Working in the Dark

Donald Campbell is a qualified child, adolescent and adult psychoanalyst and a Training Analyst and Supervisor at the British Psychoanalytical Society. He has worked for thirty years as Principal Child and Adult Psychotherapist at the Portman Clinic. Campbell has lectured, taught widely and published papers and chapters on the subjects of suicide, violence, child sexual abuse, adolescence, shame and horror films.Rob Hale trained originally in psychiatry and psychoanalysis and held a research post at St Mary’s Hospital in London where, for five years, he worked closely with people who had attempted suicide. Hale has treated suicidal patients in long-term psychotherapy, and for thirty-five years worked at the Portman Clinic with those who act out in a violent or sexually deviant way.

‘Its subject notwithstanding – what a brilliant, much-needed, and ultimately hopeful-helpful book this is! The experience, if not the facts, of suicide remain taboo. The authors, based on nearly a century of combined clinical experience, expound its psychic meaning, developmental origins, and therapeutic implications in ways relevant and accessible to all mental health practitioners. Robustly yet flexibly psychoanalytic, they demonstrate the paradox of suicide as ‘an attempt to live at the cost of life itself’; outline the ‘10 danger signals’ of suicide for professionals; and illuminate the underlying phantasies inherent in the suicidal act. Heeded, this book will be a life-saver!’ – Professor Jeremy Holmes, MD, FRCPych, University of Exeter, UK'The authors’ unrivalled knowledge and experience garnered over many years is distilled to present a rich and compelling approach to suicide and therapeutic practice with suicidal people. The exploration of the influential concept of the pre-suicide state makes sense of suicidal motivations, explains the strong, and often seemingly strange counter-transference responses encountered in this work, and why working with suicidal people can draw negative reactions from professionals. Challenging conventional wisdom, Working in the Dark demonstrates that understanding unconscious suicide fantasies underpinning suicidal behaviour is essential to prevent the dangers of repeated suicide attempts.' - Professor Stephen Briggs, University of East London

• Introduction 1. Attitudes about suicide over the ages 2. Suicide and Mental Illness 3. Psychoanalytic Interest in Suicide 4. The core complex 5. Suicide Fantasies and the Pre-suicide State of Mind 6. How Learning from the Patient Generates Theory 7. The Role of the Father in a Pre-suicide State 8. Pre-suicide States in Adolescence 9. Implications for the professional 10. Self-mutilation 11. A patient’s account Conclusion