Bringing Our Histories into School-Based Therapy

“Emotional health comes with a roomy ability to bear a range of feeling states, to ‘fold into’ our being aspects of ourselves we might otherwise disown. This book is an important contribution to the field of child and adolescent psychotherapy, enabling therapeutic professionals to own our own ‘shadows’ in the interests of those we work with.” Graham Music, psychotherapist, trainer, supervisor, lecturer and author “Understanding how psychodynamic therapy or counselling works is a challenge for many young people seeking help. This book demonstrates how, after their training, psychotherapists and counsellors are able to use their humanity and life experiences to enable them to provide sensitive, thoughtful help to their young clients whilst retaining a professional boundary. Each author reflects on how young people's stories can resonate with life experiences of their own, leading to a compassionate understanding of the issues adolescents bring to therapy.” Judith Trowell, consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, child analyst and author “What is most distinctive about this rich and enlivening book is the readiness of its writers not only to hold in mind the relevance of their clients’ personal histories to their everyday troubled lives, but to reflect on their own backstories and the influence of those experiences on their psychotherapeutic work. They discuss what they themselves bring to the psychotherapeutic relationship - memories, tensions, anxieties - that are not so dissimilar to those of the young people they endeavour to help and which have the power to facilitate or indeed inhibit the therapeutic process. Their self-awareness, which they demonstrate throughout these chapters through vivid narratives, is crucial both to deepen the understanding of young people’s problems and to ensure their own appropriate therapeutic discipline in the inevitable intimacy of their psychotherapeutic relationships. It is of great credit to the co-editors and the writers in this book that their explorations of thought and practice are expressed with such refreshing candor as well as courage.” Peter Wilson, consultant child psychotherapist and founder/former director of YoungMinds “None of us got into this work without reference to our own personal backstories. When it comes to working with children and young people, our own childhoods are especially poignant. While we’re all familiar with the idea of ‘the wounded healer’ in theory, the way in which we integrate our own personal wounds and triumphs into therapy work has been less accessible - until now. This important book highlights the very human personal journeys and their role in the work we do with children and young people and is a must read for anyone who wants to bring themselves fully, responsibly, and ethically to the work.” Aaron Balick, psychotherapist, supervisor, author, and director of Stillpoint, an international psychology hub