Una McCluskey is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of York. She is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, a trainer, consultant, researcher and supervisor. She developed and rated the concept of ‘goal-corrected empathic attunement’ (GCEA), a key factor in the therapeutic alliance and essential in regulating both careseeking and fear. She has developed a model of psychotherapeutic practice based on the dynamics of attachment in adult life, called exploratory goal-corrected psychotherapy (EGCP). This model is relevant to individual, group, and organizational development. She has an international reputation in the attachment field and has developed a community of professionals who are trained and experienced in the practice of EGCP. She has published widely in the field. Michael O ‘Toole is a Registered Counselling Psychologist and Psychotherapist. Michael works in private practice in the west of Ireland. He has taught and lectured for many years in the University of Limerick and is currently offering the model presented in this book to trainees at the Bowlby Centre in London. He has published papers exploring clinical dilemmas in the field of attachment.
'The power of this case for exploratory goal-corrected psychotherapy (EGCP) lies in the diversity of the issues covered: from the broad sweep of theory to the tiny minutiae of interpersonal interactions, translating the template of mother-infant videoed observation studies to the adult-to-adult psychotherapy domain, from individual to group therapy, we get an integrated perspective which rings true. In short this is vintage McCluskey.' -Dr. Tirril Harris, Kings College London 'In this original and important work, McCluskey and O'Toole bring insights from Attachment Theory and research and Interpersonal Psychoanalysis to bear on professional care-giving. They show convincingly how tone of voice, prosody, and body posture are preconditions for the goal corrected affect attunement that forms the basis of successful psychotherapies. Their training groups help practitioners to understand their countertransferences, and the origins of defensive caregiving. An accessible and pragmatic volume with vital messages for all serious care-giving professionals.' -Prof. Jeremy Holmes, University of Exeter 'This new work by Una McCluskey and Michael O'Toole is one of the most encouraging books to emerge in the practice and theory of psychotherapy for a long time. It contains one of the best accounts of a therapeutic relationship in the crisis of reliving and making sense of an original trauma. Stunning, loving and benign. Bravo!' -Colin Kirkwood, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, Edinburgh.