This important text not only brings together a synthesis of Robert Langs' most important ideas and the latest developments in his thinking - many of them of utmost importance to all manner of therapists - it also presents them in a form that is accessible to the reader new to the communicative approach, as well as those with more experience. With separate sections on theory and practice that clearly define the basic principles that apply to all forms of psychotherapy and counselling, the book is an excellent starting point as a basic introduction to, and reconsideration of, psychotherapy and counselling for trainees and practitioners.

Feelings of love between patients and their therapists have been an endless source of confusion for those involved. An essential reading for all counselling and psychotherapy students and practitioners, this text offers fresh perspectives and advice on how best to deal with expressions of love and sexual desires in the course of therapy.

This book offers an introduction to values and ethics in counselling and psychotherapy, helping you to develop the ethical awareness needed throughout the counselling process. The book covers: - Context and emergence of ethics in counselling - Exercises to explore personal and professional values - Tools to develop ethical mindfulness - Differences between therapeutic models - Relational ethics - Ethical dilemmas and issues - Practice issues including confidentiality, boundaries and autonomy versus beneficence. Using in-depth case studies of counselling students, the author demonstrates the constant relevance of values and ethics to counselling and psychotherapy, equipping trainees with the tools to successfully navigate values and ethics in their professional practice.

The first in-depth psychoanalytic study of the Old and New Testaments, Beyond Yahweh and Jesus centers on God's role in enabling humans to cope with death and the anxieties it evokes. Yahweh is seen as tending to increase rather than diminish these death anxieties, while Christ offers near-perfect solutions to each type. Why, then, asks Dr. Langs, has Christ failed to bring peace to the world? Langs' answer is focused on what is, he argues, Western religion's lack of a deep understanding of human psychology-i.e., an absence of the psychological wisdom needed to supplement the spiritual wisdom of religion. This is a void bemoaned as early as the mid-1800s by the Archbishop Temple and by Carl Jung in the early 20th century. The journey on which Langs' study embarks leads through an examination of the related topics of knowledge acquisition and divine wisdom; the failure of psychoanalysis to provide religion with the psychology it needs to fulfill its mission; and a set of propositions that are intended to bring psychological wisdom to religion and thereby to initiate the third chapter in the history of God, in which a refashioned morality and fresh divine wisdom play notable roles. Simultaneously, the book offers a foundation for secular forms of spirituality and morality, as well as for human efforts to cope with death and its incumbent anxieties. The mission of this book is a lofty but necessary one: to reinvigorate religion with new dimensions and insights so as to empower it, at long last, to help bring peace to the world, both individually and collectively.

In this innovative text, Carol Holmes provides students and professional psychotherapists with an historical account leading to the most up-to-date information on the core psychoanalytic concept of counter-transference and the subsequent changes that have occurred in its clinical application. This book uniquely examines the fundamental principles and practice that underpin some of the major schools of psychotherapy including psychoanalysis, existential, humanistic, integrative, systemic and communicative therapy. The author compares the philosophies that underline these diverse schools and explores their precepts in relation to the notion of counter-transference. In contrast to traditional psychoanalytic texts, the counter-transference theme of the book is examined in relation to the biased and contradictory aspect of the concept, and highlights some of the more radical and interpersonal ideas that endorse the relational and complementary qualities between therapist and client. The text offers concise and engaging introductions to the main schools of psychotherapy, and includes interviews and case study analyses from notable practitioners and trainers from these competing approaches. This book will be invaluable for those interested in understanding the importance of the hidden messages that are concealed in our communications.

For the first time, the controversial issue of physical contact in the consulting room is explored by distinguished psychoanalysts and psychotherapists representing a diverse range of psychoanalytic viewpoints. The contributors focus on the unconscious meanings of touch, or absence of touch, or unwelcome touch, or accidental touch in the psychoanalytic clinical situation. There are plenty of clinical vignettes and the discussions are grounded in clinical experience. Out of all medical and therapeutic treatments, psychoanalysis remains one of the very few that uses no physical contact. Sigmund Freud stopped using the 'pressure technique' in the late 1890s, a technique whereby he would press lightly on his patient's head while insisting that they remembered forgotten events. He gave up this procedure in favour of encouraging free association, then listening and interpreting without touching his patient in any way. Psychoanalysis was born and the use of touch, as a technique reminiscent of hypnosis, was explicitly prohibited. The avoidance of physical contact between the analyst and patient was established as a key component of the classical rule of abstinence.

Managing Managed Care is the first comprehensive exploration of the many issues and challenges faced by both providers and patients who work under the auspices of managed care insurers. The distinctive conditions of managed care treatment are scrutinized in detail and their effects and optimal management are carefully presented. The book makes extensive use of the author's unique, in-depth understanding of the human mind and pays attention to both the consciously mediated effects of the conditions of managed care treatment and to the especially powerful, largely unappreciated effects that are mediated unconsciously. The result is a well grounded, extensive, practical guide to dealing effectively with the inevitable intrusions into the therapeutic relationship and with other common issues that are characteristic of managed care therapy. The recommendations proposed by the author can turn a failing treatment experience into one that brings symptom relief to the patient and satisfaction to the therapist. While the author is critical of many practices endorsed by managed care insurers and in use by their providers, he takes pains to propose basic improvements in these areas. In addition, the positive features of this treatment modality are given full consideration, including ways to enhance their favorable effects. The book uniquely provides critical insights for therapists and psychiatrists of all backgrounds and all levels of clinical experience in ways that will greatly enhance their work with managed care patients.