Dilemmas in the Consulting Room

Helen Alfille is a Senior Member of the British Association of Psychotherapists, a Full Member and Training Analyst of the British Psychoanalytic Association, and a Member of the International Psychoanalytic Association. She is in private practice in London. Judy Cooper is a Senior Member of the British Association of Psychotherapists, a Full Member of the British Psychoanalytic Association, and a Member of the International Psychoanalytic Association. She is in private practice in London.

• Introduction -- Some thoughts on the use of the setting in psychoanalytic psychotherapy -- “I treat her like a human being”: the role of naturalness in a boundaried relationship -- What identifies, sustains and preoccupies me as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist -- The patient's narrative: the therapist's response -- I like it when you laugh -- Money—symbol and reality -- Difficulties when a patient presents by proxy -- Psychosomatic incidents in psychotherapy -- Psychosis as jack in the box -- Violence and hostility from a sense of unconscious shame: shame in the transference and countertransference -- The suicidal patient -- Separation anxiety in relation to breaks in therapy -- Termination and the resolution of the transference

'This is an excellent and enlightened book, simple and yet complex. The editors have wisely chosen papers which address basic concerns about what happens when working with patients in the consulting room. The ways these basic concerns are taken up are clearly described, with plenty of examples, and are always dealt with great thoughtfulness. This book is a must for all therapists, psychologists and people from allied professions who work with patients in the consulting room.' - Anne-Marie Sandler, Former President of the British Psychoanalytical Society