Incorporating cross-cultural issues in psychotherapy: a relational framework

The purpose of this context statement is to trace my professional journey into the field of cross-cultural psychotherapy over a 20 year period. The personal factors that led me to this particular journey and the way they influenced my professional interests and choices are outlined. Although the context statement is based largely on the two text publications (1994 and 2010), it is important to mention that the latter text contains an updated version of most of my publications with the aim of providing a comprehensive cross-cultural text ‘under one roof’. I summarise the existential/phenomenological theoretical underpinnings discussed in the first text. The second text also has a philosophical underpinning but is largely based on a psychoanalytically informed theoretical base. In later sections, I indicate aspects which I have drawn upon from my publications and training, and how my thinking has evolved towards a relational framework. Furthermore, I identify the most significant professionals from around the world, which have facilitated my professional development, have inspired my career path and those I have collaborated with (teaching, publications and clinical work). During the two decades my learning comes from different and complementary sources: clinical work with children and adults, as well as both support and therapeutic groups. This substantial clinical experience took place through private practice, via different Hospitals, Voluntary and Charity organisations, and years of teaching and supervising child and adult counsellors, psychotherapists and psychologists and through an international network. Additionally, I describe the varied roles I have held on professional committees, including editorial reviewer, internal and external university examiner nationally and internationally, as well as psychological report writing for legal/insurance purposes. All have made a significant contribution to my learning

Validation of the Vitiligo Noticeability Scale: a patient-reported outcome measure of Vitiligo treatment success

Background: Patient-reported outcome measures are rarely used in vitiligo trials. The Vitiligo Noticeability Scale (VNS) is a new patient-reported outcome measure assessing how ‘noticeable’ the vitiligo patches are after treatment. The noticeability of vitiligo after treatment is an important indicator of treatment success from the patient’s perspective. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the construct validity, acceptability and interpretability of the VNS. Our main hypothesis was that the VNS would be a better and more consistent indicator of treatment success than percentage repigmentation. Methods: Clinicians (n=33) and patients with vitiligo (n=101) examined 39 image pairs, each depicting a vitiligo lesion pre- and post-treatment. Using an online questionnaire, respondents gave a global assessment of treatment success and a VNS score for treatment response. Clinicians also estimated percentage repigmentation of lesions (75). Treatment success was defined as ‘Yes’ on global assessment, a VNS score of 4 or 5, and more than 75% repigmentation. Agreement between respondents and the different scales was assessed using kappa statistics. Results: VNS scores were associated with both patient- and clinician-reported global treatment success (κ = 0.54 and κ = 0.47, respectively). Percentage repigmentation showed a weaker association with patient- and clinician-reported global treatment success (κ = 0.39 and κ = 0.29, respectively). VNS scores of 4 or 5 can be interpreted as representing treatment success. Images depicting post-treatment hyperpigmentation were less likely to be rated as successful. Conclusions: The VNS is a valid patient-reported measure of vitiligo treatment success. Further validation of the VNS is required, using larger sets of clinical pre- and post-treatment images, affecting a wider range of anatomical sites

The Role of Leadership in Communities of Learning

This article is a systematic literature review aimed at providing a comprehensive overview of the implementation of the Kāhui Ako | Communities of Learning policy in Aotearoa New Zealand. This policy seeks to improve student outcomes through collaborative networks of schools emphasising the importance of network leadership in initiating and co-ordinating systemic change. This review examines the available evidence on the ways in which these school networks operate and how network leadership responds to local needs and environments. Review data included a total of 16 studies from the empirical literature resulting in four main organisational processes and patterns of interaction: (1) relationships building focusing on trust; (2) press for system-wide coherence; (3) knowledge exchange; and (4) collaborative work. Our findings suggest that achieving high levels of alignment and coherence within the Kāhui Ako policy is a key factor for meaningful implementation, challenging to achieve, and requires ongoing attention

The Impact of the Early Career Framework (ECF) Programme on the Work Engagement, Wellbeing and Retention of Teachers: A Longitudinal Study, 2021–2026. Interim Research Report #2: Early Career Teachers' and Mentors' Reported Experiences with the ECF Programme

Research is an integral part of the UCL’s Early Career Framework (ECF) programme. This is the second report in a series of research publications from the UCL Centre for Educational Leadership-led project, The Impact of the ECF Programme on the Work Engagement, Wellbeing and Retention of Teachers: A Longitudinal Study, 2021–2026. ECF reform lies at the heart of the Department for Education’s teacher recruitment and retention strategy. The purpose of this mixed methods research is to assess the extent to which (and the ways in which) early career teachers’ (ECTs’) and their mentors’ learning experiences with the ECF programme influence their decisions to stay in teaching, move schools, or leave the profession. All ECTs and mentors in the UCL-led ECF programme were invited to complete a survey about their learning experiences with the ECF programme between June and October 2022. Of the approximately 12,000 invited ECTs and mentors, over 1,700 responded (response rate of 14%). The acquired sample of respondents is representative of national ECT and mentor populations in terms of gender, ethnicity, school phase and contract type, giving us confidence about the relevance and representativeness of our ECTs’ and mentors’ reported learning and career experiences to those of their peers nationally

The role of JAZ proteins in plant defence and hormone crosstalk.

Phytohormones  have  a  crucial  role  in  plant  defence  responses.  The  role  of  each  specific   phytohormone   is   contingent   on   whether   the   pathogen   is   a   bio-­‐   or   a   necrotroph.   In   the   case   of   the   hemibiotrophic   Pseudomonas   syringae   pv   tomato   (DC3000)   and   the   model   plant  Arabidopsis  thaliana,  the  interaction  of  the  three  key  plant  hormones,  salicylic  acid   (SA),   jasmonic   acid   (JA)   and   abscisic   acid   (ABA),   ultimately   dictates   the   outcome   of   the   infection.   Post-­‐invasion   defence   responses,   chiefly   regulated   by   the   SA   dependent   pathway  are  compromised  by  the  antagonistic  action  of  JA  and  ABA.  It  is  this  he  complex   crosstalk   between   the   hormone   pathways   that   propels   susceptibility   or   resistance.   The   Jasmonate  ZIM  domain  (JAZ)  transcription  repressors  are  crucial  part  of  the  JA  signaling   cascade.   JAZs   form   a   co-­‐receptor   with   F-­‐BOX   Coronatine   Insensitive   (COI)   1   that   binds   the  bioactive  form  of  JA,  Jasmonic  Isoleucine  (JA-­‐Ile).  Subsequent  to  this  JA  perception  is   the   specific   degradation   of   JAZ   proteins   that   allows   transcription   of   early   JA-­‐related   genes.   Interestingly   the   bacterial   phytotoxin   coronatine,   which   is   a   JA-­‐Ile   mimic,   increases   bacterial   virulence   by   exploiting   the   JA   signaling   pathway.   In   this   project   we   establish   the   DC3000   induced   susceptibility   of   jaz10   and   jaz5/10   loss   of   function   mutants  that  substantiates  JAZ  specificity  and  confirms  coronatine-­‐induced  virulence.  In   addition,   we   demonstrate   the   different   manifestation   of   symptom   development   caused   by   absence   of   key   positive   regulators   of   plant   defence,   SA   and   JAZ5/JAZ10   and   uncover   the  severely  compromised  phenotype  of  jaz5/jaz10/aao3/sid2-­1.  Finally  we  produce  the   tools  that  will  allow  further  research  of  JAZ  protein  interactions

Leadership Learning Programme: Leading into the Future. Launch event presentation

Reconnect London and the UCL Centre for Educational Leadership are delighted to launch their free leadership programme “Leading into the Future”. This research-informed leadership programme will target senior leaders in London-based schools within a broad range of contexts. In this launch event, we look forward to introducing the programme to you and thinking about and exploring together: Why does school leadership matters? How will this project support the work of senior leaders in London schools? Why do we need to re-consider how we evaluate leadership impact

A combined experimental and computational framework to evaluate the behavior of therapeutic cells for peripheral nerve regeneration

Recent studies have explored the potential of tissue-mimetic scaffolds in encouraging nerve regeneration. One of the major determinants of the regenerative success of cellular nerve repair constructs is the local microenvironment, particularly native low oxygen conditions which can affect implanted cell survival and functional performance. In vivo, cells reside in a range of environmental conditions due to the spatial gradients of nutrient concentrations that are established. Here we evaluate in vitro the differences in cellular behaviour that such conditions induce, including key biological features such as oxygen metabolism, glucose consumption, cell death, and VEGF secretion. Experimental measurements are used to devise and parameterise a mathematical model that describes the behaviour of the cells. The proposed model effectively describes the interactions between cells and their microenvironment and could in the future be extended, allowing researchers to compare the behaviour of different therapeutic cells. Such a combinatorial approach could be used to accelerate the clinical translation of nerve repair constructs by identifying which critical design features should be optimised when fabricating engineered nerve repair conduits. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved