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Book reviews Integrated Media and Book Review Editor: Dr Francis C. Biley Submissions address: IHCS, Bournemouth University, 1st Floor Royal London House, Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH1 3LT La Moindre des choses Nicolas Philibert (director) Second Run DVD (distributor) 1997, 90 min (Length), £12.99 ASIN: B000ENUW4C The film La Moindre des choses follows the prepa- rations at La Borde psychiatric clinic for their annual operetta production featuring both residents and staff. It is another film from the stable of direc- tor Nicolas Philibert and is in the French tradition of Cinéma Vérité. The director takes the role purely as a silent observer in the tradition of ‘fly on-the wall’ or should that be ‘mouche sur le mur’. The film is not a drama-documentary but rather a documentary-drama, in the very literal sense fol- lowing the staging of the drama of the operetta itself, which contains some bizarre and surreal dialogue which is akin to the everyday speech of Claude; one of the patients. The time period over which the preparations take place is difficult to judge but it is obvious that the director has spent a great deal of time with the residents as he moves around the site rarely inter- acting with anyone. We are left to decide for our- selves who out of the film’s characters are patients and who are staff. The director maintains the fly on-the-wall style throughout with the camerawork maintained at eye level; an individual’s perspective, so you become intimately engaged with the films’ key characters, together with the use of hand-held cameras the viewer simply becomes yet another resident at the institute. The scenes are allowed to run without swift editing interspersed with shots of the Loire countryside, this provides the film with a gentle naturalistic feel very similar in style to the Dogma 95 genre. With virtually no commentary and by allowing the patients and staff to simply to engage with each other in front of camera, it is the skill of the director in picking captivating situations and individuals that make the film so delightful. A talent that the director used again to great acclaim in his later award-winning film about a rural French school in Être & Avoir. This is a delightful film that can be enjoyed on its own merits, or can be used in the classroom to stimulate discussion of a wide range of issues related to mental health care, from communication and compassion, to creativity and companionship, and more. MATTHEW TOWNSEND MSc BSc PgD FHEA Lecturer School of Healthcare Studies, Cardiff University Cardiff, UK E-mail: [email protected] Person-Centred Practices: A Therapeutic Perspective Mark Jukes & John Aldridge (eds.) Quay Books, London 2006, 254 pages, £29.99 ISBN 1-85642-299-2 This book is a collection of chapters edited to cover many different aspects of person-centred care. Though specifically discussing this in terms of learn- ing disabilities care, it is clear that much of this book can be equally applied to mental health care. In fact, it is an interesting aside that one contributor notes that the founder of person-centred therapy, Carl Rogers, believed it to not be appropriate to apply to learning disabilities care. The authors in this book show the ways in which person-centredness is a valuable approach to use in supporting people. In his introduction to person-centred planning, Stephen Jukes makes the interesting point that the increasing emphasis upon it in clinical governance is Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 2008, 15, 349–350 © 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 349

Person-Centred Practices: A Therapeutic Perspective

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Book reviewsIntegrated Media and Book Review Editor:

Dr Francis C. Biley

Submissions address:

IHCS, Bournemouth University, 1st Floor Royal LondonHouse, Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH13LT

La Moindre des choses

Nicolas Philibert (director)Second Run DVD (distributor)1997, 90 min (Length), £12.99ASIN: B000ENUW4C

The film La Moindre des choses follows the prepa-rations at La Borde psychiatric clinic for theirannual operetta production featuring both residentsand staff. It is another film from the stable of direc-tor Nicolas Philibert and is in the French traditionof Cinéma Vérité. The director takes the role purelyas a silent observer in the tradition of ‘fly on-thewall’ or should that be ‘mouche sur le mur’.

The film is not a drama-documentary but rathera documentary-drama, in the very literal sense fol-lowing the staging of the drama of the operettaitself, which contains some bizarre and surrealdialogue which is akin to the everyday speech ofClaude; one of the patients.

The time period over which the preparationstake place is difficult to judge but it is obvious thatthe director has spent a great deal of time with theresidents as he moves around the site rarely inter-acting with anyone. We are left to decide for our-selves who out of the film’s characters are patientsand who are staff.

The director maintains the fly on-the-wall stylethroughout with the camerawork maintained at eyelevel; an individual’s perspective, so you becomeintimately engaged with the films’ key characters,together with the use of hand-held cameras theviewer simply becomes yet another resident at theinstitute. The scenes are allowed to run withoutswift editing interspersed with shots of the Loirecountryside, this provides the film with a gentlenaturalistic feel very similar in style to the Dogma95 genre.

With virtually no commentary and by allowingthe patients and staff to simply to engage with eachother in front of camera, it is the skill of the director

in picking captivating situations and individualsthat make the film so delightful. A talent that thedirector used again to great acclaim in his lateraward-winning film about a rural French school inÊtre & Avoir.

This is a delightful film that can be enjoyed onits own merits, or can be used in the classroomto stimulate discussion of a wide range of issuesrelated to mental health care, from communicationand compassion, to creativity and companionship,and more.

MATTHEW TOWNSEND MSc BSc PgD FHEA

LecturerSchool of Healthcare Studies, Cardiff University

Cardiff, UKE-mail: [email protected]

Person-Centred Practices: A TherapeuticPerspective

Mark Jukes & John Aldridge (eds.)Quay Books, London2006, 254 pages, £29.99ISBN 1-85642-299-2

This book is a collection of chapters edited to covermany different aspects of person-centred care.Though specifically discussing this in terms of learn-ing disabilities care, it is clear that much of this bookcan be equally applied to mental health care. In fact,it is an interesting aside that one contributor notesthat the founder of person-centred therapy, CarlRogers, believed it to not be appropriate to apply tolearning disabilities care. The authors in this bookshow the ways in which person-centredness is avaluable approach to use in supporting people.

In his introduction to person-centred planning,Stephen Jukes makes the interesting point that theincreasing emphasis upon it in clinical governance is

Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 2008, 15, 349–350

© 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 349

dissonant with increasing strategies to standardizeand measure health care. This observation can beextended to most facets of contemporary healthcare.

My first reaction was, as a mental health nurse, towonder what relevance a book directed at learningdisabilities care might have to my own practice as amental health nurse. If I were to work in learningdisabilities as many mental health nurses do, then ofcourse a book such as this would be vital. If I werebrowsing in a bookshop, I would pick up this bookattracted by its title, but after browsing through it Iwould not necessarily purchase it. This would be ashame because there is much in this book that can beused in mental health nursing: to its credit the bookdoes not focus exclusively upon learning disabilities.The authors’ attention to such issues as stigma,interpersonal and professional relationships, narra-tive and cognitive behavioural therapies are all rel-evant to a mental health nurse if one can ‘see past thelearning disabilities bit’.

I know of the term person-centred planningbecause it is frequently related to mental healthrecovery. In this sense, for me the book was veryuseful, because it offers suggestions of how aperson-centred focus is to be achieved in one’s prac-tice. One might detect an oxymoron in the booktitle: the use of the term ‘therapeutic’ seems to implythat person-centred practices are yet another toolthat makes the ‘therapist’ the focus of the process,not the person; as if the use of the term ‘therapeutic’suggests the idea of ‘something that is good for you’– and by implication ‘it is good for you because I ama professional/expert and I say so’.

The frequency of references to clinical governanceannoyed me, mostly because they related to learningdisabilities, though of course clinical governanceprovides the framework within which we all prac-tise. It is as if each author were continually reassur-ing the reader that’s ‘it’s all right to think like this’!

John Anstey’s chapter on Neuro Linguistic Pro-gramming is, while a little bit technical, ambitiousand unexpected in such a book as this. While afterreading the chapter, I was still not convinced of thepractical use of Neuro Linguistic Programming innursing, Anstey does conclude that potentially itsquick effectiveness makes it a useful addition to thepractitioner’s repertoire of interventions given thatresources, space and time are of a premium thesedays.

As somebody who is growing increasingly inter-ested in relational practice, the emphasis in thisbook upon that as a feature of person-centrednesswas very useful. For this reason I enjoyed readingCheryl Chessum’s section on interpersonal thera-peutic relationships the most, in which she takestime to explain the person-centredness of relation-ships as a therapeutic tool, and to examine thereality of assumptions commonly held about them.

There were several chapters, such as those dis-cussing the use of touch and multi-sensory environ-ments, which seemed less transferable to mentalhealth care; however, they remain useful insofar assuch interventions might be used to answer someneeds of those in mental distress.

As I read this book I constantly found myselfapplying it to my practice, in helping me to under-stand and devise strategies whereby I can support aperson’s recovery. It is a gold mine for a mentalhealth nurse, so don’t be put off by the title and aquick browse in the book shop . . .

LEI FOSTER BA (Hons) RN (Mental Health)Dip HE (Nursing Studies)

Staff NurseProgress House

36–38 Kimbolton RoadBedford

MK40 1DHE-mail: [email protected]

Book reviews

350 © 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd