This past year with COVID-19 has revealed how we are all equally vulnerable to this microscopic assailant. On the positive side, many have felt a sense of commonality and connection with people in countries previously given little thought. Ironically, separation has been the best defence, but many have mistaken increasing distance between us as a loss of connection.

It is our approach at The Science of Psychotherapy to draw together articles and ideas from around the globe to enhance our sense of connection with the global therapeutic community. In this issue, we bring together authors from the US, Australia, the UK and Poland. We have even begun using a new terminology – The 21st Century Therapist – to remind us that it is not what we know that makes us special, but how we use that knowledge to create something special.

Understanding connection and division is a question that Pat Ogden (USA) addresses in her new book, The Pocket Guide to Sensorimotor Psychotherapy in Context. We have an excerpt from Chapter 1, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy in Context: Sociocultural Perspectives where Pat Ogden writes with Sherri Taylor, Laia Jorba, Raymond Rodriguez, and Mary Choi who contribute their perspectives to increase knowledge and awareness of the influence of culture, racism, and biases toward those we perceive to be unlike ourselves.

Susan Davis (Australia) brings us her insights into the process of supervision as a mental health nurse – Supervision in Mental Health Practice: A mental health nursing perspective. It can be easy to lose sight of the variety of professionals who attend to mental health – and the similarities between them.

Steve Minett gives us another of his splendid reviews. He looks deeply into Yuval Noah Harari’s book, Homo Deus – A brief History of Tomorrow and argues the question “Are organisms essentially algorithms?” I can only describe this article as “fascinating” and a “must read”.

Our Last Word is from Agnieszka Bartoszewicz who continues our international series with her description of psychotherapy in Poland. In private practice, she brings us a formal and a personal impression as well as an update on how Poland is managing the Covid-19 pandemic.

I hope that an issue with such broad geographical spread of authors gives us a sense of the width and depth of psychotherapy around the world and, equally, brings us together through shared interest and curiosity. As the season changes, I look forward to new discoveries, revelations and possibilities.

RICHARD HILL | EDITOR

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