 Hermeneutic Single Case Efficacy Design presentation, using the strategy of hooking the students with interesting case material, when it came to me that the key statistical parts of this presentation were really going to go right over the heads of about half of the students.
So as of 10 last night, I started over on a different lecture, focusing on designing a Person-Centred research protocol. I got up early this morning in order to finish this lecture, which turned out very nicely.
However, as I was leaving for work, I began to feel that this was not really going to work either, so on my walk to work (between looking at the magpies: see previous entry) I made mental notes about a presentation aimed to work more interactively with the students on their stuck points about quantitative research and what they would find helpful. This is what I did, then:
1. I began by reading my poem “Numbers are Words of Power”, part 1 of Magic my Dad Taught Me (http://www.murraycreek.net/elliott/robert/dad75.htm).
2. We explored their relationship with numbers. While a few of the students have math phobia processes, most are simply distrustful, suspicious and turned off by statistics, because of their jargon, lack of meaningfulness, and impersonal nature. Many wanted to know about things like what a “p-value” means, what reliability is, and so on. A few felt that it is not in their ability even understand statistics.
I am a believer in Mahayana statistics (from one of two main schools of Buddhism); that is, I believe that enlightenment into the True Nature of statistics is possible for all (or nearly all people). Therefore, I took this teaching input as a challenge to try to bring enlightenment not simply to a few MSc and PhD students (that is Hinayana statistics, the narrow path for the few), but all or nearly all the post-graduate students.
3. I had decided as part of the second planned lecture to hand out copies of the CORE Outcome Measure and the Working Alliance Inventory. But now, instead of just giving it to them as a example, I began to explain to them how an instrument like this actually works and what the problems are. This was hard going for all of us, but I could feel us moving forward for the most part, but still many were not quite getting it.
4. The breakthrough came, when one of them asked if I could demonstrate filling it out. This sounded like a strange request, but I decided to give it a try. I completed the first two items, describing my thought process as did so. After this, I looked up, noticed that this wasn’t terribly interesting for them, and so I suggested that we all just fill it out for ourselves, and I would take them through using the instrument. This turned out to be a winning strategy, as I could then take them through hardscoring it and beginning to interpret it.
5. In the end, I was able to get as far as explaining the Reliable Change Index so that most but not all of them could understand it. At the end, there was a lot of energy in the room. I left feeling very pleased with the outcome of a very challenging and stimulating morning.
6. Actually, I feel a bit silly at discovering yet again that the only way to understand research is to live it, to experience it form the inside, here by actually filling out, scoring and interpreting the CORE-Outcome Measure. Afterall, I had taken an experiential approach for the first lecture I gave them. I wonder how many times I will have to learn that experience trumps all. I guess it’s a lesson worth learning over and over again!
For today I had to repeat my lecture on quantitative research, which I had given already last term to the Monday parttime counselling course. I was all ready with the same client PE-111 Hermeneutic Single Case Efficacy Design presentation, using the strategy of hooking the students with interesting case material, when it came to me that the key statistical parts of this presentation were really going to go right over the heads of about half of the students.
So as of 10 last night, I started over on a different lecture, focusing on designing a Person-Centred research protocol. I got up early this morning in order to finish this lecture, which turned out very nicely.
However, as I was leaving for work, I began to feel that this was not really going to work either, so on my walk to work (between looking at the magpies: see previous entry) I made mental notes about a presentation aimed to work more interactively with the students on their stuck points about quantitative research and what they would find helpful. This is what I did, then:
1. I began by reading my poem “Numbers are Words of Power”, part 1 of Magic my Dad Taught Me (http://www.murraycreek.net/elliott/robert/dad75.htm).
2. We explored their relationship with numbers. While a few of the students have math phobia processes, most are simply distrustful, suspicious and turned off by statistics, because of their jargon, lack of meaningfulness, and impersonal nature. Many wanted to know about things like what a “p-value” means, what reliability is, and so on. A few felt that it is not in their ability even understand statistics.
I am a believer in Mahayana statistics (from one of two main schools of Buddhism); that is, I believe that enlightenment into the True Nature of statistics is possible for all (or nearly all people). Therefore, I took this teaching input as a challenge to try to bring enlightenment not simply to a few MSc and PhD students (that is Hinayana statistics, the narrow path for the few), but all or nearly all the post-graduate students.
3. I had decided as part of the second planned lecture to hand out copies of the CORE Outcome Measure and the Working Alliance Inventory. But now, instead of just giving it to them as a example, I began to explain to them how an instrument like this actually works and what the problems are. This was hard going for all of us, but I could feel us moving forward for the most part, but still many were not quite getting it.
4. The breakthrough came, when one of them asked if I could demonstrate filling it out. This sounded like a strange request, but I decided to give it a try. I completed the first two items, describing my thought process as did so. After this, I looked up, noticed that this wasn’t terribly interesting for them, and so I suggested that we all just fill it out for ourselves, and I would take them through using the instrument. This turned out to be a winning strategy, as I could then take them through hardscoring it and beginning to interpret it.
5. In the end, I was able to get as far as explaining the Reliable Change Index so that most but not all of them could understand it. At the end, there was a lot of energy in the room. I left feeling very pleased with the outcome of a very challenging and stimulating morning.
6. Actually, I feel a bit silly at discovering yet again that the only way to understand research is to live it, to experience it form the inside, here by actually filling out, scoring and interpreting the CORE-Outcome Measure. Afterall, I had taken an experiential approach for the first lecture I gave them. I wonder how many times I will have to learn that experience trumps all. I guess it’s a lesson worth learning over and over again!
January Notes and Update
Entry for 19 January 2007:
1. Snow. It snowed yesterday for the first time since we’ve arrived in Scotland, an inch or two of wet snow here in Glasgow. It felt familiar to us, like our familiar Midwestern winters. From the train I could see the fields covered in winter, as I travelled through Central Scotland toward Edinburgh. Unfortunately, this grew less as we approached Edinburgh, and had mostly all melted away by morning today, but still it was lovely to get a bit of Winter. (And a bit of Winter is generally enough for me!)
2. Magpies. Today was a bit warmer, and clearer. As I walked to work, I noticed the black-and-white british magpies fighting in the trees, their loud, raucous cries reminding me of the blue jays of my California childhood. Apparently, they begin to gather this time of year to sort out their territory and pecking order, into groups called “parliaments”. What I saw today was small groups of third birds chasing and scolding one another. Although they are a type of crow, they are certainly prettier. I like their brashness.
3. Catching up. I’ve spent much of the past two weeks catching up on work I didn’t get done over the break. Much of this involved a careful editing of a long book chapter entitled, Experiential Therapy Today, which Alberto Pos and Les Greenberg had done most of the work on. This is good, because the deadline was looming, but other things, like the papers for the Fulltime Counselling course, didn’t get done on time, so then I had to finish them in a rush. I enjoyed reading the papers, and in the end found them easier to read and grade than I had anticipated. I'm not sure my grades are consistent with the rest of the course tutors, but as always I have tried to be transparent about what I am looking for as I read the papers. This generally entails content coding the papers using little letter abbreviations to mark the "pithy points" germane to the different grading criteria along the way.
4. Moving. While all this was going on, we have also begun to move things into our new flat in Hyndland. Diane has been shopping with Elke at the giant IKEA store near the airport. Diane has already packed up much of our stuff. The movers will come this Tuesday to take our furniture out of storage, to collect a couple of old Mahogany wardrobes from a friend’s mom’s flat in Broomhill, and of course our things from the house in Anniesland where we have been living for the past five months.
5. New flat. We really like the new flat, which is a classic Hyndland flat, first floor, tiled close (=pronounced like the adjective for near, but referring to a shared hallway and stairs), stained glass windows over front door and bathroom, bay window in lounge (=living room), cozy dinner room, etc. The quaint touches remind me of our Toledo house. When Mick and Allie (our first visitors!) came by last night to drop off a table, they said, “This seems much more like you!” And that’s how it feels. We feel as though we are making a new beginning, but in a better place and a better psychological state.
1. Snow. It snowed yesterday for the first time since we’ve arrived in Scotland, an inch or two of wet snow here in Glasgow. It felt familiar to us, like our familiar Midwestern winters. From the train I could see the fields covered in winter, as I travelled through Central Scotland toward Edinburgh. Unfortunately, this grew less as we approached Edinburgh, and had mostly all melted away by morning today, but still it was lovely to get a bit of Winter. (And a bit of Winter is generally enough for me!)
2. Magpies. Today was a bit warmer, and clearer. As I walked to work, I noticed the black-and-white british magpies fighting in the trees, their loud, raucous cries reminding me of the blue jays of my California childhood. Apparently, they begin to gather this time of year to sort out their territory and pecking order, into groups called “parliaments”. What I saw today was small groups of third birds chasing and scolding one another. Although they are a type of crow, they are certainly prettier. I like their brashness.
3. Catching up. I’ve spent much of the past two weeks catching up on work I didn’t get done over the break. Much of this involved a careful editing of a long book chapter entitled, Experiential Therapy Today, which Alberto Pos and Les Greenberg had done most of the work on. This is good, because the deadline was looming, but other things, like the papers for the Fulltime Counselling course, didn’t get done on time, so then I had to finish them in a rush. I enjoyed reading the papers, and in the end found them easier to read and grade than I had anticipated. I'm not sure my grades are consistent with the rest of the course tutors, but as always I have tried to be transparent about what I am looking for as I read the papers. This generally entails content coding the papers using little letter abbreviations to mark the "pithy points" germane to the different grading criteria along the way.
4. Moving. While all this was going on, we have also begun to move things into our new flat in Hyndland. Diane has been shopping with Elke at the giant IKEA store near the airport. Diane has already packed up much of our stuff. The movers will come this Tuesday to take our furniture out of storage, to collect a couple of old Mahogany wardrobes from a friend’s mom’s flat in Broomhill, and of course our things from the house in Anniesland where we have been living for the past five months.
5. New flat. We really like the new flat, which is a classic Hyndland flat, first floor, tiled close (=pronounced like the adjective for near, but referring to a shared hallway and stairs), stained glass windows over front door and bathroom, bay window in lounge (=living room), cozy dinner room, etc. The quaint touches remind me of our Toledo house. When Mick and Allie (our first visitors!) came by last night to drop off a table, they said, “This seems much more like you!” And that’s how it feels. We feel as though we are making a new beginning, but in a better place and a better psychological state.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Lines of Evidence that Provide Empirical Support for the Person-Centred/Experiential Approach the Therapy
Entry for 13 January 2007:
The following is taken from a statement I have been working on with Jef Cornelius Young, Elke Lambers, Michael Behr, Karl-Otto Hentze and Juergen Kriz for a statement going to the German government body responsible for deciding which psychological treatments should be reimbursed by health insurance. In it I have tried to follow the inspiration of Cook & Campbell (1979), and Lakoff and Johnson (1999) in organizing the results within a framework of converging operations or triangulation of evidence:
A large empirical literature on the effectiveness of psychotherapy research, including studies published in German, clearly and strongly supports the use of PCE psychotherapies for a broad range of client problems. This literature includes data from five complementary lines of evidence:
References
Bohart, A.C., Elliott, R., Greenberg, L.S., Watson, J.C. (2002). Empathy. In J. Norcross, Psychotherapy relationships that work (pp. 89-108). New York: Oxford University Press.
Bohart, A.C., Elliott, R., Greenberg, L.S., Watson, J.C. (2002). Empathy. In J. Norcross, Psychotherapy relationships that work (pp. 89-108). New York: Oxford University Press.
Bratton, S. C., Ray, D. Rhine, T., Jones, L. (2005). The efficacy of play therapy with children: A meta-analytic review of treatment outcomes. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 36, 376-390.
Bruce, C., & Levant, R. F. (1990). A meta-analysis of parent effectiveness training. American Journal of Family Therapy, 18, 373- 384.
Cornelius-White, J. H. D. (2007). Learner-Centered Teacher-Student Relationships Are Effective: A Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research, 77, 1-31.
Elliott, R. (2002). The effectiveness of humanistic psychotherpies: A meta-analysis. In Cain & Seeman (Eds.) Humanistic psychotherapies: Handbook of research and practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Elliott, R., Greenberg, L. S., & Lietaer, G. (2004). In M. J. Lambert (Ed.) Bergin and Garfield’s Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change (Fifth Edition). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Heres, S., Davis, J., Maino, K., Jetzinger, E. Kissling, W., & Leucht, S. (2006). Why Olanzapine Beats Risperidone, Risperidone Beats Quetiapine, and Quetiapine Beats Olanzapine: An Exploratory Analysis of Head-to-Head Comparison Studies of Second-Generation Antipsychotics. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163: 185-194.
King, M., Sibbald, B., Ward, E., Bower, P., Lloyd, M., Gabbay, M., & Byford, S. (2000). Randomised controlled trial of non-directive counselling, cognitive-behavior therapy and usual general practitioner care in the management of depression as well as mixed anxiety and depression in primary care [Monograph]. Health Technology Assessment, 4 (19), 1-84.
Luborsky, L., Diguer, L., Seligman, D.A., Rosenthal, R., Krause, E.D., Johnson, S., Halperin, G., Bishop, M., Berman, J.S., & Schweizer, E. (1999). The researcher’s own therapy allegiances: A “wild card” in comparisons of treatment efficacy. Clinical Psychology,: Science and Practice, 6, 95- 106.
Orlinsky, D.E., Rønnestad, M.H., & Willutzki, U. (2004). Process and Outcome in Psychotherapy. In M.J. Lambert (Ed.), Bergin and Garfield’s Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change (5th Ed; pp. 307-389). New York: Wiley.
The following is taken from a statement I have been working on with Jef Cornelius Young, Elke Lambers, Michael Behr, Karl-Otto Hentze and Juergen Kriz for a statement going to the German government body responsible for deciding which psychological treatments should be reimbursed by health insurance. In it I have tried to follow the inspiration of Cook & Campbell (1979), and Lakoff and Johnson (1999) in organizing the results within a framework of converging operations or triangulation of evidence:
A large empirical literature on the effectiveness of psychotherapy research, including studies published in German, clearly and strongly supports the use of PCE psychotherapies for a broad range of client problems. This literature includes data from five complementary lines of evidence:
1. Randomized comparative clinical trials and comparative outcome studies (Elliott, Greenberg & Lietaer, 2004; King et al., 2000; Stiles, Barkham, Twigg, Mellor-Clarke & Cooper, 2006; Bruce & Levant, 1990; Cornelius-White, 2007)Each of these five lines of evidence has its own methodological strengths and limitations, but together they provide stronger evidence than any single line of research. For example, it is long-established scientific fact that randomized comparative clinical trial studies are subject to to strong researcher allegiance effects that compromise their conclusions, both generally in mental health treatment research literature (Robinson, Berman & Neimeyer, 1990; Luborsky et al., 1999; Herres et al., 2006) and specifically in the literature on PCEPs (Elliott et al., 2004). On their own, such studies therefore do not constitute a safe basis for deciding health care policy, and must be supported through the use of triangulating evidence.
2. Controlled studies (against untreated controls; Elliott, 2002; Elliott et al., 2004; Bratton, Ray, Rhine, & Jones, 2005)
3. Naturalistic open clinical trials (Elliott, 2002; Elliott et al., 2004),
4. Predictive process-outcome research (Orlinsky, Rønnestad & Willutzki, 2004; Bohart, Elliott, Greenberg & Watson, 2002; Cornelius-White, 2007)
5. Patient preference research (King et al. 2000).
References
Bohart, A.C., Elliott, R., Greenberg, L.S., Watson, J.C. (2002). Empathy. In J. Norcross, Psychotherapy relationships that work (pp. 89-108). New York: Oxford University Press.
Bohart, A.C., Elliott, R., Greenberg, L.S., Watson, J.C. (2002). Empathy. In J. Norcross, Psychotherapy relationships that work (pp. 89-108). New York: Oxford University Press.
Bratton, S. C., Ray, D. Rhine, T., Jones, L. (2005). The efficacy of play therapy with children: A meta-analytic review of treatment outcomes. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 36, 376-390.
Bruce, C., & Levant, R. F. (1990). A meta-analysis of parent effectiveness training. American Journal of Family Therapy, 18, 373- 384.
Cornelius-White, J. H. D. (2007). Learner-Centered Teacher-Student Relationships Are Effective: A Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research, 77, 1-31.
Elliott, R. (2002). The effectiveness of humanistic psychotherpies: A meta-analysis. In Cain & Seeman (Eds.) Humanistic psychotherapies: Handbook of research and practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Elliott, R., Greenberg, L. S., & Lietaer, G. (2004). In M. J. Lambert (Ed.) Bergin and Garfield’s Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change (Fifth Edition). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Heres, S., Davis, J., Maino, K., Jetzinger, E. Kissling, W., & Leucht, S. (2006). Why Olanzapine Beats Risperidone, Risperidone Beats Quetiapine, and Quetiapine Beats Olanzapine: An Exploratory Analysis of Head-to-Head Comparison Studies of Second-Generation Antipsychotics. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163: 185-194.
King, M., Sibbald, B., Ward, E., Bower, P., Lloyd, M., Gabbay, M., & Byford, S. (2000). Randomised controlled trial of non-directive counselling, cognitive-behavior therapy and usual general practitioner care in the management of depression as well as mixed anxiety and depression in primary care [Monograph]. Health Technology Assessment, 4 (19), 1-84.
Luborsky, L., Diguer, L., Seligman, D.A., Rosenthal, R., Krause, E.D., Johnson, S., Halperin, G., Bishop, M., Berman, J.S., & Schweizer, E. (1999). The researcher’s own therapy allegiances: A “wild card” in comparisons of treatment efficacy. Clinical Psychology,: Science and Practice, 6, 95- 106.
Orlinsky, D.E., Rønnestad, M.H., & Willutzki, U. (2004). Process and Outcome in Psychotherapy. In M.J. Lambert (Ed.), Bergin and Garfield’s Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change (5th Ed; pp. 307-389). New York: Wiley.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Lousadzak: Proposed Scottish-Armenian Festival Celebrating the Coming of the Light
Entry for 10 January 2007:
“The people who have walked in Darkness have seen a great Light.” -Isaiah 9:2
The sun came out today, shining with almost startling brightness out of the south, not setting until after 4pm this afternoon. My office was brighter than it had been in weeks, and as we gathered this afternoon next door in my research room on the 3rd floor of the Stowe Building for the Social Anxiety Study Group, we marvelled at the light. One of the diploma course students – I think it was Tom – remarked that the two weeks before and after Christmas are always the worst, but by now it is clear that the light is returning.
So it seems that we have reached another turning in the seasons, which could be called the Coming of the Light, or Lousadzak, after Armenian-Scottish-American composer Alan Hovhaness’s Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra, one of my long-time favorite pieces (the Keith Jarrett version with Scottish composer Dennis Russell Davies conducting is quite nice). It is predicted to rain for the next 5 days, and in fact there are rain and gale-force winds tonight, but we who are living in Scotland during the Time of the Dark know that the Light is coming back, day by day, pushing back the Dark a minute or two minutes each day. This would make a nice festival bridging Hogmanay and Burns Night.
“The people who have walked in Darkness have seen a great Light.” -Isaiah 9:2
The sun came out today, shining with almost startling brightness out of the south, not setting until after 4pm this afternoon. My office was brighter than it had been in weeks, and as we gathered this afternoon next door in my research room on the 3rd floor of the Stowe Building for the Social Anxiety Study Group, we marvelled at the light. One of the diploma course students – I think it was Tom – remarked that the two weeks before and after Christmas are always the worst, but by now it is clear that the light is returning.
So it seems that we have reached another turning in the seasons, which could be called the Coming of the Light, or Lousadzak, after Armenian-Scottish-American composer Alan Hovhaness’s Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra, one of my long-time favorite pieces (the Keith Jarrett version with Scottish composer Dennis Russell Davies conducting is quite nice). It is predicted to rain for the next 5 days, and in fact there are rain and gale-force winds tonight, but we who are living in Scotland during the Time of the Dark know that the Light is coming back, day by day, pushing back the Dark a minute or two minutes each day. This would make a nice festival bridging Hogmanay and Burns Night.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Epiphany: Our Journey of the Magi
Entry for 7 January 2007:
Our journey home was long and tiring; after waiting at Gatwick for almost 6 hours, we arrived in Glasgow to discover that my suitcase had not followed us. This has happened to me so many times that I regard it as a minor hassle. What was more difficult was coming home to a cold house, with the central heat out --again -- and no way of contacting the owner to have it fixed until Monday. But we managed to light the gas fire in the lounge (=living room) and borrow an electric space heater from our neighbour. After a couple of hours, the temperature in the kitchen had risen to 55 degrees F (=8 C). We opted for an early bedtime under clammy covers, which eventually warmed up.
This morning the courier delivered our suitcase early enough for us to make it to church. We were late, but arrived just in time for a reading of T.S. Eliot’s “Journey of the Magi,” one of my favorite poems, and certainly my favorite Christmas-related poem. This turned out to be turning point for us: Our friend John proceeded to preach a lovely sermon on the magi story, interweaving both biblical and Eliot versions.
I have been known to inflict this poem on my family during the holidays. Since I discovered Eliot during my adolescence, I have found his poetry has carried a biblical weight and density for me. (Four Quartets is my favorite and I even have the graphic novel version of Wasteland, but “Journey” is right up there, along with “Ash Wednesday”.)
As the serviced unfolded, we found ourselves welcomed back; people had missed us and talked about us in our absence. John and Nena, in particular, were really pleased to see us. Fran and Robert came up afterwards and introduced themselves; she turns out to be one of the counsellors on the Glasgow School Counselling Project. Then, after church, we had a probing discussion of the Magi story and its moral and theological implications that left us pondering and talking the rest of the day.
Fran and I each made the connection between the image of God/Goddess as a companion who suffers with us in such as way as to reveal new possibilities – and our work as Person-Centred/Experiential counsellors and therapists. Like God, we do not force or control, but offer possibilities, which our clients can choose to take up or not. For a long time, this parallel between the spiritual and the psychotherapeutic has resonated deeply with me; my long-ago adolescent intuition of this is one of the main reasons that I choose to become a therapist.
To have all this re-revealed on the celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany, at the end of a long and frustrating journey and homecoming, was an unexpected gift. Diane and I left, feeling warm and welcomed home. Cold house or no, we are moving forward: Diane has passed her IELTS exam, I’ve cleared out an enormous collection of old email; Celtic Connections and Burns Night are coming; and it’s back to work for me tomorrow among colleagues whom I respect and enjoy. It is clear to us now that we are part of a larger community here, and that here, too, is our home.
Our journey home was long and tiring; after waiting at Gatwick for almost 6 hours, we arrived in Glasgow to discover that my suitcase had not followed us. This has happened to me so many times that I regard it as a minor hassle. What was more difficult was coming home to a cold house, with the central heat out --again -- and no way of contacting the owner to have it fixed until Monday. But we managed to light the gas fire in the lounge (=living room) and borrow an electric space heater from our neighbour. After a couple of hours, the temperature in the kitchen had risen to 55 degrees F (=8 C). We opted for an early bedtime under clammy covers, which eventually warmed up.
This morning the courier delivered our suitcase early enough for us to make it to church. We were late, but arrived just in time for a reading of T.S. Eliot’s “Journey of the Magi,” one of my favorite poems, and certainly my favorite Christmas-related poem. This turned out to be turning point for us: Our friend John proceeded to preach a lovely sermon on the magi story, interweaving both biblical and Eliot versions.
I have been known to inflict this poem on my family during the holidays. Since I discovered Eliot during my adolescence, I have found his poetry has carried a biblical weight and density for me. (Four Quartets is my favorite and I even have the graphic novel version of Wasteland, but “Journey” is right up there, along with “Ash Wednesday”.)
As the serviced unfolded, we found ourselves welcomed back; people had missed us and talked about us in our absence. John and Nena, in particular, were really pleased to see us. Fran and Robert came up afterwards and introduced themselves; she turns out to be one of the counsellors on the Glasgow School Counselling Project. Then, after church, we had a probing discussion of the Magi story and its moral and theological implications that left us pondering and talking the rest of the day.
Fran and I each made the connection between the image of God/Goddess as a companion who suffers with us in such as way as to reveal new possibilities – and our work as Person-Centred/Experiential counsellors and therapists. Like God, we do not force or control, but offer possibilities, which our clients can choose to take up or not. For a long time, this parallel between the spiritual and the psychotherapeutic has resonated deeply with me; my long-ago adolescent intuition of this is one of the main reasons that I choose to become a therapist.
To have all this re-revealed on the celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany, at the end of a long and frustrating journey and homecoming, was an unexpected gift. Diane and I left, feeling warm and welcomed home. Cold house or no, we are moving forward: Diane has passed her IELTS exam, I’ve cleared out an enormous collection of old email; Celtic Connections and Burns Night are coming; and it’s back to work for me tomorrow among colleagues whom I respect and enjoy. It is clear to us now that we are part of a larger community here, and that here, too, is our home.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Return to Scotland: Looking Back, Looking Forward
Entry for 6 January 2007 (En route back to Scotland):
Waiting in London-Gatwick Airport for almost 6 hours, after flying all night from the USA, is not my favourite travel experience. I thought we had a good reason to book this particular flight, but right now I can’t remember what that reason was…
We are in the far end of Gatwick’s North Terminal, at a kind of crossroad with entrances to 4 sets of gates. Passengers come through here in waves: Usually one at a time, then suddenly the crossing will be flooded with people. Some passengers limp by on crutches, others racing like gazelles to catch a flight. There are plenty of small children, frolicking, or dragging, or making strange noises, or dropping money in the donation globe across from where we sit.
Our departure yesterday from Toledo was chaotic: Shortly before he was to drive us to the Detroit airport, Brendan’s car died, requiring a quick change of plans and a phone call to the automobile club. Instead, we left Brendan at home to meet the tow-truck and Kenneth and Mayumi came with us to the airport, receiving a briefing along the way so that they’d be able to find their way home again afterwards. After several days of lovely clear, sunny, mild weather, it had been raining in Toledo for almost a day, possibly to ease our transition back to Scotland. As I drove us to the airport, the rain turned into a downpour, making it difficult to see the lines on highway. Our neighbor from Toledo phoned Diane on her cell phone to express his pleasure at having spearheaded the repair of our street; Mayumi noticed that she had missed a call and called in to retrieve it; then Brendan phoned Kenneth to tell him the truck had come and that Mayumi didn’t need to phone him back. For a few minutes I was left to drive through the blinding rain while everyone else in the car was on their cell phones. This is when I realized that my family had arrived in the 21st century!
At three weeks, this was the longest break from work I have taken in years. We divided our time between Northern California and Ohio, my first and second homes. We’ve had many things to sort out and business to take care of in our complicated new life, so there wasn’t too much down time. As always, it wasn’t the vacation I expected or planning (relatively little academic work got done), but it was, as usual, the vacation we needed.
We returned from California on New Years Eve, just in time to heat up our frozen dinners, hook up the television, and print out the music and words to all 5 verses of Auld Lang Syne, before the ball dropped at Times Square. Kenneth played the music as we made our way through the less familiar verses, some of them requiring translation with the help of the relevant Wikipedia entry. This could be a new family New Years custom…
In spite of being in the Eastern Standard Time zone, we spent our remaining days in the US effectively on Pacific Standard Time, staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning, sleeping in, then making our way through tasks such as organizing our records and my travel forms for our accountant and continuing to sort out the house to make it more liveable in its new 2nd home role. In the end, my main achievement re work was whittling my gmail inbox down from 560 message threads to 230!
Now it’s time to get back to work. It’s going to be a busy few weeks, with manuscripts to revise, research projects to get moving on, the Celtic Connections folk music festival, and of course our anticipated move to Hyndland, which will require us also to furnish an unfurnished flat in order to make it more like something we can make into another one of our Homes. New Years Resolutions include: reading more graphic novels, staying more on top of my email, keep better track of my teaching assignments, and more fully settling in to Glasgow. It should be interesting!
Waiting in London-Gatwick Airport for almost 6 hours, after flying all night from the USA, is not my favourite travel experience. I thought we had a good reason to book this particular flight, but right now I can’t remember what that reason was…
We are in the far end of Gatwick’s North Terminal, at a kind of crossroad with entrances to 4 sets of gates. Passengers come through here in waves: Usually one at a time, then suddenly the crossing will be flooded with people. Some passengers limp by on crutches, others racing like gazelles to catch a flight. There are plenty of small children, frolicking, or dragging, or making strange noises, or dropping money in the donation globe across from where we sit.
Our departure yesterday from Toledo was chaotic: Shortly before he was to drive us to the Detroit airport, Brendan’s car died, requiring a quick change of plans and a phone call to the automobile club. Instead, we left Brendan at home to meet the tow-truck and Kenneth and Mayumi came with us to the airport, receiving a briefing along the way so that they’d be able to find their way home again afterwards. After several days of lovely clear, sunny, mild weather, it had been raining in Toledo for almost a day, possibly to ease our transition back to Scotland. As I drove us to the airport, the rain turned into a downpour, making it difficult to see the lines on highway. Our neighbor from Toledo phoned Diane on her cell phone to express his pleasure at having spearheaded the repair of our street; Mayumi noticed that she had missed a call and called in to retrieve it; then Brendan phoned Kenneth to tell him the truck had come and that Mayumi didn’t need to phone him back. For a few minutes I was left to drive through the blinding rain while everyone else in the car was on their cell phones. This is when I realized that my family had arrived in the 21st century!
At three weeks, this was the longest break from work I have taken in years. We divided our time between Northern California and Ohio, my first and second homes. We’ve had many things to sort out and business to take care of in our complicated new life, so there wasn’t too much down time. As always, it wasn’t the vacation I expected or planning (relatively little academic work got done), but it was, as usual, the vacation we needed.
We returned from California on New Years Eve, just in time to heat up our frozen dinners, hook up the television, and print out the music and words to all 5 verses of Auld Lang Syne, before the ball dropped at Times Square. Kenneth played the music as we made our way through the less familiar verses, some of them requiring translation with the help of the relevant Wikipedia entry. This could be a new family New Years custom…
In spite of being in the Eastern Standard Time zone, we spent our remaining days in the US effectively on Pacific Standard Time, staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning, sleeping in, then making our way through tasks such as organizing our records and my travel forms for our accountant and continuing to sort out the house to make it more liveable in its new 2nd home role. In the end, my main achievement re work was whittling my gmail inbox down from 560 message threads to 230!
Now it’s time to get back to work. It’s going to be a busy few weeks, with manuscripts to revise, research projects to get moving on, the Celtic Connections folk music festival, and of course our anticipated move to Hyndland, which will require us also to furnish an unfurnished flat in order to make it more like something we can make into another one of our Homes. New Years Resolutions include: reading more graphic novels, staying more on top of my email, keep better track of my teaching assignments, and more fully settling in to Glasgow. It should be interesting!
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