Intellectual Disability, Trauma and Psychotherapy: Working at the Raw Edges

People with intellectual disabilities have emotional and mental health needs just like anyone else. Until recently however there has been little research of effective psychological treatment or direct, accessible psychotherapy provision for this client group.

Intellectual Disability, Trauma and Psychotherapy focuses on the delivery of psychotherapy services for those with intellectual disabilities. Leading professionals in this specialist field are brought together to describe the history, theory and practice of their work in twelve focused chapters that draw on the work of psychotherapists including Bion, Winnicott, Sinason and Alvarez. Topics covered include:

• therapeutic responses to cultural and religious diversity
• support for parents with intellectual disabilities
• developing healthy and secure attachments within the family
• dealing with intense feelings of shame
• helping clients to cope with traumatic sexual experiences.

Drawing on over a decade of pioneering practitioner experience at Respond – a government-funded psychotherapy service for people with learning disabilities based in central London – this book explores the practical issues in providing therapy to this client group, whether individually, in families, in groups, or by the use of telephone counselling. It closes with a chapter exploring the way forward for those who wish to develop services of this kind.

Tamsin Cottis has been a practitioner in the field of learning disability for over 20 years, as a teacher, trainer and therapist. She is also co-founder of Respond, one of the UK’s leading providers of psychotherapy to people with intellectual disabilities.