Editorial

Citation

Pearce, S. (2013), "Editorial", Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, Vol. 34 No. 2/3. https://doi.org/10.1108/TC-07-2013-0022

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, Volume 34, Issue 2/3.

In this issue we are pleased to present an article outlining some of the intellectual forefathers of the TC movement, and their influences. “A genealogy of therapeutic community ideas” focusses on the way the particular Marxist influences of the Frankfurt School stimulated a cross fertilisation with Freudian thought, and it's relevance for TC practice and theory. Winship provides a service in drawing attention to the wider hinterland of the TC movement.

“Sesanate – a pilot project to explore a therapeutic cyber community” charts the rise and subsequent fall of an attempt to replicate some of the elements of TC working online. Much work has been done in this area, and we would expect to publish further explorations from the range of teams now making use of IT to extend the reach of TC method; in the meantime Moore provides a glimpse of the possibilities and pitfalls of remote community.

In “The concepts are universal, it is the picture you paint that is different”, Chenhall and Senior carry out an ethnographic survey of staff views in four TCs providing addictions services to an indigenous Australian population. Many of the themes that emerge will be familiar to more generic services, but the authors also identify some elements that may be specific to this group.

Mindfulness has risen to prominence in recent years, initially in the treatment of borderline personality disorder, and more recently in conjunction with CBT in depression and in substance misuse disorders. Edelen et al. have investigated the impact of incorporating mindfulness training into TC structure for substance misuse, both through participant satisfaction and impact, and polling staff. They demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating these methods; the next step is to investigate if it has an appreciable effect on outcome.

Finally we are delighted to publish a follow-up study of therapeutic community informed treatment for personality disorder. Following recent controversies over the effectiveness of TC treatments for personality disorder (Gask et al., 2013), the paper is timely. Jones et al. found significant decreases in psychiatric bed use following modified TC treatment with mentalisation-based therapy, or Service User Network intervention. Benefits remained significant at 18-month follow up.

We also publish an obituary for Stuart Whiteley, who died last year. Stuart was a founder member of the Association of Therapeutic Communities, the forerunner to The Consortium for Therapeutic Communities, which publishes this journal; a past medical director of the Henderson hospital; and a central figure on therapeutic communities in the latter half of the last century. He will be missed.

Steve Pearce

Reference

Gask, L., Evans, M. and Kessler, D. (2013), “Personality disorder”, BMJ, Vol. 347, F 5276