The Inner World Outside ─ Object Relations Theory and Psychodrama

First published in 1993, The Inner World Outside has become a classic in its field. Paul Holmes walks the reader through the ‘inner world’ of object relationships and the corresponding ‘outside world’ shared by others in which real relationships exist. Trained as a psychotherapist in both psychoanalytical and psychodramatic methods, Paul Holmes has written a well informed, clear introduction to Object Relations Theory and its relation to psychodrama. He explores the links between the theories of J.L. Moreno, the founder of psychodrama, and Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, and presents a stimulating synthesis. Each chapter opens with an account of part of a psychodrama session which focus on particular aspects of psychodrama or object relations theory illuminating the concepts or techniques using the clinical material from the group to illustrate basic psychoanalytic concepts in action.

Published here with a new introduction from the author that links the book’s content to concepts of attachment theory, the book weaves together the very different concepts in an inspiring and comprehensive way that will ensure the book continues to be used by mental health and arts therapies professional, whether in training or practice.

Paul Holmes is a Fellow of the American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama and a recipient of their David A. Kipper’s Scholar's Award. He was a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, adult psychotherapist and he was the first Chair of the British Psychodrama Association. He worked in community child and adolescent mental health teams for many years with a specialist interest in the services for fostered and adopted children. He has a long-standing interest in integrating the theories and clinical practices of different schools of psychotherapy, with a more recent focus on the applications of attachment theory.