Routledge Mutual Growth in the Psychotherapeutic Relationship: Reciprocal Resilience

Mutual Growth in the Psychotherapeutic Relationship: Reciprocal Resilience is an essential, innovative guide for mental health professionals who listen repeatedly to stories of devastation and trauma. Moving beyond traditions that consider the clinician as existing only for the patient and not as an individual, this breakthrough model explores the possibility of mutual resilience-building and personal benefit developing between therapists and their patients. The first section of the book situates Reciprocal Resilience in the context of evolving resilience studies. The second section provides lively, demonstrative clinical anecdotes from therapists themselves, organized into chapters focused on enhancing their positive strategies for coping and growth while functioning under duress. This book presents a framework for teaching and supervising psychotherapists that can enrich clinician well-being, while recognizing the therapeutic relationship as the key for enabling patients’ emotional growth. It challenges mental health practitioners to share their own experiences, presenting a research model syntonic with how clinicians think and work daily in their professional practice. It offers a pioneering approach, finding inspiration in even the darkest moments for therapists and patients alike. Review "This volume focuses on one of the best kept secrets in our field: the fact that therapists grow psychologically and may experience important contributions to their self-knowledge in the therapeutic work with very regressed personality disorders. Sometimes patients not only evoke in us new awareness as part of countertransference developments, but also stimulate us to find new ways to deal with our own unresolved issues. Dr. Bratt offers an original and timely contribution to the psychotherapeutic field." --Otto Kernberg, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Director, Personality Disorders Institute - New York Presbyterian/Westchester Division, Training & Supervising Psychoanalyst - Columbia University "Patricia Bratt’s book opens up a new clinical vista for our consideration. Bringing Bion’s notion of the ‘container’ and Winnicott’s concept of ‘survival’ to bear upon the modern relational paradigm of the therapeutic process, Bratt formulates the novel concept of ‘Reciprocal Resilience’. She elucidates its overlaps with resilience, adaptive countertransference, and altruism. The neglected dimension of the therapist’s well-being is thus brought into a sharp focus, adding an important tool to our therapeutic armamentarium!" --Salman Akhtar, MD, Professor, Thomas Jefferson University, and Supervising and Training Analyst, Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia "In a theoretical and clinically alive book, the symbiotic interaction leading to 'Reciprocal Resilience' is deftly presented. With fascinating, moving stories in therapists’ own words, the book presents a framework for teaching and supervising psychotherapists that can enrich clinician well being, while recognizing the therapeutic relationship as the key for enabling patients’ emotional growth. It presents a trail-blazing approach, easily incorporated in clinical practice." --Vicki Semel, PsyD, President and supervising faculty at the Academy of Clinical and Applied Psychoanalysis (ACAP). She maintains a private practice in Livingston, NJ and New York City "Introducing the concept of Reciprocal Resilience, Patricia Bratt’s commentaries bring to life the psychic struggles clinicians face, opening unexpected perspectives on the therapeutic relationship. In this pioneering work, she describes a method which is easy to adopt in treatment or in supervision. It makes use of the nuances of the therapeutic relationship, enhancing early defenses, and promotes reciprocal resilience and psychic growth for both parties. Mutual Growth is a generative and generous book." --Donna Bassin, Ph.D., faculty at NYU. She maintains a private practice in New York City About the Author