Is Counselling a Force For Social Change - by Mark Edwards

"Or," Mark goes on to ask, "does it work against it?"

Here is Mark Edwards riding another of his hobby horses, or tilting a lance at another windmill.  Love him or hate him, you have to admit that he doesn't pull his punches, nor is he at all reticent about being identified with his espoused causes.

The notion that emotional stability is indelibly welded to material circumstances only, he suggests,  is wholly false, and is one that can only flourish in a society which espouses material acquisition as the sole aim of life, such as our western, late capitalist society.

Certainly there is a link between depression and poverty, but why is it that so many counselling clients are relatively affluent? The truth is that our society is fragmented; communities have been destroyed and we are stuck with it.  Sources of emotional support such as family, friends or the Church are no longer available.  To add to our troubles, we are daily sold the lie that money brings happiness, that working hard brings material reward, and that successful relationships will naturally follow from all this. 

To quote from a famous Fawlty Towers episode : ‘What a bunch of ****!