Psychodynamic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy ─ Theories and Methods

This book is both a textbook and book of reference for all child and adolescent psychotherapists. It addresses both novices, who need to learn the theories and methods of the work, and also experienced psychotherapists, who want to expand their knowledge, at the same time getting a readily-accessible update and revival of the many ways in which psychodynamic child and adolescent psychotherapy enters into contemporary practice. The book offers a clear, methodologically precise and updated introduction to the theories, methods and practice of the field.

The authors demonstrate through practical examples what psychodynamic child and adolescent psychotherapy is, and how a psychotherapy can be planned and carried out, expounding the necessary preconditions, settings and methods. A personal understanding of the complexity of the therapeutic relationship is presented together with an elucidation of drawings and symbolic play, parallel work with parents, and the special conditions for work with adolescents. A special section deals with the meaning of time, beginnings, endings, and breaks in psychotherapy, followed by a part about the methodological adaptations necessary for psychotherapy with children and adolescents suffering from maltreatment and complex trauma. The book ends with a description of the present state of research in the field.

Liselotte Grunbaum, MSc, PhD, is a registered psychologist, and a specialist and supervisor of psychotherapy and child psychology in private practice in Copenhagen. She was a founding member and course organiser of the Danish Association of Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, and since 1997 has been a supervisor and teacher at the Danish training programme for Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists. She organised the child psychotherapy clinic at Aalborg University and is the clinic's supervisor. She is also a member of the EFPP research group, a former coordinator of this group and of the EFPP's Child and Adolescent Section, and has published a number of articles.

Karen Vibeke Mortensen is a registered M.Sc. in Psychology, Dr Paed., and group analyst. She is an honorary Professor of clinical child psychology at Aalborg University and in private practice in Copenhagen. She is a specialist and supervisor of psychotherapy and child psychology and is supervisor and teacher on the Danish training programme for Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists. She has extensive teaching and supervision experience and has edited books and articles about various clinical and theoretical subjects. Her doctoral thesis, Form and Content in Children's Human Figure Drawings, was published by New York University Press in 1991.