The Use of Self in Therapy, Second Edition

Explore the inner world of therapy and learn how to integrate your life experiences in the consultation room!

The Use of Self in Therapy, Second Edition explores the value of appropriate personal sharing with clients on the part of the social worker, psychologist, therapist, and physician in order to establish a trusting and powerful therapeutic bond. You will learn why this once-radical concept is now much more widely accepted and is being used with individuals, families, couples, and groups. This new edition expands upon its predecessor with new research, numerous case studies, tables, figures, interviews, and diagnostic criteria.

In this important text, you will discover how to conduct inspiring sessions that are deeply spiritual and transcendent to clients. The Use of Self in Therapy explores exposing your inner world in therapy to help clients feel comfortable enough to reveal their own vulnerabilities and life experiences, thus creating a healing atmosphere. To help you apply appropriate techniques to your own situations, The Use of Self in Therapy examines many case studies that highlight the benefits of this therapy practice and its effectiveness with a variety of clients.

Some of the areas you will explore in The Use of Self in Therapy include:

• bridging the relationship between the therapist and client(s)
• facing your own pain, finiteness, and vulnerability to assist the client with similar dilemmas
• using transference and countertransference to help heal your clients
• realizing the differences in how the self functions when working with one, two, three, or more people in a therapy session
• understanding your own yearnings, expectations, feelings, perceptions, and coping mechanisms, to help you better relate to your clients
  
  The Use of Self in Therapy is a thorough exploration of the importance of using your humanness to conduct successful therapy sessions. This intriguing text shows you the benefits of connecting and communicating with your clients beyond the outer world of theories and enables you to make positive changes in your clients’lives.

"PROVIDES AN ARRAY OF USEFUL PERSPECTIVES AND IDEAS FOR THERAPISTS, OTHER HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AND EDUCATORS who want to reflect on who they are and how they can most effectively use themselves in their efforts to be helpful to others." -- Jane Westberg, PhD, Clinical Professor of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Boulder, Colorado; Associate Editor, Education for Health: Change in Learning and Practice

"THIS BOOK NEEDS TO BE READ BY PROFESSORS, THERAPISTS, AND STUDENTS OF ALL THERAPEUTIC ORIENTATIONS. . . . The various chapters encourage therapists to develop a state of being that is congruent, authentic, wholesome, loving, and possibly spiritual." -- Dr. John Banmen, R. Psych, Adjunct Professor, University of British Columbia, Co-author, The Satir Model: Family Therapy and Beyond