Ego Psychology And Clinical Practice

Presents ego psychology from a structural and developmental perspective. Clinical illustrations and vignettes are used to reflect the realities of contemporary clinical social work practice. This is designed to serve as a basic text in ego psychology as well as a reference for practitioners.

Understanding the Self-Ego Relationship in Clinical Practice: Towards Individuation is a volume in the clinical practice monograph series from The Society of Analytical Psychology. This series is intended primarily for trainees on psychotherapy and psychodynamic counselling courses, and for those who are newly qualified. These compact editions will be invaluable to all who wish to learn the basics of major theories derived from the work of Freud and Jung, from an integrated viewpoint. The authors are Jungian analysts trained at the SAP, highly experienced in both theory and practice. The author argues for the profound importance of trusting the unconscious psyche in therapeutic work with adults. She considers various analytical meanings of the term "the self", with reference to a wide range of theorists, and various ways of thinking about the development of the ego. She uses primarily a Jungian model of the psyche from a developmental perspective, based on the assumption that the ego evolves in infancy and childhood out of a primary psychosomatic self.

In this important new book, the noted theoretician Fred Pine provides a synthesis of the four conceptual domains of psychoanalysis: drives, ego functioning, object relations, and self experience. He argues that a focus on the clinical phenomena themselves, and not on the theoretical edifices built around them, readily illuminates the inevitable integration of the several sets of phenomena in each person's unique psychological organization. With superb clarity, Pine shows how one or another or more of these becomes central to a particular individual's psychopathology. Drawing on a wealth of detailed clinical material -- brief vignettes, process notes of sessions, and full analyses -- he vividly demonstrates how a broad multimodel perspective enhances the treatment process, and is, in fact, its natural form. He also applies these ideas to such crucial clinical issues as preoedipal pathology and ego defect, the so-called symbiotic phase, and the mutative factors in treatment. Conceptually elegant and immensely practical, this highly original work is certain to be, in the words of Arnold Cooper, "a guide for theorists and clinicians for many years to come."

There has always been a gap between theory and practice in psychotherapeutic work. Beginning and experienced practitioners alike must struggle to integrate a variety of models and concepts that approach the practice of psychotherapy in vastly different ways. In The Evolution and Application of Clinical Theory, Judith Mishne offers a comprehensive yet accessible introduction to four influential models of personality development and organization: traditional psychoanalytic drive theory, ego psychology, object relations theory, and self psychology, systematically exploring their implications for clinical practice. Included is a history of the psychoanalytic movement from Freud to the present, with special attention paid to the professionals, politics, and personalities that have contributed to its growth and modification. In developing this history, the author shows the interrelationship of theoretical concepts, explaining why theories change and how clinical, social, personal, and political factors dictate the timing of those changes. Mishne then goes on to clearly and effectively demonstrate the application of these psychoanalytic theories to individual, family, and marital treatment. Drawing on an extensive case study, which includes individual treatment of an adolescent along with parent guidance, marital treatment, and family therapy, she applies the four psychologies, illustrating how each can be used and how they differ. Finally, she addresses the issue of conflicting paradigms and suggests ways in which clinicians can benefit from an understanding of all four models in assessment and treatment. The Evolution and Application of Clinical Theory with its unique application ofdifferent theoretical models to a specific case, is an invaluable reference for the novice and experienced practitioner alike. It can also be used in courses in clinical theory and clinical practice.

Contemporary Clinical Practice: The Holding Environment Under Assault is devoted to the examination of contemporary social problems and their impact on the clinical process. State-of-the-art psychodynamic theories will be applied to the understanding of how war, terrorism, politics, government regulations, and other environmental problems influence interactions between clinicians and their patients.

Relational Theory for Clinical Practice offers students and practitioners a conceptual framework for thinking relationally about social work with clients within a biological, psychological, and socio-cultural framework. Integrating relational theory with the principles of clinical practice, and demonstrating how this can be applied to social work practice, this book has been revised and updated to be suitable for students. Using plenty of case material to demonstrate the theory in action, the new edition incorporates teaching points to aid readers in drawing out the practice principles developed in each chapter. Keeping relationships at the center of the text, this edition includes substantially expanded chapters on assessment and intervention, and takes into account recent research on issues such as the impact of trauma and stress; neuroscience and brain research; and the necessity of practicing in a culturally sensitive way with diverse populations. It broadens the feminist focus of relational-cultural theory by extending and applying it to men also. Designed for use on master's level courses in practice, as well as courses on human behavior and the social environment, this concise and practical book is a valuable text for social work and counseling students.

Ego psychology is the aspect of psychoanalytic theory concerned with how people adapt to the demands and possibilities of their worlds in accordance with their inner requirements. All substantial theories of personality refer to adaptation, but there are several features special to ego psychology. It offers by far the most elaborate picture of the adaptive apparatus and of the varied devices humans have for negotiating among their drives and their life situations. More than any other theory of psychology, it emphasizes the complicated transactions that go on in people's minds, of which many are outside conscious awareness. Norman A. Polansky argues that we must be disciplined enough to commit ourselves to one consistent line of theory if we are to harness reasoning to go beyond what we can directly observe.Few who are, or aspire to be, caseworkers, therapists or counselors come to this book innocent of all the ideas contained herein. Much will seem familiar from previous training and from experiences with people. Moreover, many Freudian terms have been adopted into the working vocabularies of all educated people. Words like instinctual drive, defense mechanism, anxiety, guilt, conflict, unconscious, and the like, are used all the time in estimating each other. One task of Integrated Ego Psychology is defining such terms with precise meanings, as well as showing the logical connections among them.Psychoanalytic theory has envolved for about a century, and some "grand simplicities" have finally emerged. This book, for practitioners, indicates the need for a theory to guide work if we are to help people effectively. The theory must be elaborate enough to cover a very wide range of human activity and it must meet certain other standards as well.