The Value of Psychotherapy: The Talking Cure in an Age of Clinical Science by Robert Woolfolk. Published by Guilford Press, New York and London, 2015; 222 pp; £16.99 paperback
(Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy)
Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy - January 28, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Janet Sayers Tags: Book Review Source Type: research
A Tribute to Oliver Sacks
(Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy)
Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy - January 28, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Casey Schwartz Tags: Appreciation Source Type: research
Hopelessness in the Analysis
(Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy)
Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy - January 28, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Noel Hess, Jackie Gerrard Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
How can we Understand the Demise of Kids Company?
The sudden closure of the charity Kids Company was headline news in the UK on 6 August 2015. In this piece the author shares her feeling of shock, her questions and her concerns arising from the BBC interviews with the charity's founder Camila Batmanghelidjh who had been at the helm for 19 years. While alluding to the vision of charismatic leaders and their extraordinary ability to bring about social transformations, the author refers to Weber and others highlighting that charismatic leadership must be transitional if the enterprise is to survive. However, charisma can lead to idealization which puts the enterprise at risk...
Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy - January 28, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Angela Foster Tags: A Point of View Source Type: research
The Effects of Opposite‐Sex Twinship on the Adult twin
In this small‐scale indicative study I explored the issue of individuation in relation to the life stories of a group of adult opposite‐sex twins, using a psycho‐social approach and a narrative interview methodology (Hollway & Jefferson, 2013). I found that none of the six interviewees reported having had a close relationship with their mother in infancy and childhood but five said they had had a close relationship with their co‐twin, which endured in later life. Cleaving to the co‐twin seemed to complicate and disrupt identity formation and the development of mature adult relationships. I concluded that the ...
Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy - January 28, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Oliver Shirley Tags: Research Source Type: research
A Psychodynamic Perspective on a Systematic Review of Online Psychotherapy for Adults
A variety of new psychotherapy modalities has arisen in which the contact between patient and therapist takes place via the internet. The main objective of this systematic review is to investigate the types of online psychotherapy (OP) conducted nowadays, and to describe their main characteristics to psychodynamic psychotherapists who may wish to better understand the current scientific literature on the subject. The review used two databases, EMBASE and PsycINFO. Fifty‐nine studies were retrieved and the main online psychotherapy modalities identified were self‐therapy programmes using contact via email or chat; video...
Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy - January 28, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Diogo de Bitencourt Machado, Pricilla Braga Laskoski, Charlie Trelles Severo, Ana Margareth Bassols, Ana Sfoggia, Clarice Kowacs, Daniela Valle Krieger, Mariana Benetti Torres, Marina Bento Gastaud, Rafael Stella Wellausen, Stefania Pigatto Teche, ClÁUdi Tags: Research Source Type: research
Some Thoughts on Psychic Retreats
This paper explores connections between psychic retreats, particularly of the kind described in Richard Carvalho's paper, and certain other defences rooted in early relational trauma (Schore ). After distinguishing between Carvalho's theory and John Steiner's () original formulation, the paper describes Schore's () work on infantile dissociation and draws attention to the pre‐symbolic processes that could form the basis from which the symbolic content of the psychic retreat develops. The paper underlines the connection between psychic retreats and secondary dissociative states of which psychic retreats constitute a dist...
Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy - January 28, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Nina Tamas Tags: Clinical and Theoretical Practice Source Type: research
Psychoses Without Symptoms and Stabilized Psychoses: Lacanian Suggestions for Treating Fuzzy Contemporary Clinical Phenomena
This article presents two clinical cases, reviews Lacan's classical teaching (1950s) and later conceptualizations (1970s) with a specific focus on foreclosure of the Name‐of‐the‐Father, the jouissance, and notions of triggering and stabilization. The two clinical cases are discussed highlighting limitations of classical Lacanian conceptualizations and advantages of the contemporary theories focused on the notions of jouissance, suppletion and ordinary psychosis. Overall, this article aims at providing an understanding of clinical situations that are no longer ‘rare cases’, but rather require an approach that emph...
Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy - January 28, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Federica Facchin Tags: Clinical and Theoretical Practice Source Type: research
Beware the Song of the Sirens: Reflections on the Seductive Face of Narcissism
This paper is about narcissism and particularly about the paradoxical way in which some narcissists use objects. In the classical perception of narcissism total disregard is shown for others with the narcissist taking himself or his own reflection as his only object, yet we also encounter the obverse position where the narcissist seems to be seeking relatedness by making seductive efforts to attract others into collusion with their needs. This has not been widely discussed but we believe it represents a major division of narcissism with the classical disregard of others being replaced by a seductive drive for their subvers...
Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy - December 29, 2015 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Gilly Stiffell, Ralph Holtom Tags: Original Article Source Type: research
On Making Emotional Contact with A Schizoid Patient
This paper describes and discusses those aspects of the treatment of schizoid patients which present particular challenges and difficulties to the clinician, namely nonrelatedness, emotional unavailability and absence of curiosity, all of which mean that the psychotherapist has a considerable strain to bear. Bion and others have suggested how the aetiology of this particular state of mind might be understood in terms of infantile experience. Clinical material from the long‐term treatment of a schizoid man is discussed to illustrate how, in the course of a session, moments of meaningful emotional connection can become pos...
Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy - November 1, 2015 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Noel Hess Tags: Original Article Source Type: research
Publications Recently Noted or Received
(Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy)
Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy - November 1, 2015 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Tags: Publications Recently Noted or Received Source Type: research
The Fall of Kids Company
(Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy)
Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy - October 16, 2015 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Martin Kemp Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
Acknowledgement of Reviewers
(Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy)
Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy - October 16, 2015 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Tags: Acknowledgement of Reviewers Source Type: research
Working Towards A UK Randomized Controlled Trial of Psychodynamic Therapy for Psychosis
This paper outlines the efforts of a small group of practitioners to work towards a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of psychodynamic therapy for psychosis. It presents arguments for such a trial and briefly reviews the existing evidence, concluding that although there are no well‐designed RCTs of a contemporary approach to psychodynamic therapy for psychosis, the non‐RCT evidence supports the view that for some individuals who experience psychotic states, psychodynamic therapy can be a worthwhile treatment. The latter part of the paper discusses some of the issues that need to be considered in designing an RCT of psy...
Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy - October 16, 2015 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Alison Summers Tags: Research: Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for Psychosis Source Type: research
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for Persons in States of Psychosis: Some Research Perspectives
This paper describes some basic problems and assumptions in supportive psychodynamic psychotherapy with persons in states of psychosis. It starts out by addressing changes in the views of science – from the case study method to the evidence‐based medicine paradigm – and continues with a discussion of the necessity for psychotherapy integration and conceptual clarification in delineating psychodynamic psychotherapy in the field of psychosis. Over a period of decades a small number of comparative studies have been conducted in which psychodynamic psychotherapy of patients with schizophrenia has been compared with treat...
Source: British Journal of Psychotherapy - October 16, 2015 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Bent Rosenbaum Tags: Research: Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for Psychosis Source Type: research
