Books in the Basic Texts in Counselling and Psychotherapy series

This book seeks to liberate and empower practitioners seeking to meet the needs of all the troubled children and young people who come to them for help.

This new edition reflects the growing use of short term therapy across a variety of settings. Packed with new material on key issues, the book explores the therapeutic relationship, the length of therapy and the evidence base for various forms of therapy. This is key reading for anyone wishing to incorporate a psychodynamic element in their work.

The toxic nature of trauma can make it an overwhelming area of work. This book by a recognised expert adopts a systemic perspective, focusing on the individual in context. Very positively, it shows how every level of relationship can contribute to healing and that the meaning of traumatic experiences can be 'unfrozen' and revisited over time.

Living with serious illness can have profound emotional effects both on patients themselves and on those close to them. With clarity and compassion, this text explores the difficulties and dilemmas those who are ill and their families face, offering specific guidelines for the professionals who work with them.Building on its successful first edition, this text draws on recent developments in research and clinical practice in providing a theoretical and practical framework for working with illness. Thoroughly revised in its second edition, this book:* Features new chapters on the cultural constructs of illness, working with migrant families, illness in later life, death and palliative care and supervision* Explores issues of working with diversity, covering gender, class, race and sexuality* Discusses the impact of working with those facing serious illness on health care professionals, offering strategies for reducing the risks of burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary traumatisation Written by a recognized expert in the field, this innovative and challenging book provides essential insights for professionals working or training to work with those facing illness and death, including doctors, nurses, counsellors, psychologists, psychotherapists and social workers.

Drawing on case studies taken directly from the author's own experience, the individual chapters consider issues in a variety of settings, from group supervision and supervising in institutions, to working with difference and supervising those with clients in crisis.

The first edition of this popular book won praise for successfully exploring the inner world of contemporary adolescence. The new edition now also examines issues including self-harm, depression and body image disturbance. Drawing on a flexible psychodynamic approach, it gives evidence-based guidance for both experienced practitioners and students.

This book presents students and experienced practitioners alike with an accessible guide on the complex dynamics of the couple relationship. Combining the theoretical grounding of various psychodynamic fields of thought with vivid case studies, it advises on how to address issues such as domestic violence, affairs and the step-family system.

This unique text provides students and practitioners of counselling and psychotherapy with a much-needed guide to working integratively in time-sensitive and healthcare settings. Drawing on the latest research in neuroscience, infant studies and human development, this innovative text offers an original framework for identifying key therapeutic metaphors to focus and guide the therapeutic process. It will be invaluable to any practitioner-psychotherapist, counsellor, psychologist, psychiatrist, GP, health or social care professional- who has opportunities to make a professional, therapeutic relationship with clients suffering emotional problems.

Building on the success of Working with the Elderly and their Carers, this new edition pursues an in depth understanding of therapy with older people. A wide range of clinical material and 3 new chapters draw on developments in psychodynamic theory and the author's experience to offer valuable insights for trainees and experienced practitioners.

Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are increasingly prevalent in today's society and of great concern to a wide range of health-related professionals, including counsellors and psychotherapists.

The psychoanalytic theory base for therapeutic practice is highly developed but the literature is thin when it comes to identifying practitioners' implicit knowledge base and developing more expert skills. This clear and vividly written book addresses the needs of practitioners moving beyond beginner level to more skilled and attuned practice.

Addressing the felt experience of disabled people and the ways in which psychotherapy may be constructively employed, this text takes a life-span perspective and a psychoanalytic approach to explore the challenges and opportunities of disability to psychotherapy, the caring professions and society.

Counselling Students: A Psychodynamic Perspective delivers an introduction to the main psychological and developmental factors that affect students and how these typically influence and shape their experiences at university.

This text combines research, clinical and practical approaches to working with children and parents going through stressful changes linked to separation or divorce. A focused approach to divorce related problems, taking each family member's views into account, is illustrated.

Building on the individual's personal experience of groups, starting in the family, the authors offer an account of why things happen as they do in groups, providing a basis for developing groupwork in a wide range of settings, rooted in an understanding of the interaction between individual and group processes.

Taking a psychodynamic approach, this text describes current theoretical ideas in the area of counselling adults with learning difficulties. Theories are described in an accessible way with detailed examples given to demonstrate the translation from theory into practice.

The new edition of this well-known text addresses the plurality of family life today, and considers the way in which the changeable 'theory of family' has influenced the approaches of those working with families.

This text examines the intra - and inter-personal dynamics of primary care essential for counsellors and psythotherapists working in health centres and considers the advantage of multi-disciplinary and multi-agency collaboration. The progressive approach will be of interest to all who work in primary care.

This is a practical manual for group facilitators, informed by extensive experience. Grounded in a firm psychological evidence base, it focuses on the concrete practicalities of how to make groups vehicles for success, whether in achieving therapy or self-development, in optimising team function or in achieving specific organisational tasks.

Ideas drawn from family and systemic therapy form the basis of many interventions in mental health and childcare. This brief introduction offers an ideal starting-point for non specialists and new students keen to develop their skills. Taking a step-by-step experiential approach, it explores key concepts in vivid practice context.

This key book in the Basic Texts in Counselling and Psychotherapy series is an authoritative and accessible introduction to psychodynamic counselling and its basic principles. The author, Laurence Spurling, is a leading figure in the discipline and, here, he examines the underlying psychodynamic approach, its main theoretical ideas and principles of practice, the techniques associated with it and ways of thinking about the conduct of counselling. Looking at two major themes in particular, namely the involvement of counsellors working with clients with severe emotional and psychological problems and the influence of organisational settings on counselling work, this book is an essential guide for students and practitioners of counselling or psychotherapy, along with those from other professions, such as nurses and teachers, who are called upon to use counselling skills in their work.