Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is divided into three broad overlapping parts: the context of therapy, the influence of New Public Management (NPM) and Improved Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) and clinical practice. Approaches to therapy today take clients' minds off their problems rather than attempting to help them work through what is bothering them'. Ian Simpson highlights how the realities of the political, cultural and social context on the service were denied and led to what he calls the denigration of the human. The book looks at some key aspects of managed care and contrasts them to relational psychotherapy and creative methodologies, both of which developed in the same period as managed care and evidence-based practice. The commonly used term in the UK for therapy is now psychological therapy': the term used in the Government sponsored IAPT scheme in the National Health Service (NHS).