Relating in Psychotherapy: The Application of a New Theory - Hardcover

Birtchnell, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1138463108 ISBN 13: 9781138463103

Publisher: Routledge, 2017

Synopsis

In John Birtchnell's last book How Humans Relate, he proposed a new theory as the basis for a science of relating. Relating in Psychotherapy explains how the relevance of this theory relates to the practice of psychotherapy. The theory cuts across all schools of therapy, and is a way of describing each school in terms of relating in both the client and the therapist.The theory is constructed around two major axes; a horizontal one concerning the degree to which we need to become involved with or separated from others, and a vertical one concerning the degree to which we choose to exercise power over others or permit others to exercise their power over us. With numerous clinical examples, John Birtchnell explains how we need to be competet in all four relating positions (close, distant, upper and lower), and argues that people who seek therapy usually lack competence in one or more of them, but through the course of therapy, their relating capabilities can be improved.Relating in Psychotherapy can have applications in psychotherapy and in couple and family therapy, and will be an invaluable resource for therapists, counsellors and other mental health professionals.

About this title

Review:

"What is rewarding about this book is the structural clarity and simplicity of its perspective....It is as a book on the craft of psychotherapy that the book can be even more highly valued."-British Journal of Medical Psychology

?What is rewarding about this book is the structural clarity and simplicity of its perspective....It is as a book on the craft of psychotherapy that the book can be even more highly valued.?-British Journal of Medical Psychology

"A significant step forward in the integration of the psychotherapies, which now replaces the old heroic age of a few charismatic figures (and their warring bands of followers) as the cutting edge of progress in the field. It is also a great pleasure to read, especially because of the wealth of human observation which it incorporates."-D. Macdiarmid, Senior Fellow in Psychotherapy Guy's Hospital Medical School, London

About the Author:

JOHN BIRTCHNELL is Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London. Involved in full-time psychiatric research since 1967, Dr. Birtchnell has edited the British Journal of Medical Psychology as well as numerous journal articles and a companion volume How Humans Relate: A New Interpersonal Theory (Praeger, 1993).

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1138463108
• ISBN 13: 9781138463103
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288