Description
Book SynopsisAn honest and accessible insight into the often closed world of psychotherapy.
This book is a memoir of the author's professional life as a psychologist and psychotherapist.
It shows his progression from a hard-nosed behaviour therapist with a strong commitment to science to a psychodynamic therapist with an interest in narrative.
Along the way he shows the way the main schools of psychotherapy (behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic) work, drawing on case material from his professional practice.
He shows the mistakes he made and the lessons he eventually learned from his patients.
His focus on clinical cases enables readers to see psychotherapy in operation and get drawn into the ups and downs of trying to help some fascinating and often tricky people who rarely conform to what is expected of them.
The book is free of jargon and can be enjoyed without any prior knowledge of psychology or psychotherapy.
It is designed to entertain and inform the general readership about the mysterious world of psychotherapy, what goes on behind the consulting room door.
It will be of particular interest to the increasing number of people who encounter psychotherapy either through their own experience of seeking help or the experiences of family and friends or through reading of popular books such as those of Oliver James and Irving Yalom.
It should also prove invaluable for those interested in training as a clinical psychologist, counsellor or psychotherapist.
Table of ContentsAUTHOR’S NOTE
PREFACE
SECTION I: GETTING MY HANDS DIRTY
CHAPTER ONE - Beginnings
CHAPTER TWO - A suitable case for treatment
CHAPTER THREE - Getting my hands dirty
CHAPTER FOUR - How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?
CHAPTER FIVE - Fail again. Fail better
CHAPTER SIX - “Whatever happened to flaming June?”
SECTION II: MICROBES IN THE VAST UNIVERSE
CHAPTER SEVEN - Speaking prose
CHAPTER EIGHT - “I think I’m wasting your time”
CHAPTER NINE - Going cognitive
CHAPTER TEN - Microbes in the vast universe
CHAPTER ELEVEN - “The heart has reasons that reason cannot know”
CHAPTER TWELVE - The power of negative thinking
SECTION III: GETTING PERSONAL
CHAPTER THIRTEEN - Crossing the Rubicon
CHAPTER FOURTEEN - Dipping my toe in the water
CHAPTER FIFTEEN - “I’m so grateful for all your help”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN - “I’ve told you all I know”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - Not waving but drowning
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - Getting personal
SECTION IV: SO IT GOES
CHAPTER NINETEEN - Working under time pressure
CHAPTER TWENTY - Thinking and feeling
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE - “I’ve been told you’re an expert in anxiety management”
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO - Getting too personal
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE - Unanswerable questions
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR - So it goes
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
