In this volume, the patients are children and their families, and a series of chapters, written by excellent and experienced clinicians, describes typical countertransferences in specific treatment situations. The reader will be able to make immediate use, through identification, of the range of internal reactions expressed by these authors, and the subtle insights these reactions provide when further explored. I ... Read morehighly recommend this volume.
Morton Chethik, M.S.W. This is an invaluable book because it covers in depth an area that has needed attention. Beginning with an excellent review of the development of theory about countertransference in general and specifically in relation to children and adolescents, it provides an understanding of the controversies and potentials involved in an active use of countertransference phenomena. A few classic papers are augmented by rich contributions from outstanding psychotherapists and analysts from many disciplines. Dr. Brandel probes the wide range of settings and problems that are in the province of child psychotherapy. These are presented from many viewpoints and enriched by case illustrations, and the result is a book that is a must for anyone of any discipline who works with children, adolescents, or their families.
Florence Lieberman, D.S.W. Creeping in ashamedly through the therapeutic back door a few decades ago, countertransference has fast become an essential tool for therapeutic understanding and a major determinant in treatment, at least in the adult world. Possibly because of this same operation, it has been relatively neglected in child and adolescent therapy where, in my opinion, its presence needs to be even more emphasized and demonstrated. This book is a first in doing just this and even as a first, its wide-ranging coverage opens up new areas of inquiry dealing with different disorders, different treatment situations, and different therapist-patient matchings. It is a book I recommend unreservedly to all therapists of the young who struggle daily to contain the complex of unconscious affects generated in them through their daily work. However, even adult therapists could profit from its perusal.
E. James Anthony Show Less