Therapist's Pregnancy

Sheri Fenster, Suzanne B. Phillips, Estelle R.G. Rapoport

• Introduction. Overview of the Literature. The Fenster Study: Longitudinal Findings on Twenty-two Pregnant Therapists. Transference Themes and Patterns of Response. Countertransference Reactions During the Therapist's Pregnancy. Alterations in the Treatment Process: Implications for Technique. Management of Practical Issues. Treatment of the Adolescent Girl During the Therapist's Pregnancy. The Pregnant Therapist as Group Leader. Supervising the Pregnany Therapist. The Homosexual Patient and the Analyst's Pregnancy. The Impact of Motherhood on the Therapist.

"The Therapist's Pregnancy provides a thoughtful and practical guide to therapist and clinical supervisor alike, extending beyond the realm of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy to other treatment modalities as well....It serves as a compilation of previously scattered studies on the impact of pregnancy, additionally presenting the results of an unpublished longitudinal study by Fenster. Throughout the book's 11 chapters, a range of issues is covered, from theoretical discussions of how pregnancy elicits specific transference and countertransference themes to the nuts-and-bolts issues of accepting or not accepting gifts after the baby's birth and fielding often intrusive questions by the patient."- Ira J. Schaer, Contemporary Psychology"As a pregnant therapist and as a supervisor of pregnant clinicians, I have experienced many of the issues detailed by the authors. I have shared literature, experience, and impressions in a somewhat haphazard fashion with my pregnant therapist colleagues. This book brings all the relevant literature together and adds new directions to the extant material. I commend the authors for an impressive, creative, and much-needed volume."- Elissa P. Benedek, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease