Time-limited Psychodynamic Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents: An interactive approach

155 Pages·2016·6.45 MB·English

by  Ruth Schmidt Neven

Time-limited Psychodynamic
Psychotherapy with Children
and Adolescents
At a time when there is increasing concern about the escalation of child
and adolescent mental health problems, Time-limited Psychodynamic
Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents provides an innovative
contextual model that engages the child or young person and their
parents. The core of the model is the recognition of the dynamic capacity
for growth in the child and how this, in itself, creates opportunities for
effective treatment over a relatively short period of time.
Based on evidence that the most enduring therapeutic outcomes
involve a shift in the parents’ relational understanding of themselves,
as well as a change in the child, the book uses case examples to show
how this model can be applied in everyday therapeutic practice.
Time-limited Psychodynamic Psychotherapy with Children and
Adolescents is aimed at practitioners in the fi eld of child, adolescent,
parent and family psychotherapy. It will interest psychologists, child
psychotherapists, doctors, psychiatrists, social workers and mental
health workers.
Ruth Schmidt Neven, PhD is a child psychotherapist, clinical
psychologist, educator and researcher. She trained at the Tavistock
Clinic in London and over four decades has brought a pioneering
approach to clinical work with children and young people, emphasising
the essential nature of the meaning of behaviour.
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Time-limited Psychodynamic
Psychotherapy with
Children and Adolescents
An interactive approach
Ruth Schmidt Neven
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 Ruth Schmidt Neven
The right of Ruth Schmidt Neven to be identifi ed as author of this
work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Schmidt-Neven, Ruth, author.
Title: Time-limited psychodynamic psychotherapy with children
and adolescents : an interactive approach / Ruth Schmidt-Neven.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY :
Routledge, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2016001727 | ISBN 9781138960930 (hbk) |
ISBN 9781138960947 (pbk) | ISBN 9781315620404 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Child psychotherapy. | Brief psychotherapy for
teenagers. | Psychodynamic psychotherapy for children. |
Psychodynamic psychotherapy for teenagers.
Classifi cation: LCC RJ504.3 .S36 2016 | DDC 618.92/8914--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016001727
ISBN: 978-1-138-96093-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-96094-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-62040-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby
My thanks and gratitude to the many children, parents and
young people I have worked with, from whom I have learned
so much.
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Contents
PART 1
A contextual analysis of time-limited
psychodynamic psychotherapy with children,
young people and parents 1
Introduction and overview – Psychodynamic
therapy and the changing emotional and social
landscape of childhood and parenthood 3
1 Current concerns about child and adolescent
mental health – Challenging articles of faith 9
2 A short history of time-limited psychodynamic
psychotherapy with adults 17
3 A critical assessment of research and outcome
studies of time-limited psychodynamic
psychotherapy with children and young people 24
PART 2
A conceptual and practice framework for
time-limited psychodynamic psychotherapy
with children, young people and parents 35
4 Reconfi guring a psychodynamic approach for
current times – Refreshing and redefi ning the
psychodynamic enterprise 37
viii Contents
5 The clinical method in time-limited
psychodynamic psychotherapy with children,
young people and parents 50
6 The clinical technique in time-limited
psychodynamic psychotherapy with children,
young people and parents 62
7 Placing the child and young person in the
therapeutic frame 72
8 Clinical challenges – the potential of the
time-limited model 86
9 Empowering parents in times of change 107
10 The clinical outcome – Implications for training
and research 118
11 Shifting the paradigm towards positive mental
health for children, parents and young people 123
Bibliography 130
Index 137
Part 1
A contextual analysis of
time-limited psychodynamic
psychotherapy with children,
young people and parents