2nd Edition
The Impact of Parenthood on the Therapeutic Relationship Awaiting the Therapist's Baby
This volume covers the range of reactions that both patients and clients have to the circumstance of a child entering the therapist’s family. Through research, the authors show these reactions can be extremely powerful, and when fully explored can be used to advance the therapy and the development of the patient. Rich clinical illustrations are provided throughout the text. In addition, the reader is offered many therapeutic strategies for working with patient-therapist reactions as they unfold. Many practical issues arise in conjunction with this life transition. Examples include announcing a pregnancy or an imminent adoption, planning parental leave and covering the patient’s needs during the hiatus. In this second edition, therapists who are members of LGBT families and single parent families are described in terms of their special needs, challenges and resources. This updated edition also contains a new chapter on special problems that can arise during pregnancy.
Biography
April E. Fallon, PhD, is a faculty member of Fielding Graduate University and clinical professor at Drexel University College of Medicine. She has published books and articles on the adoptive parent, group psychotherapy, therapist pregnancy and body image. She has taught and supervised psychiatric residents and graduate students in clinical psychology for 30 years.
Virginia Brabender, PhD, ABPP, is a professor within Widener University’s Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology. She has published books and articles on the adoptive parent, group psychotherapy and psychological assessment. She has taught and supervised graduate students in clinical psychology for over 30 years. She is on the editorial board of the International Journal for Group Psychotherapy and the Journal of Personality Assessment.
"What a lovely tribute to the therapeutic and transformative opportunities available to both the expectant parent-therapist and the client! In this, their 2nd edition, Fallon and Brabender outdo their excellent original exploration of this topic, with added knowledge, awareness, openness, and sensitivity. Their enhanced information on non-traditional families and adoptive situations provides thoughtful perspective on shifts away from family-role specialization. Ultimately, this book guides both the client and therapist toward honoring the richness of a special passage, thereby increasing the depth and breadth of the therapeutic collaboration."
Diane H. Engelman, PhD, Center for Collaborative Psychology, Psychiatry, and Medicine, Kentfield, California; licensed psychologist, private practice"Fallon and Brabender’s book reflects the current relational trend in psychodynamic thinking which accepts that events in the therapist’s personal life can affect the patients and their ongoing treatment. It focuses upon one such exigency, namely, the therapist’s pregnancy, and carefully elucidates its far-reaching effects upon the clinical exchange. The authors’ contribution does not remain restricted to individual psychotherapy but addresses the therapist’s impending parenthood in the context of supervision, group therapy, and the slowly-unfolding developmental processes within the patient as well as the therapist. Their discourse is engaging, replete with clinical examples, and profoundly enriching for the therapeutic armamentarium of both the novice and the experienced practitioner."
Salman Akhtar, MD, professor of psychiatry, Jefferson Medical College, training and supervising analyst, Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia
