The Reward is the Journey

I don't watch much television.  I watch only that which comes highly recommended by those whose opinions I have come to trust.  The first episode of 'The Outcast' had caused something of a stir amongst colleagues with whom I have been exploring the implications of Attachment Theory as a lens through which to look at our work in the therapy room. The BBC's two part dramatisation of Sadie Thomas' novel didn't disappoint.  Easy viewing it was not, but it held my attention in a way so many things that are apt to come onto our screens fail to. It was a beautifully observed tale of a young man whose destiny is largely determined by the appalling tragedy he suffers as a 10 year old the effects of which are barely acknowledged and certainly not ameliorated by his father whom we know to be grief stricken (and likely suffering from undiagnosed PTSD) but in whose demeanour it is impossible to detect even a shred of emotion. In the scenes that follow the horrif...