Archive for July, 2011

What are the Key Elements in Effective Relationship Counselling? What makes Relationship Counselling successful?

For a therapist, relationship counselling can be the most demanding of all therapies as, rather than just one client, there are two, and by the very nature of the situation, there is a conflict situation. However, it is also most rewarding, as being able to effectively help a couple negotiate their hurts and differences and fall in love again has a very positive impact on the rest of their lives.

As with any counselling, it is essential that your therapist establish rapport with you as a client, and in relationship counselling this aspect is crucial so that each of you feels able to express your problems and thoughts, and feels listened to, empathised and understood by your counsellor.

It is also important that the counsellor remains non-biased, or at the very least, supportive of each partner. At its best, relationship counselling will help you explore the potential of your relationship, no matter how bad it seems to be in at the moment.

When you have explained what your issues, concerns and feelings are, a good relationship counsellor will help you gain insight into what underlying patterns and dynamics may be at the root of the problems. They will also normalise patterns where need be so you will get a better understanding of how common your particular issues are.

While it is important to be able to get out the issues each of you have, it’s equally important to work in the positives, as too much negativity is usually a factor when a couple has experienced problems for awhile.

This is done in two parts. Firstly is to think about and appreciate the positive things and strengths there are already in the relationship -to acknowledge and celebrate them (the fact that you came to relationship counselling to improve your relationship means at the very least you both value it).

Secondly, it is important to create a positive plan to improve or overcome the problems each of you are experiencing. I often do this by encouraging each person to consider what would be on their Top 5 “asks” on their Positive Want list, that if they were to happen would make them very happy with their relationship. (These are usually their issues turned into an “ask” in a positive way.) In this way, we are able to resolve the problems for each partner in a positive and reciprocal manner. Then each one can be worked through beginning with the top priority for each partner.

When a new plan of action for each partner is agreed on, it is important as a partner to honour these new vows, and for the therapist to keep you accountable, as well as to be supportive of any challenges you may be experiencing. Ultimately, actions will speak louder than words as you work towards a better relationship, and your relationship counsellor ought to encourage and support you as you move closer toward that goal.

Need help? For relationship counselling Brisbane or relationship counselling Sydney talk to Hart Relationship Counselling. Our relationship counselling Sydney centre is located for your convenience in the CBD Medical Centre in Pitt Street Sydney.

 

Principles of Criminal Law

The common idea regarding criminal law has been that criminal acts are conscientiously wrong. The principle of criminal sanctions was to have the offender give retribution for harm caused and expiate his guilt; discipline was to be dispensed in proportion to the magnitude of the crime. More recently rationalistic and practical concepts have dominated. Writers of the Enlightenment such as Cesare Beccaria in Italy, Montesquieu and Voltaire in France, Jeremy Bentham in Britain, and P.J.A. von Feuerbach in Germany considered the main reasoning of criminal law to be the prevention of crime. Along with development of the social sciences, there arose new ideas, such as those of the protection of the public and the reform of offenders. Such reasoning is found in the West German criminal code of 1975, which states that the court “must consider the effect of the sentence upon the future life of the offender in society”. In the United States, a Model Penal Code proposed by the American Law Institute in 1962 states that an objective of criminal law should be “to give fair warning of the nature of the conduct declared to constitute an offense” and “to promote the correction and rehabilitation of offenders.” Since that time there has been renewed interest in the concept of general prevention, including both the deterrence of possible criminals and the stabilization and strengthening of social norms.

Common Law and Code Law

Important differences exist between the criminal law of most English-speaking countries and that of other countries. The criminal law of England and the United States derives from the traditional English common law of crimes and has its origins in former judicial decisions embodied in reports of decided cases. England has continuously toward comprehensive legislative codification of its criminal law; even now there is no statutory definition of murder in English law. Some Commonwealth countries, however, notably India, have sanctioned criminal codes that are based on the English common law of crimes.

The criminal law of America, derived from the British common law, has been adapted in some respects to American conditions. In the majority of the U.S. states the common law of crimes has been repealed by legislation. The effect of such edicts is that no-one can be tried for any offense that is not specified in the statutory law of the state. But even in these states the common-law principles do continue to have an influence, as the criminal statutes are often simply codifications of the common law, and their provisions are interpreted in reference to the common law. In the remaining states, prosecutions for common-law offenses not specifically mentioned in statutes can at times happen. In a few states the so-called penal, or criminal, codes are simply collections of individual provisions with only small effort made to connect the parts to the whole or to define or implement any theory of control by penal measures.

In western Europe criminal law of modern times has come about from a variety of codifications. By far the most important were the two Napoleonic codes, the Code d’Instruction Criminelle of 1808 and the Code Pénal of 1810. The latter constituted the leading model for European criminal legislation during the first part of the 19th century, after which, although its influence in Europe waned, it continued to play a significant role in the legislation of particular Latin-American and Middle Eastern countries. The German codes of 1871 (penal code) and 1877 (procedure) provided the models for other European countries and have had important influence in Japan and South Korea, although after World War II the U.S. laws of criminal procedure were the predominant influence in the latter countries. The Italian codes of 1930 denote one of the technically most developed legislative efforts in the modern period. English criminal law has strongly influenced the law of Israel and also that of the English-speaking African states. French criminal law has predominated in the French-speaking African states. Italian criminal law and theory have predominated in Latin America.

In the last few decades the call for codification and law reform has made considerable progress everywhere. The American Law Institute’s Model Penal Code caused a meticulous reexamination of both federal and state criminal law, and new codes were put in place in most of the states. England has enacted a number of important reform laws (including those on theft, sex offenses, and murder), in addition to modern statutes on imprisonment, probation, suspended sentences, and community service. Sweden enacted a new strongly progressive penal code in 1962. In West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) a revised version of the criminal code was published in 1975 and subsequently has been amended. In the same year a new criminal code came into force in Austria. New criminal codes have also come into force in Portugal (1982) and Brazil (1984). France enacted significant reform laws in 1958, 1970, 1975, and 1982, as did Italy in 1981 and Spain in 1983. Other reforms have been under way in Finland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Japan. The Soviet Union’s constituent republics began enacting revised criminal codes in 1960, as did Czechoslovakia and Hungary (1961), East Germany (German Democratic Republic), Bulgaria, and Romania (1968), and Poland (1969). After Yugoslavia became a federal state in 1974, a number of local penal codes came into force in addition to the federal code of 1977.

If you have get in trouble with the law, even if you believe you are totally innocent, you may wish to contact a criminal lawyer. Brisbane boasts a number of talented criminal lawyers who can help you. For criminal lawyers in Brisbane, contact go to court.

 

Moodel Learning Management System

Moodle is a learning management system (LMS), a software application designed using sound educational principles, to help people create effective web-based learning experiences. Moodle has a large and diverse user community with over 1,000,000 registered users on the Moodle Community site, speaking over 75 languages in 200 countries.

This group includes developers, educators, system administrators and business users. Validated registration statistics indicate there are more than 35 million end-users of Moodle software, globally.

Moodle is provided freely as Open Source software. This means Moodle is copyrighted, but the software can be edited and customised to suit your educational needs. Due to this, Moodle has an active web community of developers who contribute additional functionality to the software as requested by educators, administrators and business. lock-in. Thus reducing the total cost of ownership and enabling your organisation to invest resources to ensure a successful deployment.

Learn more about learning management systems with Consultancy, Hosting, Training and Support for Moodle software. Learn more about expert LMS services to the corporate, government and education sectors in Australia.