Relating In Psychotherapy

Clients who seek therapy often feel they are struggling with their whole being: their emotional, physical, relational and social selves. Understanding this is crucial to developing a successful therapeutic relationship. Using psychodynamic, psychoanalytic and existential ideas, this book explores topics fundamental to human living, such as love, generosity, shame, mortality and spirituality. It considers how these states of being can affect clients' lives and the important role they play in the relationship between the therapist and the client. Combining theory with clinical experience and practice, it provides trainee and practising therapists with a thought-provoking perspective that broadens and enriches thinking, reflection and understanding of their work. Drawing on original thought from a range of theorists including Bion, Buber, Freud, Heidegger, Irigaray, Jung, Klein and Winnicott, this book is an important contribution for students and practitioners in the fields of counselling and psychotherapy.

In John Birtchnell's last book How Humans Relate, he proposed a new theory as the basis for a science of relating. Relating in Psychotherapy explains how the relevance of this theory relates to the practice of psychotherapy. The theory cuts across all schools of therapy, and is a way of describing each school in terms of relating in both the client and the therapist. The theory is constructed around two major axes; a horizontal one concerning the degree to which we need to become involved with or separated from others, and a vertical one concerning the degree to which we choose to exercise power over others or permit others to exercise their power over us. With numerous clinical examples, John Birtchnell explains how we need to be competet in all four relating positions (close, distant, upper and lower), and argues that people who seek therapy usually lack competence in one or more of them, but through the course of therapy, their relating capabilities can be improved. Relating in Psychotherapy can have applications in psychotherapy and in couple and family therapy, and will be an invaluable resource for therapists, counsellors and other mental health professionals.

In this book, the author argues and demonstrates that embodiment and relationship are inseparable, both in human existence and in the practice of psychotherapy. It is helpful for psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, counsellor, or other psychopractitioner.

Emotional crises and breakdowns are not things going wrong in individuals’ minds: they are disturbances in their relations with themselves and others. In psychotherapy an attempt is made to resolve such crises through a therapeutic relationship with an individual or in a group. First published in 1984, this book introduces the theory of individual and group therapy, and explains some of its principles in practice. Although there had been a rapid development of ideas in the area of psychotherapy at the time, it was only shortly before the original publication of this book that these had been related to theory. Keith Oatley assesses the influence of cognitive social psychology, psychoanalysis and the existential/phenomenological tradition, and considers the role of emotions, thinking and social interactions in therapeutic transformation. The theory, he argues, must also be related to the research findings on the outcomes of different therapies. This book is for those who study psychotherapy in psychology, psychiatry, counselling and social work – and for anyone who wants to know what psychotherapy was about in the 1980s.

Betrayal in all its forms has been and is an ever present reality in every area of lifepolitics, business, and human relationships to name a few. This book explores the many issues relating to psychotherapy and betrayal. The contributing authors of Betrayal in Psychotherapy and its Antidotes present the various faces of betrayal as may be encountered by therapists in the office or in the profession. They challenge therapists to understand the violations of trust that can occur within the therapeutic relationship. Readers are reminded that the trauma of betrayal manifests itself within all patients, regardless of of the nature and expression of psychopathology. More importantly, the authors define betrayal as experienced with specific cases and they attempt to bring out underlying principles that are useful to therapists and the larger professional community.

Would you like to be a more skilled therapist? Would you like to help the 50 percent of patients who drop out of therapy before they receive its full benefits? Would you like to connect with hard-to-reach patients so you can form a healing therapeutic alliance? While other books teach theory, this book will help you develop the specific skills you need to be an effective therapist. You can practice the exercises with a partner or with audio recordings, just like learning a language. And videos will show you how. Each of the forty-two skill-building exercises teaches a specific technique so you can successfully address typical impasses in therapy. Where you got stuck in the past, you'll be able to move forward in the future. You will learn what to say so you can assess and regulate anxiety, help patients develop and keep an effective focus that leads to change, teach patients to see and let go of avoidance strategies, work with patients who deny that they need therapy, mobilize patients' will to work toward a positive goal, support patients so they can shift from denial to facing reality, and identify early signs of dropout so you can prevent it. When you improve your relational skills, you will be better equipped to help anxious patients.

Concise, clear, and featuring numerous clinical examples, this is the first book to include empirical studies of supervisor/supervisee disclosure, plus extensive research on patient/therapist disclosure. Other unique topics include disclosure issues in child therapy.

Unravelling the issues surrounding the therapeutic relationship, this book highlights the importance of the relationship itself, of the client as a proactive agent in the process, and of the need for partnership and collaboration for effective therapy to take place. It will provide trainees and newly qualified therapists with the knowledge and skills they need to practice on a level of deep understanding and confidence.