Editorial 

In this issue we mark the occasion of the 30th anniversary year of IAHIP. An anniversary is a time to celebrate and to be thankful, to reflect on our beginnings and our journey, where we are now, what we do, our identity and where we are going to. Tony Rice touches all of these bases in his Message from the chairperson and he invites us to stay involved or get involved with our Association.

We are fortunate that some of our founding members and those who were at or near the beginning of our Association have offered contributions for this special issue. Ger Murphy traces the development of humanistic and integrative psychotherapy in Ireland, seeing three phases unfold: initiation, consolidation and application. Ger challenges us to look beyond the focus on the individual and invites us to recognise that our own mental health depends on our community’s health. Complementing this article is the Conversation between Susan Lindsay and Shirley Ward, who provide fascinating insights into the beginnings of IAHIP and their own personal journeys. Sarah Kay looks back on her 30 years as a therapist and reflects on the importance of relationship in therapy and she asks some searching questions about the challenges of our world today. Kay Conroy describes her own ‘turning point’ and existential moment and how it led her to becoming a therapist and founding an institute. Margaret Brady, our much-esteemed former colleague, writes affectionately of her eight years on the Editorial Board of this journal.

Apart from the anniversary theme we have also a number of articles on different aspects of therapy which offer hope in the midst of major difficulty. John McLeod focuses our minds on psychotherapy at a time of social and political change and crisis, stating that psychotherapy has not sufficiently considered “active citizenship, solidarity, generativity, mutual aid, truth-telling and wisdom as intended outcomes of therapy”. Helpfully, he outlines a number of scenarios in which psychotherapy might contribute to creating a more sustainable and just world. Mike Moss in his reflection, A question of soul, uses the image of a kaleidoscope to explore the different parts of ourselves which connect with the other, the world and our soul. He recounts a touching story of a client who finds some of the lost parts of her self. Robin Shohet reflects on the Hawaiian process of forgiveness called ho’oponopono.’ William Pattengill interviews Barbara Devaney, a marriage and family therapist, who specialises in using the expressive arts to work with trauma and special needs. Paul Daly explores five ways of handling conflict. Mick Devine gives us the second part of his exploration of the challenges of the therapist who is an adult child of an alcoholic.

It seems appropriate that this special issue celebrating three decades of humanistic and integrative psychotherapy contains Christopher Murray’s article on his way of knowing when and how to end a 47 - year career as a therapist and supervisor. He writes of exploring all aspects of the self from the perspective of head, heart and gut, describes movingly his last weeks in the therapist role, and is reminded by a friend that letting go can also create space for new growth. We would like to wish Christopher a very happy and fulfilling life ahead.

IAHIP 2022 - INSIDE OUT 98 - Autumn 2022