Being Taken In

Sarah Sutton is a director of the Learning Studio, teaches on Tavistock psychoanalytic studies and infant mental health programmes, and has an independent practice as a psychotherapist.

'This is a brilliant and fascinating book. It tells a moving and dramatic story of the recovery, through psychotherapy, of a boy severely damaged by abuse and neglect. But more than this, it explains how and why psychotherapy works, and the ways in which the brain may be re-wired and the connections to other human beings re-made. It describes the heavy task of the psychotherapist faced with such initial bleakness and bitterness, and why the carrying of this burden is central to the process and to the astounding results.'- Anne Alvarez, PhD, MACP, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist'This state of the art synthesis of psychoanalytic theory and neuroscience expands on how our internal worlds are not just a personal possession; instead, on both a biological and psychological level, they are continually shaped and shared though relationships. The delicate therapeutic work described in detail here shows, often painfully, how children who have been maltreated in their early years unconsciously bring a host of demons from their past to populate every new relationship in negative and often frightening ways. We are given an account of therapy and theory that has much to interest anyone working or living with a traumatised child, from adoptive parents to experienced clinicians; and it is particularly recommended to anyone contemplating becoming either for its detailed account of what it feels like and what happens when you share the mind of a traumatised child.'- Robin Balbernie, Consultant Child and Adolescent psychotherapist; Clinical Director, Parent Infant Partnership UK'A unique synthesis of neuroscience, psychoanalysis, and developmental research as applied in clinical practice with disturbed children. Sarah Sutton describes the psychic damage of early trauma on a young boy and how an emotionally attuned, psychoanalytic play-based therapy can facilitate the recovery of hope, playfulness, and trust.'- Dr Graham Music, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, Portman Clinic, London

• Introduction , The framing relationship , Researching psychotherapy , Learning the body language , Changing minds