The Dying Patient In Psychotherapy

This work is about psychotherapy with a terminally ill patient but it is intended for a far broader readership than this indicates. Joy Schaverien raises questions regarding the meaning of love and endings in psychotherapy.

The Dying Patient in Psychotherapy is a powerful account of love and death within a psychotherapeutic relationship. The narrative traces one man’s journey in psychotherapy and that of the analyst who accompanies him. The full-length description of an analysis demonstrates the developmental path of an erotic transference from its origins in infancy, through fantasies of sex and violence to mature erotic intimacy. The countertransference is considered with exceptional honesty as the analysis intensifies following the diagnosis of a life-threatening illness. A series of dreams rich in symbolic imagery traces the psychological situation as death approaches. A precursor to Schaverien’s acclaimed book Boarding School Syndrome, the single case study demonstrates the enduring impact of early boarding. This second edition also includes an updated literature review, and new material regarding training and supervision, making it a valuable resource for training institutions. The Dying Patient in Psychotherapy will be essential reading for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, counsellors, arts therapists and all professionals working with the dying. The poignant story will also engage the general reader, curious about the process of psychotherapy.

Maintaining dignity for patients approaching death is a core principle of palliative care. Dignity therapy, a psychological intervention developed by Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov and his internationally lauded research group, has been designed specifically to address many of the psychological, existential, and spiritual challenges that patients and their families face as they grapple with the reality of life drawing to a close. In the first book to lay out the blueprint for this unique and meaningful intervention, Chochinov addresses one of the most important dimensions of being human. Being alive means being vulnerable and mortal; he argues that dignity therapy offers a way to preserve meaning and hope for patients approaching death. With history and foundations of dignity in care, and step by step guidance for readers interested in implementing the program, this volume illuminates how dignity therapy can change end-of-life experience for those about to die - and for those who will grieve their passing.

Placing a focus on the spiritual needs of death and dying, the theme of this book is that the focus of counselling with people who are dying should be on the psychospiritual aspects of death and dying. It is based on two assumptions - that death and anxiety, not pain, are the most critical issues for the dying, and that the time of dying is an opportunity for growth and transformation. The author believes that it is imperative for counselling professionals to realize that at this time understanding and caring are primary.

Focusing on counselling bereaved clients and those with terminal illness, this book contains case studies, reflective thoughts and feelings of both the client and counsellor. Boxed key points and references to person-centred theory aid easy comprehension.

Boarding School Syndrome is an analysis of the trauma of the 'privileged' child sent to boarding school at a young age. Innovative and challenging, Joy Schaverien offers a psychological analysis of the long-established British and colonial preparatory and public boarding school tradition. Richly illustrated with pictures and the narratives of adult ex-boarders in psychotherapy, the book demonstrates how some forms of enduring distress in adult life may be traced back to the early losses of home and family. Developed from clinical research and informed by attachment and child development theories ‘Boarding School Syndrome’ is a new term that offers a theoretical framework on which the psychotherapeutic treatment of ex-boarders may build. Divided into four parts, History: In the Name of Privilege; Exile and Healing; Broken Attachments: A Hidden Trauma, and The Boarding School Body, the book includes vivid case studies of ex-boarders in psychotherapy. Their accounts reveal details of the suffering endured: loss, bereavement and captivity are sometimes compounded by physical, sexual and psychological abuse. Here, Joy Schaverien shows how many boarders adopt unconscious coping strategies including dissociative amnesia resulting in a psychological split between the 'home self' and the 'boarding school self'. This pattern may continue into adult life, causing difficulties in intimate relationships, generalized depression and separation anxiety amongst other forms of psychological distress. Boarding School Syndrome demonstrates how boarding school may damage those it is meant to be a reward and discusses the wider implications of this tradition. It will be essential reading for psychoanalysts, Jungian analysts, psychotherapists, art psychotherapists, counsellors and others interested in the psychological, cultural and international legacy of this tradition including ex-boarders and their partners.