'Knowing Me, Knowing You'
Jan: Completed longer programmes of Personal Therapy for two clients.
Commentary:
Having started to use aspects of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy the previous Summer,
I now found myself using both it and elements of Psychodynamic (Freudian) for these
clients. Often the NLP-type therapeutic interventions I've favoured resolve issues
for clients in a relatively short space of time. However, by coincidence, I took
on two cases almost simultaneously where the complexity of the issues required longer-than-usual
intervention,using a range of strategies.
Feb: Pre-release copy of 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' received ringing praise from Dr
L Michael Hall, developer of the Meta-States concept.
Commentary: The inspiration
to write came from a combination of experience, research and my blossoming understanding
of how a cohesive meta-approach could be developed to align and integrate the all-too
fractured behavioural sciences. While there were clearly others moving in a similar
'integrated' direction - eg: Peter McNab (excellence for all) with his concept of
'Integral NLP' - I wasn't aware of anyone else with a book that going to be quite
as comprehensive as the one I had in mind.
I had originally intended the focus to be on applications to Education; however,
my wife, Caroline, persuaded me to turn it into a 'self-help' book.
Feb: Returned
to teaching at Vermuyden.
Commentary: It had taken some 3 months to get a correct
diagnosis of my back problem. Then it had become a case of developing very specific
exercise regimes to compensate for the problem. For the first couple of months I
really struggled to cope with both the long journey to Goole and being on my feet
in busy classes for hours at a time. However, the exercise regime pretty much worked
and by May I was more or less as fit and mobile as I had been before the back problem
erupted.
Mar: Performed as after-dinner speaker at the Harrogate 41 Club for former/older
members of the local Round Table.
Commentary: My first after-dinner engagement!...and
a real opportunity to create interest in 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' and Integrated
SocioPsychology. Unfortunately, I have to admit to misjudging my audience. They wanted
entertainment and I gave them academic passion! Oh, well....
Mar: Publication of 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' by Canadian based Trafford Publishing.
Commentary:
Obviously thrilling to have my *own* book published; but, sadly due to some cock-ups
at Trafford and my own restrictions due to my recovering back, the book more limped
out than was launched.
July: Left Vermuyden to go back to part-time supply teaching and concentrate on promoting
'Knowing Me, Knowing You' and building up my consultancy, training & therapy business.
Commentary:
Teaching at Vermuyden was a real challenge - and 3 years was enough!
Firstly many of the students were demotivated and suffered from chronic low self-esteem,
coming from a town culture where academic learning was not valued. Due to what, with
the virtue of hindsight, was clearly a mistake in restructuring the pastoral systems,
discipline in a school already struggling to manage behaviour virtually collapsed.
In the year I left, close to a third of my colleagues either went to other schools
or left teaching altogether.
Nonetheless, Vermuyden was another valuable experience of a very ‘challenging school'.
Secondly, a significant amount of the material on the Psychology specification was
either fairly new to me or I hadn't looked at it in any depth for 30+ years. The
effort in learning the specification in sufficient depth to teach it well was enormous
- and the first year at Vermuyden was sheerly exhausting! However, I rose to the
challenge and overall got the best results the school had enjoyed since debuting
the Psychology A-Level. A number of the students acknowledged it was the annecdotes
from my experience as a practising consultant and therapist that brought the seemingly-endless
pages of dull 'scientific' text alive for them. (See Student Quotes in the Services
pages.
However, I was mapping what I taught to my understanding of Spiral Dynamics and NLP
and making new connections right through this period. I did come to realise that
Spiral Dynamics and NLP, as they were, did indeed have some limitations. However,
by the time I was half-way through my first year at Vermuyden I was beginning to
see how a new broad, potentially all-encompassing approach to the behavioural sciences
could be developed centred on Spiral Dynamics. The Freudians, the Behaviourists,
the Cognitive Psychologists, the Evolutionary Theorists, the Symbolic Interactionists....and
so on - their ideas could all be valid if located within the diverse understanding
of human nature Spiral Dynamics offered. Thus, the seeds of Integrated SocioPsychology
were sown!
Aug: 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' endorsed by Spiral Dynamics co-developer Don Beck.
Sept: 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' described by Bill Hajdu as "the best Psychology book
of the year" in his 5-star Amazon review.
Sept: Accepted part-time post teaching A-Level Psychology at Guiseley School, Leeds,
for the Autumn term.
Commentary: After the last year at Vermuyden, Guiseley was a
wonderful, life-enriching experience! At first I was a little reluctant to go back
to teaching A-Level and only agreed to do 3 days a week - meaning the school had
to recruit a second supply teacher to stand in for their unexpectedly-indisposed
regular teacher. By the time the second supply teacher didn't work out, I was enjoying
the experience enough to agree to cover the position full time till the end of term.
Through Guiseley and some of the committed, hard-working 6th Formers I encountered,
I came to realise that I really did enjoy teaching A-Level Psychology. What I needed
was a part-time position in a well-managed school that would allow me still to pursue,
writing and research, consultancy, training and therapy.
Oct: 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' given a glowing review in this month's edition of
the Integral Leadership Review e-zine.
Nov: 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' endorsed by
Wyatt Woodsmall, one of the world's leading trainers and theorists in NLP.
Dec: Carried out some of my most challenging Therapy work to date.
Commentary: The
story of 'Jay' is told in the Therapy & Counselling pages.
Dec: Invited by Tim Roberts at the Professional Development Unit of the University
of Chester's Department of Work-Related Studies to discuss having some of my workshop
programmes accredited through the University.
Commentary: Although nothing came of the dialogue - Tim emigrating to New Zealand
partway through 2008 - it did set in mind the idea of producing some workshop programmes
of a more academic nature for those who wanted to study Integrated SocioPsychology
in greater depth.
