karen anderson edith cowan university perth, western australiaconference.sce.edu.bt › wp-content...

Karen Anderson

Edith Cowan University

Perth, Western Australia

1Karen Anderson ICESWPE 2019 Samste, Bhutan

Email: [email protected]

Moving into the space



Karen Anderson ICESWPE 2019 Samste, Bhutan Email: [email protected]

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Not formal research yet

Practice informed reflections in a working phase

Informed by psychodynamic, systemic, existential andpsychoanalytic thinking

CONTEXT



Heidegger:

Death as not separate or distinct from life

We live with death as a constant

Death being the last possibility makes impossible any further possibilities

INTRODUCTION



How does the therapist’s experience of their own

bereavement influence both the ‘self as instrument’ ofthe therapist as well as impact upon the therapist’scapacity to effectively engage with ‘relationaltherapeutic presence’ when supporting a bereavedclient in the therapeutic setting?

QUESTION



‘How may I act on and act with any of theunderstanding I have?’

REFLECTIONS



Yalom (2015, p.209) states,

‘The most important thing I, or any other therapist, cando is offer an authentic healing relationship from whichpatients can draw whatever they need. We deludeourselves if we think that some specified action, be it aninterpretation, suggestion, relabeling, or reassurance, isthe healing factor.’

REFLECTIONS



The concepts of the ‘self as instrument’ and of

‘therapeutic presence’ are well acknowledged tovalidate the existence of ‘good grief’ in the therapeuticspace and the consulting room

How do we as therapists utilise our capacity to extenddeep empathy without risking the effectiveness andvalue of the therapy by over-identification?

REFLECTIONS



Goldberg (1991, p.364) wrote that,

‘The practitioner must remain vulnerable and, at the sametime, professional and skilful. We must be openly human,which means being less than the ideal for which we strive,without regarding our limitations as weaknesses or ourefforts as failures …… Our vulnerabilities are the bridgesto our clients.’

REFLECTIONS



‘Relational therapeutic presence’ is a core therapeutic concept composing of three aspects.

Geller and Greenberg (2012, p.257) state:

‘….. as a triad of relationships: with self, with others, andwith a larger sense of expansion and spirituality. Thesession is guided by this dance of awareness andattunement with self and other, pausing between what isknown and what is not known, and listening deeply fromthat still place that exists between self and other. Thisdevelops into a sense of relational copresence thatpromotes emergence of the novel and the facilitativehealing.’

REFLECTIONS



‘emergence of the novel’ referred to by Geller and

Greenberg

to hold a place in the consulting room for grace, formystery and for the sacred to emerge in and of itsown accord

REFLECTIONS



Acknowledging my personal grief and allowing it to beavailable to inform my ‘self as instrument’ has increasedmy capacity to hold ‘relational therapeutic presence’when sitting with death, loss and grief issues with myclients in the consulting room

Helps prevent succumbing to the pitfall of over-identification

CONCLUSION

14Karen Anderson ICESWPE 2019 Samste, Bhutan Email:

[email protected]

I’m now even more cognizant of the absolutevalue of affective authenticity (Frank, 2005).


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CONCLUSION

THANK YOU FOR SHARING




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Barnett, L. (Ed.) (2009). When death enters the therapeutic space: Existential perspectives in

psychotherapy and counselling. East Sussex, U.K.: Routledge.

Frank, K. A. (2005). Toward conceptualizing the personal relationship in therapeutic action: Beyond the ‘real’ relationship. Psychoanalytic Perspectives, 3, 15-56.

Frankl, V. E. (1946). Man’s search for meaning: An introduction to Logotherapy. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

Geller, S. M., & Greenberg, L. S. (2012). Therapeutic presence: A mindful approach to effective therapy. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Goldberg, C. (1991). On being a psychotherapist. Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson.

Welt, S. R., & Herron, W. G. (1990). Narcissism and the psychotherapist. New York: Guilford Press.

Winnicott, D. W. (1965). The maturational processes and the faciliatory environment: Studies in the theory of emotional development. New York: International Universities Press.

Yalom, I. D. (2015). Creatures of a day and other tales of psychotherapy. Melbourne, Australia: Scribe.

Karen Anderson ICESWPE 2019 Samste, BhutanEmail: [email protected]

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REFERENCES

Adams, M. (2014). The myth of the troubled therapist: Private life, professionalpractice. East Sussex, UK: Routledge.

Baldwin, M. (Ed.). (2013). The use of self in therapy (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge

Bradley, R. (2016). A matter of life and death: 60 voices share their wisdom.London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Wosket, V. (2017). The therapeutic use of self: Counselling practice, research andsupervision. Oxon, UK: Routledge.


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