1st Edition

New Discoveries in Child Psychotherapy Findings from Qualitative Research

Edited By Margaret Rustin, Michael Rustin Copyright 2019
    378 Pages 7 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    378 Pages 7 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    New Discoveries in Child Psychotherapy presents eleven new contributions to child psychoanalytic research, most of them based on the experience of the clinical consulting room. Each chapter is the work of an experienced child psychotherapist or child analyst, vivid in their description of the children and families they encountered. Their understanding of the "inner worlds" of patients and the clinical consulting room is clearly evidenced in their analysis of clinical presentations.

    The chapters are the result of the psychoanalytic clinical and observational practices of their authors, allied to their use of rigorous qualitative research methods, in particular Grounded Theory and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). They describe developments of child psychoanalytic knowledge in several fields, including autism, psychotherapy with severely deprived children, and the study of early infancy. They demonstrate advances in child psychoanalytic theories and methods and the development of new forms of clinical service provision. Contested issues in psychoanalytic research are thoroughly evaluated, showing how it can be made more accountable and rigorous through the adaptation of established qualitative research methods to the study of unconscious mental phenomena.

    New Discoveries in Child Psychotherapy will be an essential text in the field of child psychoanalysis and will be highly useful in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis training courses and for psychoanalytic researchers, as well as for practitioners.

    Introduction Michael Rustin and Margaret Rustin Part I: Mainly Theory and Clinical Method 1 A single case of psychoanalytical infant observation and what it reveals about loss and recovery in infancy Wendy Shallcross 2 “Finding a place of one’s own': A Grounded Theory Approach to reviewing the developmental impact of child psychotherapy with a looked-after 2 year old child Louise Allnutt 3 The Desert, the Jungle and the Garden: some aspects of Autistic Functioning and Language Development Carlos Tamm 4 Curiouser and Curiouser: researching the K link in psychoanalytic therapy Emily Ryan 5 A Comparison of Process Notes and Audio Recordings in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Miriam Creaser Part II: Mainly Practice 6 What do babies know? An exploration into the lived experience of Bangladeshi mothers about their infants in utero and infancy Ferelyth Watt 7 Breaks and sibling figures in child psychotherapy Liselotte Grunbaum 8 What can I tell you? An exploration of child psychotherapy assessment using Grounded Theory Marie Bradley 9 Focusing on the Carer of the Traumatised Child: On the Benefits of Psychoanalytic Short-term Parent Work Kristine Tiltina 10 An exploration into the impact of a Child Psychotherapist’s pregnancy on her clinical work Rajni Sharma 11 Clinical research and practice with babies and young children in care Jenifer Wakelyn Appendices Appendix A: Completed Theses in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy from the Tavistock Clinic and the University of East London’s Professional Doctorate Programme in Child Psychotherapy between 2000 and 2018 Appendix B: Completed Theses from the Tavistock Clinic and the University of East London’s Professional Doctorate Programme in Child Psychotherapy between 2000 and 2018

    Biography

    Margaret Rustin is a prominent child psychotherapist and child psychoanalyst. She was Head of Child Psychotherapy at the Tavistock Clinic for many years and continues to teach and supervise there. She contributed significantly to the IMPACT research study on adolescent depression. She is author and editor of many books, including, most recently, with colleagues, Short-Term Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy for Adolescents with Depression, and, with Michael Rustin, Reading Klein.

    Michael Rustin is Professor of Sociology at the University of East London and a Visiting Professor at the Tavistock Clinic where he has taught for many years. He has written widely on psychoanalysis and its applications. His book Researching the Unconscious: Principles of Psychoanalytic Method has also recently been published by Routledge in the Tavistock Clinic Series.

    ‘What a treasure trove we have in this book. It exemplifies my belief that psychoanalysis should be viewed as the natural history approach to psychology much as Darwin's study of the natural world opened up biology. This method of work requires sustained observation and builds theory from the observed data as the writers in this volume have done, across a wide range of topics of clinical interest. I recommend it most warmly.’-Ronald Britton, psychoanalyst and author, past President of the British Psychoanalytic Society

    ‘At a time when the need for novel interdisciplinary approaches to mental health research is increasingly recognised, this excellent book provides a compelling account of the distinctive tradition of qualitative child psychotherapy research. It is a fascinating read, offering rich insights from the frontline of children’s services.’-Eilis Kennedy, Director of Research, Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust

    ‘This impressive collection of papers is testimony to the rich tradition of research into child psychotherapy undertaken at the Tavistock Clinic over the last 20 years. It will be of great interest to those working therapeutically with children, as well as those seeking inspiration regarding psychoanalytic research methods.’-Nick Midgley, Associate Professor, UCL, and the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families