Art Therapy in Asia – An interview with Debra Kalmanowitz, Jordan Potash and Siu Mei Chan

“We hope that the readers will be able to read this book and reconsider their own work, no matter where they work. Although globalisation is often thought of as damaging to local culture, the spread of information gives us all ways to learn from each other. Considering the benefits of meditation, holistic health and collectivist values as they apply to art therapy provides an angle that is not reflected in other literature. Instead of looking for a new series of techniques or interventions, we hope that readers will discover fundamentally new ways of conceptualising both their work and how they work.”

Developing essential skills for mediating across dispute contexts and cultures – An Interview with Tony Whatling

“Disputes inevitably test mediators’ skills to the limit. They are also a powerful reminder of what I refer to in some detail in the book: namely that they should never be applied outside of a framework of appropriate professional values, attitudes and cultural sensitivity and awareness. Skills, strategies and professionals practice can never be value-free.”

Book cover: Making Partnerships with Service Users and Advocacy Groups Work

‘Growing spaces’ as a way of understanding and developing genuine partnerships – An Interview with Jackie Martin and Julie Gosling

“I think that service users can give a perspective which can be lost without their inclusion. Service users can help to cut through some of the professional ‘jargon’ which excludes people, even other professionals sometimes. Professionals are often under considerable pressures to meet targets or stay within budgets, and even with the best will in the world they can start to lose sight of why they came into the profession in the first place. Service users can help to keep that perspective and keep values sharp.”

Photo: JKP author Rachel Fearnley

Supporting children when a parent is at the end of life – An Interview with Rachel Fearnley

“The news that a parent has a terminal illness generally presents the family with a huge crisis. Everything about family life is catapulted into a maelstrom, routines change and nothing appears to be predictable anymore. If children are not included in conversations about their parent’s illness and possible imminent death they are going to witness all the changes without having any ‘concrete’ knowledge to use as a marker. They will be aware of the changes and know that something is very different but will not be able to form a consistent narrative. As a result they are in danger of piecing together the information they have gleaned and making erroneous conclusions.”

Safeguarding babies and very young children from abuse and neglect – An Interview with Rebecca Brown

“Much of the decision-making for these very young children was of high quality, showed evidence of extreme care and was based on hard evidence. However the study also raised a number of concerns…the findings revealed a number of gaps in social worker knowledge and understanding, especially in areas of attachment theory and child development [and] there was evidence that delayed decision-making had detrimental consequences for the outcomes of these children – practitioners need to be fully aware of these consequences and the importance of taking swift action when babies are suffering significant harm…”