Editorial: An Important Conversation

Abstract

Whether psychotherapy should be recognised as a specialist identity within the counselling profession (Beel, 2024) or as a separate profession in its own right (Gale, 2024) are questions raised in this issue’s two Viewpoints articles. Another article, “The Movements of Grief” (Cox & Fenwick, 2024), draws on contemporary grief models to posit three phases of grief: transience, transition, and transformation, with a liminal space opening up during transition. Liminality and grief are also themes in reviews of the books Leaning Into the Liminal: A Guide for Counselors and Companions (Thompson & Harris, 2024) and Collaborative Writing and Psychotherapy: Flattening the Hierarchy Between Therapist and Client (Carson, 2024). Led by a migrant from South Korea, a qualitative study on the understanding of mental health amongst South Korean migrants to Australia (Klingenberg et al., 2024) identifies themes centred around shifting cultural norms such as increasing individualism and issues of belonging. Levels of therapeutic relationship when working with men (Ellwood, 2024), the role of embodiment and mindfulness in group-based trauma treatment (Tempone-Wiltshire, 2024), and a systematic review of the ethical considerations around delivering video-based therapy (du Preez et al, 2024) are also featured.