In Live Company Anne Alvarez formulates some original and exciting ideas relevant to working with children on the brink of madness. By integrating modern psychoanalytic theory with the new research in infant development and infant psychiatry she sheds new light on ways of understanding autistic, psychotic and severely disturbed children and adolescents.
Central to the book is the moving narrative of an autistic child's long struggle between sanity and madness. With a natural ability to tell a story which powerfully involves the reader, the author describes the arduous journey that she and her patient made towards recovery.

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People with intellectual disabilities have emotional and mental health needs just like anyone else. Until recently however there has been little research of effective psychological treatment or direct, accessible psychotherapy provision for this client group. Intellectual Disability, Trauma and Psychotherapy focuses on the delivery of psychotherapy services for those with intellectual disabilities. Leading professionals in this specialist field are brought together to describe the history, theory and practice of their work in twelve focused chapters that draw on the work of psychotherapists including Bion, Winnicott, Sinason and Alvarez. Topics covered include: therapeutic responses to cultural and religious diversity support for parents with intellectual disabilities developing healthy and secure attachments within the family dealing with intense feelings of shame helping clients to cope with traumatic sexual experiences. Drawing on over a decade of pioneering practitioner experience at Respond - a government-funded psychotherapy service for people with learning disabilities based in central London - this book explores the practical issues in providing therapy to this client group, whether individually, in families, in groups, or by the use of telephone counselling. It closes with a chapter exploring the way forward for those who wish to develop services of this kind.

Taking a psychoanalytic and developmental approach, Autistic Child as a Person outlines in considerable detail the new developments in therapeutic techniques used by the Tavistock Autism Team and Workshop to treat autistic children. It also underlines the importance of support for parents and siblings, who are all too often ignored, as a factor in the childs progress. The book presents fresh ideas about the importance of personality for the developmental course of the condition, and the implications of psychotherapeutic technique. Using case vignettes to illustrate the theoretical ideas emerging from the Workshop, coupled with case studies which highlight the patient's changing contact with the therapist, it gives a fascinating picture of the individuality of each child and of the sensitivity and skill required for each treatment. Accessible to professionals and also to parents, Autistic Child as a Person is a valuable insight into the nature and course of this condition and its treatment.

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Children whose minds as well as bodies have been damaged by the intrusions of sexual abuse, violence or neglect, and others, quite different, who are handicapped by their own mysterious sensitivities to more minor deprivations, may experience a type of black despair and cynicism that require long-term treatment and test the stamina of the psychotherapist to the utmost. In Live Company, Anne Alvarez reflects on thirty years' experience of treating autistic, psychotic and borderline children and adolescents by the methods of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Central to the book is the moving story on an autistic child's long struggle between sanity and madness, in which the author describes the arduous journey that she as therapist and he as patient made towards new understanding and his partial recovery. Modern developments in psychoanalytic theory and technique mean that such children can be treated with some success. In the book the author discusses these developments, and also describes some of the areas of convergence and divergence between organicist and psychodynamicist theories of autism. Particularly important is her integration of psychoanalytic theory with the new findings in infant development and infant psychiatry. This has enabled her to formulate some new and exciting ideas and speculate on the need for some additions to established theory. Anne Alvarez has produced a professionally powerful and englightening book, drawn from her extensive experience as a child psychotherapist at the Tavistock Clinic, which will be of interest to all professionals involved with children and adolescents as well as anyone interested in madness and the growth of the mind.

How do we talk about feelings to children who are cut off from feeling? How do we raise hope and a sense of safety in despairing and terrified children without offering false hope? How do we reach the unreachable child and interest the hardened child? The Thinking Heart is a natural sequel to Live Company, Anne Alvarez' highly influential and now classic book about working with severely disturbed and damaged children. Building on 50 years experience as a child and adolescent psychotherapist, Alvarez uses detailed and vivid clinical examples of different interactions between therapist and client, and explores the reasons why one type of therapeutic understanding can work rather than another. She also addresses what happens when the therapist gets it wrong. In The Thinking Heart, Alvarez identifies three different levels of analytic work and communication: * the explanatory level - the "why - because" * the descriptive level - the "whatness" of what the child feels * the intensified vitalizing level - gaining access to feeling itself for children with chronic dissociation, despairing apathy or 'undrawn' autism. The book offers a structured schema drawing on and updating some of her classic work. It is designed to help the therapist to find the right level of interpretation in work with clients and, provides particular help with the unreachable child. It will be of use to Psychotherapists, Psychoanalysts, Clinical and Educational Psychologists, Child Psychiatrists, Social Workers, Special needs teachers and carers of disturbed children. Anne Alvarez is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist and is retired Co-Chair for The Autism Service at the Tavistock Clinic, London. She is currently a visiting teacher and lecturer for the Tavistock Clinic, and a Lecturer on the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Society Child Programme.

How do we talk about feelings to children who are cut off from feeling? How do we raise hope and a sense of safety in despairing and terrified children without offering false hope? How do we reach the unreachable child and interest the hardened child? The Thinking Heart is a natural sequel to Live Company, Anne Alvarez' highly influential and now classic book about working with severely disturbed and damaged children. Building on 50 years experience as a child and adolescent psychotherapist, Alvarez uses detailed and vivid clinical examples of different interactions between therapist and client, and explores the reasons why one type of therapeutic understanding can work rather than another. She also addresses what happens when the therapist gets it wrong. In The Thinking Heart, Alvarez identifies three different levels of analytic work and communication: * the explanatory level - the "why - because" * the descriptive level - the "whatness" of what the child feels * the intensified vitalizing level - gaining access to feeling itself for children with chronic dissociation, despairing apathy or 'undrawn' autism. The book offers a structured schema drawing on and updating some of her classic work. It is designed to help the therapist to find the right level of interpretation in work with clients and, provides particular help with the unreachable child. It will be of use to Psychotherapists, Psychoanalysts, Clinical and Educational Psychologists, Child Psychiatrists, Social Workers, Special needs teachers and carers of disturbed children. Anne Alvarez is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist and is retired Co-Chair for The Autism Service at the Tavistock Clinic, London. She is currently a visiting teacher and lecturer for the Tavistock Clinic, and a Lecturer on the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Society Child Programme.

Taking a psychoanalytic and developmental approach, "Autistic Child as a Person" outlines in considerable detail the new developments in therapeutic techniques used by the Tavistock Autism Team and Workshop to treat autistic children. It also underlines the importance of support for parents and siblings, who are all too often ignored, as a factor in the childs progress. The book presents fresh ideas about the importance of personality for the developmental course of the condition, and the implications of psychotherapeutic technique. Using case vignettes to illustrate the theoretical ideas emerging from the Workshop, coupled with case studies which highlight the patients changing contact with the therapist, it gives a fascinating picture of the individuality of each child and of the sensitivity and skill required for each treatment. Aiming to be accessible to both professionals and parents, the text should provide a useful insight into the nature and course of this condition and its treatment.