"I will get right to the point: this is the best introduction to the practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy that I have ever read, bar none. There are many introductory texts, but none that I have read achieves the level of intimacy with the reader in the process of assisting him or her in the difficult work of becoming a psychoanalytic psychotherapist. My scribblings in the margins of the book are a response to the depth of understanding of the ideas Quatman discusses and to the intelligence and compassion reflected in her accounts of her own clinical experience. Most of all I stand in awe and appreciation of the unpretentious, unselfconscious wisdom that weaves through every page." – Thomas Ogden "I cannot recommend this book too highly. It is essential reading for those dipping their toes into psychodynamic waters, and for strong swimmers too. Beautifully and accessibly written, we are in the presence of an inspired teacher and practitioner who brings her deep clinical experience to bear on current findings from neurobiology and the relational, reverie-based ideas, of Ogden, Bion and Winnicott. I will surely take its place as essential reading for courses in psychodynamic counselling and psychoanalytic therapy." – Jeremy Holmes "It is excellent both at calming and containing disquietude and also at presenting ‘the broad strokes’ (p111) of object relations theory, thus inviting the reader to develop both their practice and their learning further." – Yvonne Farley. Therapy Today I will get right to the point: this is the best introduction to the practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy that I have ever read, bar none. There are many introductory texts, but none that I have read achieves the level of intimacy with the reader in the process of assisting him or her in the difficult work of becoming a psychoanalytic psychotherapist. My scribblings in the margins of the book are a response to the depth of understanding of the ideas Quatman discusses and to the intelligence and compassion reflected in her accounts of her own clinical experience. Most of all I stand in awe and appreciation of the unpretentious, unselfconscious wisdom that weaves through every page. - Thomas Ogden I cannot recommend this book too highly. It is essential reading for those dipping their toes into psychodynamic waters, and for strong swimmers too. Beautifully and accessibly written, we are in the presence of an inspired teacher and practitioner who brings her deep clinical experience to bear on current findings from neurobiology and the relational, reverie-based ideas, of Ogden, Bion and Winnicott. I will surely take its place as essential reading for courses in psychodynamic counselling and psychoanalytic therapy. - Jeremy Holmes