The Use of Psychoanalytic Concepts in Therapy With Families (United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy Series)

The Use of Psychoanalytic Concepts in Therapy with Families begins with a readable practitioner’s guide to psychoanalytic theory and concepts. It moves on to give a number of detailed practice-based examples of the application of this theoretical model in the therapy room with the families of children seeking help with a variety of mental health difficulties. The book presents the ideas as an enhancement, and not alternative, to the different styles and schools of therapy with families, and aims at enriching and broadening both the therapist’s thinking and practice skills. The examples include: children who have suffered emotional harm, young children presenting aggressive behavior, feeding difficulties, anorexia nervosa, somatic presentations, and children whose separated parents are in conflict. The author writes clearly and enthusiastically on the important possibilities that this way of thinking can bring to therapists’ work with families.