In the past few months, I have had the pleasure to spend time with friends, colleagues and clients who visited me, or I visited them both literally or virtually. I feel so fortunate to have spent time with people in Scotland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, the USA, England, Poland, Romania, Canada, Israel, Bahrain, and, of course, my home country of Australia. This would have been extraordinary and even close to impossible just a handful of decades ago. We have been able to travel widely for some time, but to also have strong, valued, and long-term friendships and associations is something made possible by the virtual communications of the internet and ready access to small cameras and microphones that can beam out images and voices around the globe, in real time, and crystal clear. This is one of the great benefits of the technological developments of the past 50 years and it was the contents of this issue that prompted me to realize how far and wide SoP has made my world.

It is wonderful to be able to share the Introduction from Peter Fraenkel’s (USA) new book, Last Chance Couple Therapy: Bringing Relationships Back from the Brink. Peter sees those couples who are in serious need, which is why he calls them “Last Chance Couples”. It is also wonderful to share a transcript of my presentation with Francesco Sessa, my colleague from the CIPPS college in Sorento, Italy, at the 4th Congress of the Società Scientifica Psicoterapia Strategica in Rome. This is the English version of, Complexity theory: a rediscovered link between strategic therapy and systemic therapy (La teoria della complessità: un ritrovato legame tra terapia strategica e terapia sistémica). This is followed by a collaboration between the USA and Italy as the SoP has A Brief Conversation with Michael Hoyt and Flavio Cannistrà about Single Session Therapy. These international experts talk about their new book, which is then reviewed by Philip Ziegler (USA). We continue with reviews. Matthew Dahlitz presents a summary of his year-long commentaries on Iain McGilchrist’s (UK) The Matter With Things. The next section begins in April. And finally, I share my review of Volume 2 of Milton H Erickson’s (USA) collected works – Basic Hypnotic Induction and Suggestion.

The feeling of joining hands with colleagues, their ideas and their work is very rewarding and, I would suggest, uplifting. The world is not smaller because of these connections, it is fuller, more fascinating and more wonder-full. That is a grand world to be in.

RICHARD HILL | EDITOR

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