Routledge Transference and Countertransference from an Attachment Perspective: A Guide for Professional Caregivers

Locating the phenomenon of transference within an evolutionary perspective, this important book develops a new form of dynamic therapy that focuses on the dynamics of attachment in adult life and will be of use to a range of mental health professionals and those at all levels in the caring and education professions. Transference and Countertransference from an Attachment Perspective: A Guide for Professional Caregivers explores the ways in which transferential phenomena can be located in the different aspects of the self that are instinctive, goal-corrected and interrelated. At the centre of the book is the idea that when intrapersonal or interpersonal systems (aspects of the self, such as careseeking, caregiving, sharing interests, sexuality, self-defence, building a home) get aroused, the behaviour that follows is only logically and meaningfully connected when the system (aspect of the self) reaches its goal. Placing this new theoretical and clinical approach within the psychoanalytic tradition, the work of developmental psychologists and the field of neuroscience, the book takes us to the heart of the clinical encounter and explores a range of issues including trauma, the effect of early misattunements, love and hate in the therapeutic relationship, burnout in caregivers, and the need for exploratory care for caregivers themselves. Building on the therapeutic modality that emerged from the research described in McCluskey's To Be Met as a Person (2005), this book provides a valuable guide for psychologists, psychotherapists, medical practicioners, nurses, social workers, organisational consultants, educators, coaches, and workplace managers. The McCluskey model for exploring the dynamics of attachment in adult life which underlies the work described in this book is currently being practised in a variety of settings and with different ages and communities. These include end-of-life care, organizations, homelessness, mental health, dementia care, children, adolescents and families, schools, pastoral work, training of clinical psychologists and attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapists, occupational therapy, art therapy, private practice, domestic violence, police training, GP support and consultation, nurse training and support, pain management clinics, foster carers, social workers, couple relationships, supervision of psychotherapists and counsellors, therapeutic communities, and complex grief and learning disabilities. Review ‘The power of this case for “exploratory goal-corrected psychotherapy” (EGCP) lies in the diversity of the issues covered: from the broad sweep of theory to the tiny minutiae of interpersonal interactions, translating the template of mother-infant videoed observation studies to the adult-to-adult psychotherapy domain, from individual to group therapy, we get an integrated perspective which rings true. In short this is vintage McCluskey.’ ―Dr. Tirril Harris, Kings College London ‘In this original and important work, McCluskey and O’Toole bring insights from Attachment Theory and research and Interpersonal Psychoanalysis to bear on professional care-giving. They show convincingly how tone of voice, prosody, and body posture are preconditions for the goal corrected affect attunement that forms the basis of successful psychotherapies. Their training groups help practitioners to understand their countertransferences, and the origins of defensive caregiving. An accessible and pragmatic volume with vital messages for all serious care-giving professionals.’ ―Prof. Jeremy Holmes, University of Exeter ‘This new work by Una McCluskey and Michael O’Toole is one of the most encouraging books to emerge in the practice and theory of psychotherapy for a long time. It contains one of the best accounts of a therapeutic relationship in the crisis of reliving and making sense of an original trauma. Stunning, loving and benign. Bravo!’ ―Colin Kirkwood, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, Ed