Developmental Perspectives in Child Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy incorporates recent innovations in developmental theory and research into our understanding of the nature of change in child psychotherapy. Diverse psychoanalytic ideas and individual styles are represented, challenging the historical allegiance in analytic child therapy to particular, and so often singular, schools of thought. Each of the distinguished contributors offers a conceptually grounded and clinically rich account of child development, addressing topics such as refl ective functioning, the role of play, dreaming, trauma and neglect, the development of recognition and mutuality, autism, adoption, and non- binary conceptions of gender. Extended clinical vignettes offer the reader clear vision into the convergence of theory and practice, demonstrating the potential of psychoanalytic psychotherapy to move child development forward. This book will appeal to all practicing mental health professionals.

About the Author

Christopher Bonovitz, Psy.D., is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the William Alanson White Institute in New York City, & Clinical Assistant Professor at the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. He is on the editorial board of Psychoanalytic Dialogues and Contemporary Psychoanalysis and maintains a psychotherapy and consultation practice with children, adolescents, and adults in New York City.

Andrew Harlem, Ph.D., is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the California Institute for Integral Studies in San Francisco, an instructor at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC), and faculty member at Access Institute for Psychological Services. He is on the editorial board of Psychoanalytic Dialogues, is past president of the Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology and maintains a psychotherapy and consultation practice in San Francisco, California.

Reviews

"This highly readable and thoroughly clinical volume is a response to today's wide assortment of psychoanalytic theories and techniques. By offering a range of theorists the opportunity to immerse the reader in their clinical work, the editors fulfill their mission of illustrating that theoretical signifiers have given way to complexity, to mutual influence amongst theories, and to the mosaicism of 21st century thinking. The editors' respect for diversity is amply rewarded by the array of beautiful clinical reports that forms a tapestry of shared and diverging perspectives"-Karen Gilmore MD, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University and Training and Supervising Analyst at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research.

"Alive with imagination and crackling with synthesis, this new collection breaks into our consulting rooms like a child eager to play. These chapters, brimming with clinical stories, will not only change the way we talk about children, but also the ways we talk about models of mind and psychotherapeutic technique."-Ken Corbett, New York University.

"Expertly crafted child therapy, the new royal road to the unconscious, illustrates how nonverbal and unrepresented states come alive. Where better to develop unconscious communication than where rational thinking gets no traction? Where spontaneity, fluidity, intuition, tempo, rhythm, and metaphor are the coin of the realm. From a variety of skilled child analysts, these chapters demonstrate how to access the child within all of us, establish a strong net of security, and widen the play in the unconscious expanse. Whether seeing adults or children, this volume will help clinicians immerse themselves in unconscious emanations and learn what children already know: intuit the unconscious domain and do it without decoding."-Andrea Celenza, Ph.D., author of Erotic Revelations: Clinical Applications and Perverse Scenarios; Training and Supervising Analyst, Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.

"This is a rewarding and necessary book. It brings together a highly intelligent group of contributors to discuss the relevance for child analytic work of the newer expansions in developmental thinking and in psychoanalytic theory. These expansions derive from relational theory, infant, attachment and brain research, the power of play and of dreaming in their own right and for their own sake, and the relevance of positive projective identification. Beautiful and evocative clinical material demonstrates how this modern thinking contributes to greater therapeutic effectiveness. A must read. Child work offers a wonderful crucible for testing theory and research."-Anne Alvarez, PhD MACP Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, and retired co-convener of Autism Service,Tavistock Clinic, London.

Book Information
ISBN 9780415742191
Author Christopher Bonovitz
Format Paperback
Page Count 298
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 476g