I had a lot of responses to my last email, on powerlessness, it seems that it struck a chord with many of you. So it is partly for that reason I'm following it up, Powerlessness Part Two if you like, and partly because there's something that we all need in order to tolerate powerlessness, and that is compassion for ourselves. 'What if, instead of being born to nice middle class parents who valued education and decency and order, I had been born to an east end gangster who

Those of us who are attracted to the caring professions tend to be fixers. Most of us will have played a caring, responsible kind of role with our families and friends, so becoming a doctor, nurse, therapist etc feels like simply an extension of what we've always done. Needless to say, the word 'powerless' is anathema to us. It is not in our vocabulary. There is no problem, big or small, that cannot be fixed - if we have so far failed to fix a problem, it is only because we