Abstract

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.

"This is a profound book- thoughtful, humane and at times passionate about what it means to be human and how psychotherapists explore the experience and pain of humanity with our patients. It offers a refreshingly non-partisan approach with the best kind of clinical writing and should be on all our reading lists." - Dr. Jean Knox, training Analyst at the Society of Analytical Psychology and Associate Professor at the University of Exeter, UK

"This is a serious book which has amassed the creative thought of a number of impressive writers on what the contemporary twenty-first century approach to psychotherapy should look like. It should be required reading for anyone interested in therapy as a genuinely humanitarian process, including the next generation of trainees, and of course clients who want to know what they are in for." - Bob Hinshelwood, Professor, Centre for Psychoanalysitc Studies, University of Essex, UK

"Applies philosophical discussions of ontology to the width and depth of feeling and thinking required within clinical practice." - therapytoday.net

An exciting book for clinicians that explores being and relating in psychotherapy in terms of personal, interpersonal, social and cultural perspectives. Using psychodynamic, psychoanalytic and existential ideas it broadens and enriches thinking, reflection and understanding of therapeutic work with clients.

Dr. Christine Driver is a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist and Jungian Analyst. She is Director of Training at WPF Therapy and teaches, supervises and works in private practice. She has written and co-edited, Supervising Psychotherapy, (Sage, 2002); Supervision and the Analytic Attitude, (Whurr, 2005) and a number of papers.
Stephen Crawford is a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist. He is a Senior Programme Manager at WPF Therapy and teaches and supervises there, while also working in private practice. He taught Ontology at WPF for several years and has written several papers on psychotherapy and supervision
John Stewart is a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist and a Jungian Analyst. He was formerly Assistant Director of Training at WPF Therapy and now teaches, supervises and works in private practice. He was a contributing author to Supervising Psychotherapy, (Sage, 2002).