Dancing between Hope and Despair

Sue Wright is an Integrative Psychotherapist who specialises in working with people who have experienced complex trauma. She has worked with both adults and young people in a variety of settings in the public and voluntary sectors, and now works privately as a therapist, supervisor and trainer.

• 1. Introducing the Dance2. Desperately Seeking the 'Happy Ever After': Some Theoretical Perspectives on Hope3. Hoping, Imagining and Dreaming: An Evolutionary Perspective4. Our Need for Hope and its Roots in Childhood5. The Impact of Trauma as a Hope Destroyer Across the Life-cycle6. When Hoping Keeps People Alive: Non Mentalised States and the Need for Illusions7. The Internal Dance of Hope and Despair: Dissociation and Shifting Self States8. Systemic Perspectives: Our Responses to Getting Stuck in Cycles of Hope and Despair9. Working with Hopelessness from a Relational Perspective10. Finding New Perspectives11. Moving into Hope: New Meanings and New Experiences

This is a comprehensive and accessible, well-researched, and up-to-date “how-to” book on trauma therapy. It integrates the best of old and new psychological theories, supports work with mind and body, embraces the transpersonal, and is beautifully written with helpful case illustrations, great compassion and honesty, and an inclusive attitude towards struggling clients.