Welcome to the Counselling Blog!

It's good to see dhal appearing on the cafeteria menu from time to time - it makes for a great vegetarian (vegan even) option. Here's a recipe that'll help you make a dhal in the privacy of your own home!




    8 oz Red Lentils                 Half tsp Chilli Powder
    2 Pints Water                     1 Onion finely sliced
    2 Tomatoes Chopped         2 Cloves Garlic crushed
    Half tsp Turmeric               Juice of 2 lemons
    1 tsp ground Cumin            Salt to taste
    2 tsp ground Coriander       Handful of Coriander leaves

Wash the lentils and place them in large heavy pan. Add water, Spices, onion & garlic. Bring to boil and simmer until the lentils are soft. Dhal in restaurants is often pretty runny - just how runny yours is will, of course, depend on how much water you use.Mash gently with potato masher and then add tomatoes (tomato pure will do), coriander leaves, salt and lemon juice. Gettting the balance between the salt and the lemon juice will make a lot of difference to the taste of this dish so it's worth taking some care with that. When you're ready to serve the dish it's time to prepare the final fry - the tarka.

    4 Tb Oil                              2 cloves garlic, crushed
    1 tsp mustard seeds            

In a small pan heat the oil and fry the tarka ingredients until the mustard seeds crackle. Pour the mixture over the dhal and cover the pan immediately to retain the aroma. (Never, by the way, think of adding the dhal to the oil. I did that  - just the once - and the dhal errupted like molten lava! ) Serve hot. Serves 4 - 6

Many thanks to everybody who's already filled in our on-line questionaire on the first 3 weeks of the academic year. For those who haven't already done so it's not too late, and we really do want to hear what your experiences have been - the good news and the bad. It shouldn't take you more than five minutes - just click on this link http://snipr.com/3weekreview-shss and you're there.

This is a film that I'd strongly recommend and it's showing on BBC2 this Saturday (25th October)  at 1.25am - so it may be one to be recording rather than watching live. Will be for me most certainly. It's not a bundle of laughs - to quote the Radio Times it's a "heart wrenching meditation on how a family copes with bereavement" - but it's one that I reckon that any counsellor or trainee would find well worth watching and, preferably, discussing with colleagues.  I thought it was quite extraordinary the first time I saw it and I'm looking forward - kind of - to seeing it again. You can read more about the film - and see a pretty poor trailer - on the Internet Movie Database.

This is the start of a new academic year and it’s important for us to know how things are going for you – what you’re pleased about and what hasn’t been so good.  If we don’t get your feedback we can never be sure of what changes might need to be considered. Please let us know what your experiences have been over the first 3 weeks of the term by filling in the anonymous on-line form at -

http://snipr.com/3weekreview-shss

- you can do this from your computer at home, from any of the open access suites on campus, or from one of the computers outside the office at Allt-yr-yn on in C3 in the Edward Anwyl Building at Caerleon. There's a drop down menu at the top of the form that lets you select which programme you're on. You'll find the undergraduate counselling programmes at the top of this list and the postgraduate ones right at the bottom - apologies for that.

We'll be looking at the results of this survey in about 10 days time, so please fill it in as soon as you can. Please note, though, that this is only for counselling students here at newport.

Dr Frank Wills, will be running a CBT workshop in St Mathews Church Hall, Cotham, Bristol on Saturday 29th October 2008. You'll find a flyer and application form with this posting.

Don’t leave it too late to book for the Newport Centre for Counselling R'research's November conference on "Exploring  the Client and Counsellor Experience" . Dave Hiles and Prof Neil Frude, the two keynote speakers, will be discussing different approaches to developing our understanding of counselling and psychotherapy.. We are also looking forward to a range of papers and workshops on topics such as undue influence in counselling, counselling on the internet, CBT, autonomy and ethics in counselling  - see the attached for more information.

Last Monday saw the start of a new Academic Year – a week of inductions, introductions and re-introductions throughout the University.  

This was also true for the Post Graduate Counselling Programme, as the Counselling team welcomed aboard new Certificate Students and visiting lecturers and welcomed back existing V.L’s and students who were moving into or returning to the Diploma stage for the first or third semester.

Here are the Counselling Staff:  Lesley Spencer who leads the Supervision Diploma, and Sheila Spong who heads the UG degree – Counselling Studies and Society.  Norma James (Certificate in Counselling Skills and Sheila Brennan (Diploma – CBT Route), Ariana Faris (Diploma Integrative Route), with their Visiting Lecturers – Claire Dowd, Donna Hayler and Elaine Davies (Certificate) and Elaine Davies, Lesley Harvey and Frank Wills (Diploma CBT) and Frankie Gibney, Annie Robinson, Jack Rochon and Els van Ooijen (Diploma Integrative).  You can usually find us in D3 together with our administrator, Eve Bolwell.

A warm welcome to you all and we look forward to working with you as the programme unfolds.  Good luck and Bon Voyage.