Uncoupling Convention

What does it mean to be member of a gay/lesbian couple or family? The contributors to Uncoupling Convention: Psychoanalytic Approaches to Same-Sex Couples and Families address this question by drawing on two cultural movements of the twentieth century: psychoanalysis and the gay/lesbian civil rights movement. Taken together, these traditions provide a framework for understanding, and providing psychotherapeutic assistance to, gay and lesbian patients who present with troubled relationships. The contributors to this volume espouse a clinical focus that supplants the heterosexual perspectives of traditional psychoanalysis with new narratives about family life. Drawing on cultural, feminist, gay/lesbian, and queer studies, they illustrate how concepts of gender and sexuality are routinely informed by unproven heterosexist assumptions - both conscious and unconscious. By examining the changing developmental needs and family dynamics of gay and lesbian families, the contributors broaden our very understanding of what a family is. They illustrate how contrasting cultural constructions of homosexuality and family life play out in same-sex couples. They delineate the multiple realities of gender subjectivity, both in children and in their gay parents. They ponder how technology is shaping reproductive experiences, as lesbians become part of the biomedical system. And they explore recurrent themes of feeling different and ashamed, including the shameful secrecy surrounding same-sex couples' financial matters. In uncoupling conventions, the contributors are effectively coupling post-Freudian psychoanalysis with the insights of queer theory and the critical edge of contemporary cultural studies. The result is a framework for addressing the relational and family-related challenges of gay and lesbian patients that ranges far beyond traditional approaches and will benefit analytic, couples, and family therapists alike.

What do mothers want and need from their parenting partners, their extended families, their friends, colleagues, and communities? And what can mental health professionals do to help them meet their daunting responsibilities in the contemporary world? The talented contributors to What Do Mothers Want? address these questions from perspectives that encompass differences in marital status, parental status, gender, and sexual orientation. Traversing the biological, psychological, cultural, and economic dimensions of mothering, they provide a compelling brief on the perplexing choices confronting mothers in the contemporary world. Of course, mothers most basically want their children to be safe and healthy. But to this end they want and need many things: caring partners, intergenerational and community support, a responsive workplace, public services, and opportunities to share their experiences with other mothers. And they want their feelings and actions as mothers to be understood and accepted by those around them and by society at large. The role of psychotherapy in reaching these latter goals is taken up by many of the contributors. They reflect on the special psychological challenges of pregnancy, birth, and the arrival of a newborn into a couple’s (whether hetero- or homosexual) life, and they address new venues of therapeutic assistance, such as brief low-cost therapy for at-risk mothers and infants and group interventions to help couples grow into the new role of parental couples.

The New Motherhoods: Patterns of Early Child Care in Contemporary Culture offers innovative perspectives in psychotherapy that accommodate emerging pathways to parenthood, changing roles of mothers, and evolving patterns of family structure. Moms come in all shapes and sizes, and psychoanalytic developmental theory could be modified to better embrace modern mothers and today’s childcare practices. In this volume, distinguished clinical psychologists and psychoanalysts offer divergent conceptual perspectives on what shapes contemporary mothering, including the increasing number of single mothers in our society, the additional challenges faced by immigrating mothers, how technology affects the parent-child relationship, and gender identity in families today. Incorporating the most current research along with engaging clinical vignettes, The New Motherhoods provides mental health professionals with an invaluable collection of insights into modern motherhood and its essential role in the care and healthy development of children.

Although the vast majority of LGBT persons are healthy, resilient, and hardy individuals who do not seek social work intervention, some have been or will be clients in social work agencies. The third edition of Social Work Practice with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People updates this classic text and expands its scope to include new content on social work with older and younger LGBT people. Written by a team of highly experienced experts, this book provides a knowledge base for practice that will better prepare students and practitioners for working sensitively, competently, and effectively with LGBT individuals and groups. Comprehensive and practical, this unique text discusses the pragmatic aspects of social work with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. It will improve and reinforce competent practice with LGBT persons and their families in multiple settings. Chapters focus on important topics such as: the profession’s core values and ethical principles; social work and queer theory; LGBT and race—heterosexism, racism, and sexism; applying the life model and the stress-coping process; practice with bisexual, transgender, and gender non-conforming persons; relationship building between lesbian partners; the impact of creating family for lesbian couples; internalized homophobia, heterocentrism, and gay identity; group work practice with the LGBTQ community; clinical assessment for families where sexual orientation is an issue; and LGBT parenting. There are also new chapters on social work with LGBT young people and LGBT older people. Complete with a highly detailed appendix of symbols, definitions, and terms, Social Work Practice with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People, third edition is an invaluable resource for social workers and mental health professionals as well as for students and educators at all levels of experience.

This book provides a contemporary exploration of psychoanalytic theory and its application to therapy with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer relationships, challenging heteronormative practice and introducing new perspectives on working with gender and sexual diversity. In this wide-ranging collection, international contributors draw on key aspects of couple psychoanalytic theory and practice, whilst also expanding hetero and mono-normative frames of reference to explore the nature of relating in open, closed and poly relationships. Developments in regard to gender and sexuality within the contexts of family and culture and an examination of same-sex parenting are also included, as are psychosexual considerations and the process of aging. A major focus of the book is the importance of the therapist’s own gender and sexuality in the clinical encounter and how to manage adjustments in approach to counter the dominance of heteronormative thinking in practice. The first book of its kind to incorporate an in-depth examination of same sex, queer, bi-sex, trans and queer relationships in regard to psychoanalytic thinking and practice, Same-Sex Couples and Other Identities is a vital resource for psychoanalytically informed psychotherapists, counsellors and practitioners working with a diverse range of clients.

It is difficult to improve on a classic, but the fifth edition of Psychodynamic Psychiatry in Clinical Practice does just that, offering the updates readers expect with a deft reorganization that integrates DSM-5® with the author's emphasis on psychodynamic thinking. The individual patient is never sacrificed to the diagnostic category, yet clinicians will find the guidance they need to apply DSM-5® appropriately. Each chapter has been systematically updated to reflect the myriad and manifold changes in the 9 years since the previous edition's publication. All 19 chapters have new references and cutting-edge material that will prepare psychiatrists and residents to treat patients with compassion and skill. The book offers the following features: Each chapter integrates new neurobiological findings with psychodynamic understanding so that clinicians can approach their patients with a truly biopsychosocial treatment plan. Excellent writing and an intuitive structure make complicated psychodynamic concepts easy to understand so that readers can grasp the practical application of theory in everyday practice. The book links clinical understanding to the new DSM-5® nomenclature so that clinicians and trainees can adapt psychodynamic thinking to the new conceptual models of disorders. New coverage of psychodynamic thinking with relation to the treatment of patients on the autism spectrum addresses an increasingly important practice area. Posttraumatic stress and dissociative disorders have been combined to allow for integrated coverage of primary psychiatric disorders related to trauma and stressors. A boon to clinicians in training and practice, the book has been meticulously edited and grounded in the latest research. The author firmly believes that clinicians must not lose the complexities of the person in the process of helping the patient. Psychodynamic Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, Fifth Edition, keeps this approach front and center as it engages, instructs, and exhorts the reader in the thoughtful, humane practice of psychodynamic psychiatry.

Even in today's more enlightened society, it takes courage for many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals to "come out of the closet" and embrace their sexual orientation and identity. Coming out, or facing internal and societal conflicts related to sexuality, involves a great deal of anxiety that can permeate other aspects of an LGBT individual's life -- particularly when seeking psychiatric treatment. The goal of The LGBT Casebook is to help clinicians, trainees, and other mental health professionals address the mental health needs of LGBT people in the context of problems these individuals face in their everyday lives, including homophobia and discrimination. The LGBT Casebook begins with five chapters devoted to basic concerns that affect LGBT populations, including coming out, heterosexist attitudes, the "don't ask, don't tell" mentality, legal issues, gay parenting, and sexual identity in patient-therapist relationships. In the rest of the book, clinician-authors present case studies of 20 patients with different DSM diagnoses, illuminating the impact of LGBT identity and illustrating a way of working with each presented patient. Features and benefits of The LGBT Casebook include: Insights into the unique problems LGBT people face in their everyday lives when compared with heterosexual individuals. Problems that are common to all LGBT individuals, such as the anxiety of being in the closet (hiding one's identity) or coming out (embracing one's identity). Practitioners with little experience in working with the LGBT population can gain a better understanding of psychiatric diagnoses within the context of an LGBT individual's everyday life. The book can be read cover-to-cover to gain insights into the full diversity of the LGBT population, or by specific chapters of interest to help with the diagnosis of a patient currently in treatment. A glossary at the back of the book defines both clinical and colloquial terms and phrases that clinicians and patients use to define themselves and their peers. While The LGBT Casebook is the ideal general overview and roadmap for the clinician new to treating LGBT patients, it also provides new pearls of wisdom and insights for psychiatrists, residents, medical students, nurses, and clinical social workers who are already familiar with working with the LGBT community. By introducing a diverse range of people, diagnoses, and presenting problems, it will serve as a valuable reference book for all mental health professionals when assessing and treating the mental health concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender patients.

Despite the importance of regaining social roles during recovery from mental illness, the intersection between motherhood and serious mental illness is often overlooked. This book aims to rectify that neglect. A series of introductory chapters describing current research and services available to mothers with serious mental illness are followed by personal accounts of clients reflecting on their parenting experiences. One goal of the book is to provide clinicians with information that they can use to help patients struggling with questions and barriers in their attempts to parent. The inclusion of personal accounts of mothers on issues such as stigma, fears and discrimination in the context of parenting with a mental illness is intended to promote the message of mental illness recovery to a larger audience as well. Finally, it is hoped that this handbook will help inspire more research on mothers with mental illness and the creation of more services tailored to their needs.