Different Paths Towards Becoming A Psychoanalyst And Psychotherapist

This book describes the personal journey of a collection of contributors, detailing their pathways to becoming psychoanalysts and psychotherapists, with insights from many of the most interesting analysts in the field. The history of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy indicates that the pioneers were individuals who came from different pathways, such as medicine, law, education, and art. The integration of men and women with different educational and career backgrounds enhance the intellectual and clinical evolution of the field. Here, Arnold Rachman and Harold Kooden have invited a diverse group of practicing clinicians to demonstrate that psychoanalysis and psychotherapy continues to welcome and integrate individuals with a wide variety of intellectual interests and atypical career pathways. In showing how varied and personalized the route into analysis can be, this book will be of great interest to clinicians of all levels and experience, and will offer inspiration to those just entering the profession.

The Voice of the Analyst contains personal narratives by twelve psychoanalysts, each taking the reader through his or her unique path toward developing a voice and identity as an analyst. All come from different backgrounds, theoretical orientations and stages of their careers. The narratives are courageous and uncommonly revealing in a profession that demands so much reserve and anonymity from its practitioners. This book demonstrates that the analyst’s work is a product of their characters as well as training and theory. The narrative form in this book offers a refreshing and necessary companion to the theoretical and clinical writing that dominates the field. The editors show the importance of developing a unique voice and identity if one is to function well as an analyst. This endeavor cannot be accomplished solely through technical training, especially with the isolation that characterizes clinical practice. There are pressures that analysts experience alone in their practice, from patients and themselves as well as other professionals, forces that render technical training and theory alone inadequate in facilitating the development of one’s analytic voice and identity. Enter the form of the personal narrative presented in this book. This fascinating compilation of narratives shows how the contributors bear striking similarities and differences to one another. Despite their different backgrounds, they display commonality in their sensitivity towards mental and emotional states and their wish to heal suffering. However, they also exemplify wide differences in motivations, interests and what makes them tick as psychoanalysts. The Voice of the Analyst will be a great companion book for established psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists and those in training, as well as mental health professionals keen to understand what it takes to become a psychoanalyst and to enhance their personal and professional development.

`As someone who is often engaged in trying to clarify psychoanalytic ideas for others (and for myself) I found this book inspiring and useful in many ways but perhaps most notably in its skilful re-visiting and articulation of what happens in psychoanalysis and why it is helpful' - Journal Child Psychotherapy ` well constructed and easily digested book' - Mental Health Nursing `This well-written and understandable book will be useful to a cross-section of professional as well as the general-public'- Community Care `This is quite simply the best introduction to psychoanalysis ever written. It is uncluttered yet the interested reader will find most of what they need to know about what psychoanalysis is and is not, with ample links connecting to where to find the rest. The book is exceptionally accessible, balanced and entertaining. There is no need to search any longer as to what to recommend to anyone who wants to orient themselves around this complex field'- Peter Fonagy, Freud Memorial Professor of Psychoanalysis, University College, London and Chief Executive, Anna Freud Centre, London A Short Introduction to Psychoanalysis is a down-to-earth guide to arguably the most misunderstood of all the psychological therapies. With reference to contemporary developments in theory and practice, the book explains what psychoanalysis really is, providing the reader with an overview of its: } basic concepts } historical development } main critiques, and } research base. Demonstrating the far reaching influence of psychoanalysis, the authors - all practicing psychoanalysts - describe how its concepts have been applied beyond the consulting room and examine its place within the spectrum of other psychological theories. Whether reading about psychoanalysis as part of an academic course or purely for personal interest, A Short Introduction to Psychoanalysis provides the ideal `way-in' to the subject for new readers. For those who are thinking of becoming a psychoanalyst, the book also provides information on the training process and the structure of the profession.

Drawing on deep reserves of experience and theoretical and research knowledge, Nancy McWilliams presents a fresh perspective on psychodynamic supervision in this highly instructive work. McWilliams examines the role of the supervisor in developing the therapist's clinical skills, giving support, helping to formulate and monitor treatment goals, and providing input on ethical dilemmas. Filled with candid clinical examples, the book addresses both individual and group supervision. Special attention is given to navigating personality dynamics, power imbalances, and various dimensions of diversity in the supervisory dyad. McWilliams guides mentors and mentees alike to optimize this unique relationship as a resource for lifelong professional learning and growth.

In this time of vulnerable marriages and partnerships, many couples seek help for their relationships. Psychoanalytic couple therapy is a growing application of psychoanalysis for which training is not usually offered in most psychoanalytic and analytic psychotherapy programs. This book is both an advanced text for therapists and a primer for new students of couple psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Its twenty-eight chapters cover the major ideas underlying the application of psychoanalysis to couple therapy, many clinical illustrations of cases and problems in various dimensions of the work. The international group of authors comes from the International Psychotherapy Institute based in Washington, DC, and the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships (TCCR) in London. The result is a richly international perspective that nonetheless has theoretical and clinical coherence because of the shared vision of the authors.

Why do people want to become a psychotherapist? How do they translate this desire into reality? On Becoming a Psychotherapist explores these and related questions. Ten leading therapists write about their profession and their careers, examining how and why they became pyschotherapists. The contributors, representing a wide cross-section of their profession, come from both Britian and America, from different theoretical backgrounds, and are at different stages in their careers. They write in a personal and revealing way about their childhoods, families, colleagues, and training. This absorbing and fascinating book offers a fresh perspective on psychotherapy and the people attracted to it.

An Experience-based Vision of Psychoanalytic Theory and Practice looks at each individual as a motivated doer doing, seeking, feeling, and intending, and relates development, sense of self, and identity to changes that are brought about in analytic psychotherapy. Based on conceptualizing experience as it is lived from infancy throughout life, this book identifies three major pathways to development and applies Lichtenberg, Lachmann, and Fosshage’s experience-based vision to psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Using detailed clinical narratives and vignettes, as well as organizational studies, the book takes up the distinction between a person’s responding to a failure in achieving a goal with disappointment and seeking an alternative path, or with disillusion and a collapse in motivation. From the variety of topics covered, the reader will get a broad overview of an experience-based analytic conception of motivation begun with Lichtenberg’s seven motivational systems. This title will be of great interest to established psychoanalysts, as well as those training in psychoanalysis and clinical counselling psychology programs.