Off the Couch ─ Contemporary Psychoanalytic Applications

The contemporary relevance of psychoanalysis is being increasingly questioned; Off the Couch challenges this view, demonstrating that psychoanalytic thinking and its applications are both innovative and relevant, in particular to the management and treatment of more disturbed and difficult to engage patient groups. Chapters address:


clinical applications in diverse settings across the age range
the relevance of psychoanalytic thinking to the practice of CBT, psychosomatics and general psychiatry
the contribution of psychoanalytic thinking to mental health policy and the politics of conflict and mediation.

This book suggests that psychoanalysis has a vital position within the public health sector and discusses how it can be better utilised in the treatment of a range of mental health problems. It also highlights the role of empirical research in providing a robust evidence base.
Off the Couch will be essential reading for those practicing in the field of mental health and will also be useful for anyone involved in the development of mental health and public policies. It will ensure that practitioners and supervisors have a clear insight into how psychoanalysis can be applied in general healthcare.

Alessandra Lemma is the Trust-wide Head of psychology at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. She is a Member of the British Psychoanalytic Society, an Honorary Senior Lecturer at University College London and a Visiting Professor at Essex University. She has published widely on psychoanalysis and related fields.
Matthew Patrick is Chief Executive of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, where he is also a Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy. He is a Fellow of, and Training and Supervising Analyst for the British Psychoanalytic Society.

Lemma, Patrick, Contemporary Psychoanalytic Applications: Development and its Vicissitudes. Alderdice, Off the Couch and Round the Conference Table. Cooper, Lousada, The Shock of the Real: Psychoanalysis, Modernity, Survival. Briggs, Suicide Prevention: The Contribution of Psychoanalysis. Baradon, Target, Mothers and Babies in Prison: A Psychoanalytic Approach Supporting Attachment. Rustin, Emanuel, Observation, Reflection and Containment: A Psychoanalytic Approach to Work with Parents and Children Under Five. Lemma, Young, Working with Traumatised Adolescents: A Framework for Intervention. Lowe, Working with Ambivalence: Making Psychotherapy More Accessible to Young Black People. Stern, The Relevance of Applied Psychoanalytic Practice and Thinking to the Treatment of Medically Symptomatic Patients. Wood, Applied Analytic Work in Forensic Settings: The Understanding and Treatment of Paedophilia. Graff, Milrod, Aronson, Panic Focused Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: A Manualized, Psychoanalytic Approach to Panic Disorder. Bell, Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis: A Conceptual Mapping. Moorey, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Psychoanalysis.