What Do Patients Want?: Psychoanalytic Perspectives from the Couch

241 Pages·2011·1.066 MB·English

by  Christine A. S. Hill

CHAPTERTITLE I
WHAT DO PATIENTS WANT?

WHAT DO PATIENTS
WANT?
Psychoanalytic Perspectives
from the Couch
Christine A. S. Hill
First published in 2010 by
Karnac Books Ltd
118 Finchley Road, London NW3 5HT
Copyright © 2010 Christine A. S. Hill.
The right of Christine A. S. Hill to be identified as the author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with §§ 77 and 78 of the Copyright
Design and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A C.I.P. for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978 1 85575 719 6
Edited, designed and produced by The Studio Publishing Services Ltd
www.publishingservicesuk.co.uk
e-mail: [email protected]
Printed in Great Britain
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CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii
ABOUT THE AUTHOR ix
PREFACE xi
INTRODUCTION: Central conceptual issues xxv
CHAPTER ONE
Meeting the challenge 1
CHAPTER TWO
Beginning the analytic journey 11
CHAPTER THREE
Working with the transference 39
CHAPTER FOUR
The quality of engagement 59
CHAPTER FIVE
The paternal transference 87
v
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER SIX
Ending the analysis 113
CHAPTER SEVEN
Post analytic reflections 127
CHAPTER EIGHT
Adifficult question: to recommend analysis or not? 139
CHAPTER NINE
Drawing together key findings 151
CHAPTER TEN
Clinical implications for psychoanalytic practice 175
REFERENCES 179
INDEX 193
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To the eighteen volunteers who participated in this project, I
express my sincere gratitude. They spoke with candour and open-
ness about very personal experiences in psychoanalysis and I feel
privileged to have heard their stories. Without your willing partic-
ipation, this book would not exist.
I am also very grateful to my two supervisors, Eve Steel, a train-
ing analyst, and Janet Spink, a researcher, who guided my original
Doctoral thesis at Monash University, and Professor Graeme Smith,
Head of Department, Psychological Medicine, for his encourage-
ment and support. I also received very helpful comments from
my friend and colleague, Fiona McDermott, and fellow Doctoral
students.
I owe a very special thanks to the IPA Research Training Pro-
gramme, London, 1999, where I received valuable assistance in
thinking about this challenging study under the guidance of Profes-
sor Peter Fonagy, his Faculty, and my fellow researchers; to the IPA
Research Advisory Board for their two consecutive funding grants
to carry out this work; and to Professor Horst Kächele, Germany,
for his ongoing support and guidance in exploring my research
question.
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viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I have appreciated the continuing encouragement of my partner,
Tim Healey, and thoughtful comments from friends Ron Gilbert,
Stuart Twemlow, Janet Curtis, Doug Kirsner, Ora Bernard, Joy
Damousi, Janette Simmonds, and Helga Coulter. I also sincerely
thank Daryl Boyd for his tremendous job in proof-reading my orig-
inal Doctoral thesis. Special thanks go to my two cats, Biscuit and
Chocky, my constant companions throughout this journey.
I would like to thank three analysts who have been very impor-
tant to me during the life of this book: the late Dr Harold Bridger,
a mentor and good friend for many years, who gave valuable input
into the early research; and Dr Peter Smith and the late Dr George
Christie, who have had a significant influence upon my personal
life and clinical practice.
Finally, I offer a very special thanks to Vivienne Hill, my sister-
in-law, who has given so generously of her time to guide me in the
challenging task of converting an academic thesis into this more
readable book format. I could not have succeeded without her con-
tinuing patience and professional expertise.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christine Hill, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalytic
psychotherapist working with individuals and groups. Both her
Masters and PhD were in the field of psychoanalysis. She has a back-
ground in primary school teaching, mainly in remote Maori schools
in New Zealand; general and emergency nursing, including a
period of voluntary work as a Child & Maternal Health Sister in the
West Sepik, PNG; clinical tutoring in both Psychological Medicine
and the Masters of Counseling Psych, Monash University; and
research and clinical work at the Mental Health Research Institute,
Melbourne. Christine is a Past President of the Australian Associ-
ation of Group Psychotherapists, a member of the Psychoanalytic
Psychotherapy Association of Australasia and the Psychoanalytic
Studies Association of Australasia, and a member of the Inter-
national Psychoanalytical Association College of Research Fellows.
She is currently Regional Editor for the Southern Hemisphere, Inter-
national Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies. Christine has pre-
sented at several international conferences, published papers, and
received two funding grants from the IPAto assist with her doctoral
exploration of patients’ perspectives of psychoanalysis, upon which
this book is based.
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