Core Concepts in Therapy – serie

This book draws out the essence of a range of personality theories in a clear and accessible way, moving from the seminal works of Freud and other prominent analytical theorists, to the stage theories of Erikson and Levinson and the development of personality as it is viewed in existential and person-centred theory. The text:

·Highlights the salient points of different personality theories ·Critiques the theories·Examines important aspects of personality development neglected by previous books on this topic such as spirituality and the development of racial identity and gender.

The book reflects strongly on the context from which the theories sprang and seeks to trace how this context has influenced the theorists and their disciples. It also highlights the similarities between the concepts and structure of many of the theories. The authors, both themselves experienced counsellors and trainers, try to evaluate which elements of the theories can be useful to the work of the therapist in the twenty first century. The book is illustrated by examples from their case work.

Personality Development is a valuable new resource for practitioners, lecturers and trainers as well as students of counselling, psychotherapy and psychology.

It is very difficult for the student or practitioner to find their way through the jungle of different personality typographies that has sprung up in the field of psychotherapy; and even harder for them to find a point of sufficient height above the forest canopy to get their bearings in order to compare one system with another. This volume offers such an observation point together with some possible mappings. It surveys how different schools of therapy approach a basic topic, the differences that exist between people - including their attitudes, feelings, concerns and talents. It examines different systematic and non-systematic approaches to identifying different types of human being, exploring whether there are systematic ways in which humans vary, how we can assess the merit of different typologies, and whether personality typing is a helpful approach to therapy.Character and Personality Types looks in detail at the arguments for and against the use of typologies of character and personality as a clinical tool; and offers general criteria for judging the merits of particular personality systems, as well as exploring the possibility of a wider synthesis.

"Robertson and Freshwater explicitly use the development of a therapeutic relationship and, parallel with it, the development of an individual psyche, as a vehicle for their exploration of emotions and needs. The subtlety is that their exploration, like psychotherapy itself, begins with the complexity and ends with the simplicity." Self & Society

Through the centrality of the concepts of needs and emotions, this volume describes and discusses issues that are fundamental to psychotherapy. As an alternative to classifying modalities of psychotherapy (and the way in which they understand needs and emotions) by their author, era or underpinning philosophy, this book focuses instead on the emotional patterning of psychotherapy.

The book explores need and emotion in relation to what patients bring to therapy and what subsequently facilitates effective engagement. Examining ways of understanding the manifestation of needs and emotions, the authors bring differing therapeutic schools of thought together in contemporary models of integrative psychotherapy which draw upon the transpersonal, postmodern and poststructural. The book is illustrated throughout with clinical vignettes which help the reader ground the theoretical concepts in everyday practice.

The discussions in this volume not only add to the current body of knowledge surrounding the fundamental concepts of emotions and needs, but also make a long overdue contribution to the psychotherapeutic professions. Emotions and Needs will be of interest to students and practitioners in fields such as: counselling, psychotherapy, clinical psychology and social work.