December heralds year’s end and it almost always has some bitter and some sweet reflections. We’ve had another year of restrictions and expansions. For some it has been like Dr Doolittle’s Pushmi-Pullyu, whereas for others it has been a time of release and expansion into new and surprising realms. Opportunity is a strange beast, especially when it also presents itself cloaked in disadvantage. For Matt and myself, December brings the great news that our book is set for release in February/March 2022 and presales – with a fabulous 25% discount from Norton. We’ll have links in the magazine, but it seems timely to release the first of a series of articles that explore the content of the book and what we have learnt since submitting the manuscript. We start with a discussion of our proposed Person-Responsive Approach.

This approach is reflected in every article, which is very exciting to see because I feel that the shift is naturally emerging as an evolutionary development of the person-centered approach within the principles of Humanism. We are fortunate to have two book chapters from Norton releases. Both are in the form of case study and reflection which engages us with the author’s and the client’s therapeutic experience. Beatriz Sheldon and Albert Sheldon share the second chapter of their book, Complex Integration of Multiple Brain Systems (Norton, December, 2021). They take us into the detail of Ann and her struggle with “baby blues”, which is a very serious issue for new mothers. Pauline Boss shares a chapter that sheds a light on the central idea in her book, The Myth of Closure (Norton, December, 2021).

It is with enormous delight that I can present an article from one of the grand people of psychotherapy, Rubin Battino. Now in his eighties, I got to know Rubin at the Milton Erickson Foundation conferences and our friendship is a great example of the benefit of attending conferences in person. He writes about two therapeutic forms in Guided Imagery Therapy (GIT) and Mirroring Hands Therapy (MHT) Brief, Secret, and Effective.

Our Last Word is a feature that conveys an idea, a feeling and a valuable principle. I am grateful to Erin Bullus, who has been on our podcasts and is part of our upcoming documentary on autism, for sharing her thoughts about the culture of autism. Please pay keen attention to what she describes in Therapist “Cultural Humility” is a Crucial Component of Psychotherapy with Autistic Clients.

And so, we prepare for the rollover from one year to the next as we honor the celestial clock. Time for one more spin around the Sun. What will we create?

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