Editorial

I am very pleased to write the editorial for this issue of the Journal of Psychological Therapies (JPT) which continues to present the latest thinking and reflection in the field of psychotherapy whilst not losing sight of the great contributions to theory and practice from the past. The editorial board has been expanded and we are delighted to welcome four new members, Dr Anastasios Gaitanidis, Dr Isabel Henton, Dr Claire Marshall, and Henry Whitfield, all of whom bring a wealth of expertise in the field of psychotherapy and counselling psychology.

Several themes link the articles in the present issue. One concerns the role of the body—the complex relationship that people have with their own bodies and the negative messages that so many of us have internalised through sexual objectification. A second theme concerns the phenomenon of suffering in silence from childhood onwards, so perpetuating deep-seated feelings of shame and fear and building up unhelpful strategies for protecting us from difficult emotions and perceived threats to our being. A third theme concerns the value of therapeutic holding, whether in work with clients or in training new counsellors through personal therapy, experiential learning, and supervised practice. This issue includes self-exploration and reflection, phenomenological research, perspectives on methods of treatment, and on the experience of counsellors in training, and two book reviews.

In a courageous testimony, Gabriella Ricciardi Otty, in the account of her experience as a striptease artist, explores the process of healing and transformation that occurs as she moves from a state of “body-for-others” to the discovery of “body-for-itself” in all its celebration and expression. In her article, she discusses the idea of the scrutiny, whether external or internal, to which the female body is constantly subjected. She shares her deep, existential journey away from shame, guilt, and self-criticism (often suffered in silence) through a trans