Learning from Life: Becoming a Psychoanalyst

by Patrick Casement

Overview

All of life can be a resource for our learning. In his fourth and most personal book, Patrick Casement attempts to understand what he has learned from life, sharing a wide range of those experiences that have helped shape the analyst he has become.

Patrick Casement shares various incidents in his life to demonstrate how these helped lay a foundation for his subsequent understanding of psychoanalysis. These examples from his life and work are powerful and at times very moving, but always filled with hope and compassion.

This unique book gives a fascinating insight into fundamental questions concerning the acquisition of analytic wisdom and how personal experiences shape the analyst's approach to clinical work. It will be of great interest to all psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415399319
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/05/2006
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Patrick Casement has been a psychoanalyst and therapist in full-time private practice for many years, having previously been a social worker. He is author of On Learning from the Patient and Further Learning from the Patient. His last book Learning from Our Mistakes received a Gradiva award for its contribution to psychoanalysis.

Table of Contents

Williams, Foreword. Introduction. Part I: Development. Learning From Life. An Emerging Sense of Direction. Finding a Place for Theory. Learning to Say "No". Hate and Containment. Samuel Beckett's Relationship to his Mother-tongue. Mourning and Failure to Mourn. Internal Supervision in Process: A Case Presentation. Developing Clinical Antennae. Part II: Reflections. Some Things Difficult to Explain. Certainty and Non-certainty. Looking Back.

Editorial Reviews

"...I recommend it whole-heartedly..." Martin Smith, Journal of Social Work Practice

"An interesting, delightful and insightful read." - Journal of Analytical Psychology 2007 (52)

"The book is insightful and follows a familiar trope to his previous writings. It is well worth the read." - Jennifer Silverstone, Reflections Magazine, Summer 2007

"Casement's book is a wonderful read for any mental health professional who is curious about psychoanalytic ideas and who thinks about theory as something that needs to be struggled with personally and tried on for size." – Mariana Doig, Fort Da, 2011

"...I recommend it whole-heartedly..." Martin Smith, Journal of Social Work Practice

"An interesting, delightful and insightful read." - Journal of Analytical Psychology 2007 (52)

"The book is insightful and follows a familiar trope to his previous writings. It is well worth the read." - Jennifer Silverstone, Reflections Magazine, Summer 2007

"This book touches both heart and mind." - Therapy Today

From the Publisher