Relational Child Psychotherapy (Paperback or Softback)

"The relational and the developmental point of view have never been brought together in an adequate way. This up-to-date scholarly, yet practical, integration opens a new vista within relational psychoanalysis and pioneers a fresh approach in the psychoanalytic treatment of children and adolescents. It is a work of great and lasting value to the field."
—Peter Fonagy

Child therapists practicing today are faced with the challenge of developing a coherent theory and technique while drawing on a number of diverse traditions as disparate as psychoanalysis, behavior therapy, and family systems theory. This diversity presents child therapists with a rich background, but it also presents a formidable complexity to be integrated into their therapeutic work.

This book develops such an integration, offering a complete overview of issues currently being addressed by clinicians and theoreticians, and exploring various relational models and their implications for treatment. The authors bring to light the critical issues of clinical practice with children and offer powerful new models for child psychotherapists.

The problems and strategies for approaching the clinical relationship between child and therapist, as well as that between parent and therapist, are examined in depth. The authors also explore the clinical setting versus the role of the therapist in the extra-clinical context of a child’s life, the therapeutic aspects of play, and the unique behaviors of children manifested in the therapeutic environment.

Neil Altman PhD is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, author, and clinician who treats people of all ages. Altman earned his PhD in clinical psychology from NYU in 1979. From 2005 to 2008 he served as a representative to the United Nations for the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. In 2009 Altman began working as editor emeritus for the publication Psychoanalytic Dialogues. In 2015 he won the Founder's Award from the psychoanalysis division of the American Psychological Association. He lives in New York.

Richard Briggs PhD is a psychologist with thirty years of experience in private practice. He earned a masters at Harvard before getting a doctorate in clinical psychology at NYU and a post-doctoral certificate from the William Alanson White Institute. Dr. Briggs is licensed to practice in the state of Connecticut.

Jay Frankel PhD is a clinical consultant at NYU's Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. Dr. Frankel earned a BA from Hunter College in 1972 and went on to get an MA and a PhD from St. John's University in 1974 and 1980.

Daniel Gensler, PhD, is a psychologist with more than thirty years spent in practice. He is licensed in New York and treats children, adolescents, and adults. Dr. Gensler earned a BA from Harvard in 1972 and a PhD from Ferkauf Grad School-Yeshiva in 1980.

Pasqual Pantone PhD is a psychologist licensed in New York. He treats adolescents, adults, families, and individuals.