In all our sanctuaries we sit at risk

Author: Rogan Wolf

  • Wedding words

    Posted:

    Two weeks ago, I gave a speech at a wedding which included this little homily : “In many ways and for various reasons I am not qualified to give advice on how to make a marriage work. But I will say what I have learned, that while delight in each other and caring for each…

  • Riding the Hyphen – a ten minute film

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    Here is the link to a short film : https://vimeo.com/76307847  It records – in my opinion beautifully – an evening event held in May this year, which combined live performances of new music and drama, an exhibition of photography, and a reading by me of some of my own poetry. The event marked my retirement from…

  • Fable 11 – Jason nameless fights despair

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    “Jason nameless fights despair” offers a kind of action-list for survival and is addressed to people losing hope. “Survival” is not meant just in the literal sense, hanging on, remaining animate, but in the sense of holding essential ground, of defending right principle and right action, and winning through, despite the lies, the seductive slogans,…

  • Mental Health Witness – services must co-operate in listening to the people they serve

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    This proposal has been put together in the light, not just of the recent changes in NHS service commissioning, following the present government’s determination to impose yet another revolution on the NHS, but of developments generally over the past several years. It coincides too with my own pending departure from the scene after more than…

  • Mental Health Witness – how to consult with people who have turned to you for help

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    Here is a version of a message just written to a mental health manager who recently sent me a draft-“user involvement strategy” being put together for the service where she works. I am soon to retire from a part-time post as free-lance consultant to a group of mental health service users. My task has been…

  • Mental Health Witness – malpractice in mental health consultation

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    Health and Social Services in the UK often run open meetings for people who use mental health services. Such meetings are seen as opportunities to give people information on new policy developments, as well as letting them “have their say.” By definition, an open meeting means anyone might come, in whatever state they are in.…

  • Cat vies with Hard Drive for my soul

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    A psychiatrist called Iain McGilchrist has written what in my opinion is an extraordinary and important book called “The Master and his Emissary – The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World.”  I feel instantly at home with, and liberated by, its central thesis. Here is a quote from the blurb on the…

  • Fable 10 – The Pernicious Appeal of the “Strong Model”

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    “The Pernicious Appeal of the Strong Model“ explores the power and attraction of different forms of idolatry, or fundamentalism, for people in disarray or under unusual stress. But this is not a piece about “true faith” as opposed to “false faith”. Idolatry/fundamentalism is not restricted to the religious ; it extends to anyone who accepts…