Martin Weegmann

With contributions from well-respected figures in the field, this book explores the use of narrative and image in the therapeutic treatment of trauma and addiction. The book considers topics such as early trauma and its impacts, therapeutic methods based on images and narrative, and recovery and post-traumatic growth through community engagement. Despite a close practical association between the two, trauma and addiction are often addressed or treated separately. By considering them together, this book offers a rare perspective and is an invaluable tool for art and narrative therapists, as well as professionals supporting those dealing with addiction or trauma.

Permission to Narrate develops exciting new theory and explorations for group analysis. They are diverse in range and, from differing bases in theory and research, aim to cast light on how clients find voice and speak out in groups and the importance of rhetoric in the understanding of communication. It addresses the ways in which silenced, submerged and less confident voices emerge, finding permission and narration, often against the odds. Positioning and dialogical theory is used to show how such voices are caught up in and defined by discourses, and also how we can transcend the definitions and positions into which we are thrown. Accessible clinical and historical examples bring theory to life. Permission to Narrate also uses applied group analytic theory to consider the cultural role and rhetoric of monsters, and what these representations tell us about the position in which human beings conceive themselves. Also explored, using applied group theory, are the meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and Quakers, both serving as remarkable examples of different, alternative group formations.

The World within the Group is an original and ambitious endeavour to connect group analysis to philosophy, history, and modern social theory. The book argues that group analysis needs theoretical renewal to remain relevant, and that philosophy is a valuable resource for such thinking. In particular, the work of three philosophers is examined: Nietzsche, Dewey, and Gadamer, each being associated with "pragmatic-perspective" inquiry. The author demonstrates that group analysis is compatible with such inquiry, and that we understand and intervene from within the horizon of specific traditions of training and theory. Group analysis typifies an unremitting relational stance, valuing openness of dialogue, and moving in and out of the perspectival worlds of the participants. The book also offers a re-formulation of the concept of social unconscious, seen as a discursive world of production and articulation. Drawing on contemporary social theories, it chimes with the spirit of Elias's historical approach.

Group Therapy: A Group-Analytic Approach is a comprehensive introduction to contemporary group analytic theory and practice - the prevailing form of group therapy in Europe. Highly accessible yet meticulously referenced, theoretically rich, yet clinically vivid, it is an invaluable resource for all interested in group therapy, providing access to the very heart of working therapeutically with(in) groups.

Group Therapy: A Group-Analytic Approach is a comprehensive introduction to contemporary group analytic theory and practice - the prevailing form of group therapy in Europe. Highly accessible yet meticulously referenced, theoretically rich, yet clinically vivid, it is an invaluable resource for all interested in group therapy, providing access to the very heart of working therapeutically with(in) groups.

Rich traditions of group therapy permeate the substance misuse field - from residential and day-centre group programmes and the fellowship group tradition to the panoply of support/education and relapse prevention groups offered by out-patient services. There are specialist groups - e.g. art therapy and psychodrama- and groups for special population- e.g. relatives, prisoners and adult children of alcoholics. This important collection is written by many well-known experts, several renowned on the international stage, with perspectives from the UK, USA and Scandinavia. They share their extensive experiences in the conceptualisation, setting up and running of therapy groups. Ultimately, all are concerned in their groups to increase empathic contact and thereby to facilitate opportunities for addicts to embark upon change. With no equivalent UK book of its kind, the reader has a rare opportunity to consider this subject in impressive scope, diversity and depth.

In the treatment of addictions and their psychological understanding, cognitive-behavioural and motivation approaches have been paramount. In contrast, the psychodynamic contribution has been muted. This book redresses this imbalance by bringing together a team of senior clinicians with psychotherapeutic backgrounds as well as extensive experience in addiction. Stress is placed on the diversity of psychodynamic understanding and its relevance to the everyday problems met by addicted individuals. The first theoretical part of the book is followed by examples from group and individual therapy, and the foreword is written by Dr Edward Khantzian. The Psychodynamics of Addiction will be of interest to psychotherapists who may lack experience in addiction, and to other clinicians working in the field - doctors, nurses and psychologists. Introduction - Review of Different Schools: Container and Contained: The School of Bion - The Application of Bowlby’s Attachment Theory to the Psychotherapy of Addictions - The Vulnerable Self: Heinz Kohut and the Addictions - Therapy: Dynamics of Addiction in the Clinical Situation - Psychodynamic Assessment of Drug Addicts - Individual Psychotherapy with Addicted People - Group Therapy for Addiction - Helping the Helpers: Psychodynamic Perspective on Relapse Prevention in Addiction - In Search of A Reliable Container: Staff Supervision in a DDU -Countertransference with Addicts - Addiction and the Family: Growing up with Alchohol or Drug Abuse in the Family - References - Index