Object Relations and Integrative Psychotherapy: Tradition and Innovation in Theory and Practice

This study explores how an object relations-integrative perspective may combine in-depth psychodynamic principles and theories with the flexibility afforded by an integrative framework. Object relations theory is rooted in a psychoanalytic tradition which views the individual as essentially social and holds that their need for others is primary. Integrative psychotherapy attempts to combine the theories and/or techniques of two or more therapeutic approaches.This volume should be useful for graduates, undergraduates and trainee psychotherapists as well as social workers, psychologists, psychotherapists and counsellors who are interested in broadening their understanding of different therapeutic approaches and integrative endeavours. The contributors consist of an international group of practitioners and theoreticians who draw on the knowledge of object relations and other therapeutic orientations, as well as innovations in the integrative movement. Some of the contributors grapple directly with integrative questions about methodological and philosophical dilemmas in attempting to integrate different therapeutic approaches. Other authors explore ways of working with specific methods or client groups, where integrative ideas enrich their work. Finally, the implications for psychotherapy from infant research and from current research into the effectiveness of psychotherapy are examined. I XXX