This book identifies and explores what is missing in therapy practice, namely the 'craft' aspects of skilled psychoanalytic work: how theories and models are actually used in practice, what kind of reasoning is employed in conducting a session, and how interventions are composed and evaluated.
The text shows how these features of clinical thinking, which normally operate below the level of awareness, can be identified and explored in clinical practice, in supervision and in teaching. This clear and vividly written book addresses the needs of practitioners and trainees moving beyond beginner level to more skilled and attuned practice.
Laurence Spurling was Senior Lecturer in Counselling and Psychotherapy at Birkbeck College, University of London, and a Consultant Adult Psychotherapist in the National Health Service. He continues to teach and supervise and works now in private practice.