The Therapeutic Imagination

Using literature to deepen psychodynamic understanding and enhance empathy

Nonfiction, Health & Well Being, Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy, Mental Health
Cover of the book The Therapeutic Imagination by Jeremy Holmes, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jeremy Holmes ISBN: 9781134752386
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: June 20, 2014
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Jeremy Holmes
ISBN: 9781134752386
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: June 20, 2014
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Use of the imagination is a key aspect of successful psychotherapeutic treatments. Psychotherapy helps clients get in touch with, awaken, and learn to trust their creative inner life, while therapists use their imaginations to mentalise the suffering other and to trace the unconscious stirrings evoked by the intimacy of the consulting room.

Working from this premise, in The Therapeutic Imagination Jeremy Holmes argues unashamedly that literate therapists make better therapists. Drawing on psychoanalytic and literary traditions both classical and contemporary, Part I shows how poetry and novels help foster therapists’ understanding of their own imagination-in-action, anatomised into five phases: attachment, reverie, logos, action and reflection. Part II uses the contrast between secure and insecure narrative styles in attachment theory and relates these to literary storytelling and the transformational aspects of therapy. Part III uses literary accounts to illuminate the psychiatric conditions of narcissism, anxiety, splitting and bereavement. Based on Forster’s motto, ‘Only Connect’, Part IV argues, with the help of poetic examples, that a psychiatry shorn of psychodynamic creativity is impoverished and fails to serve its patients.

Clearly and elegantly written, and drawing on the author’s deep knowledge of psychoanalysis and attachment theory and a lifetime of clinical experience, Holmes convincingly links the literary and psychoanalytic canon. The Therapeutic Imagination is a compelling and insightful work that will strike chords for therapists, counsellors, psychoanalysts, psychiatrists and psychologists.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Use of the imagination is a key aspect of successful psychotherapeutic treatments. Psychotherapy helps clients get in touch with, awaken, and learn to trust their creative inner life, while therapists use their imaginations to mentalise the suffering other and to trace the unconscious stirrings evoked by the intimacy of the consulting room.

Working from this premise, in The Therapeutic Imagination Jeremy Holmes argues unashamedly that literate therapists make better therapists. Drawing on psychoanalytic and literary traditions both classical and contemporary, Part I shows how poetry and novels help foster therapists’ understanding of their own imagination-in-action, anatomised into five phases: attachment, reverie, logos, action and reflection. Part II uses the contrast between secure and insecure narrative styles in attachment theory and relates these to literary storytelling and the transformational aspects of therapy. Part III uses literary accounts to illuminate the psychiatric conditions of narcissism, anxiety, splitting and bereavement. Based on Forster’s motto, ‘Only Connect’, Part IV argues, with the help of poetic examples, that a psychiatry shorn of psychodynamic creativity is impoverished and fails to serve its patients.

Clearly and elegantly written, and drawing on the author’s deep knowledge of psychoanalysis and attachment theory and a lifetime of clinical experience, Holmes convincingly links the literary and psychoanalytic canon. The Therapeutic Imagination is a compelling and insightful work that will strike chords for therapists, counsellors, psychoanalysts, psychiatrists and psychologists.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Framing Social Interaction by Jeremy Holmes
Cover of the book A Citizen's Guide to Politics in America by Jeremy Holmes
Cover of the book Africa and the Africans in the Nineteenth Century: A Turbulent History by Jeremy Holmes
Cover of the book Black Looks by Jeremy Holmes
Cover of the book The Geography of Iron and Steel by Jeremy Holmes
Cover of the book Jumpstart! Storymaking by Jeremy Holmes
Cover of the book Transforming Sport by Jeremy Holmes
Cover of the book A Guide to Surviving a Career in Academia by Jeremy Holmes
Cover of the book Construction of Chinese Nationalism in the Early 21st Century by Jeremy Holmes
Cover of the book The Evolution of Military Power in the West and Asia by Jeremy Holmes
Cover of the book Reconstructing Social Justice by Jeremy Holmes
Cover of the book Developing and Leading Emergence Teams by Jeremy Holmes
Cover of the book Other Cultures by Jeremy Holmes
Cover of the book Somalia in Transition Since 2006 by Jeremy Holmes
Cover of the book Managing for the Future by Jeremy Holmes
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy