Learning from our Mistakes: Beyond Dogma in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy examines some of the problems that are inherent to psychoanalysis, particularly in view of the analyst's claim to know the patient's mind better than the patient which can blind the analyst to those times when he is in error. Patrick Casement examines the processes of supervision and internal supervision by which practitioners can develop their awareness of the patient's experiences within the clinical encounter, and particularly considers the issue of mistakes and enactments by the analyst. Illustrated with numerous clinical descriptions and taking into account psychoanalysis over the past 100 years, Casement makes a strong case for being open minded rather than dogmatic in clinical practice.
This book will be invaluable to practitioners, trainers and trainees of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, and is readily accessible to the educated general reader.

On Learning from the Patient is concerned with the potential for psychoanalytic thinking to become self-perpetuating. Patrick Casement explores the dynamics of the helping relationship - learning to recognize how patients offer cues to the therapeutic experience that they are unconsciously in search of. Using many telling clinical examples, he illustrates how, through trial identification, he has learned to monitor the implications of his own contributions to a session from the viewpoint of the patient. He shows how, with the aid of this internal supervision, many initial failures to respond appropriately can be remedied and even used to the benefit of the therapeutic work. By learning to better distinguish what helps the therapeutic process from what hinders it, ways are discovered to avoid the circularity of pre-conception by analysts who aim to understand the unconscious of others. From this lively examination of key clinical issues, the author comes to see psychoanalytic therapy as a process of re-discovering theory - and developing a technique that is more specifically related to the individual patient. The dynamics illustrated here, particularly the processes of interactive communication and containment, occur in any helping relationship and are applicable throughout the caring professions. Patrick Casement's unusually frank presentation of his own work, aided by his lucid and non-technical language, allows wide scope for readers to form their own ideas about the approach to technique he describes. This Classic Edition includes a new introduction to the work by Andrew Samuels and together with its sequel Further Learning from the Patient, will be an invaluable training resource for trainee and practising analysts or therapists, and those teaching in related professions.

Learning Along the Way sees Patrick Casement trace the development and application of his earlier key contributions to psychoanalytic technique. These include his observations about internal supervision, trial identification with the patient, and monitoring how the analytic space is either preserved or spoiled by the analyst's contributions. Throughout the book, Casement cautions against preconceptions that steer the analytic process along familiar lines. He advocates a more radical approach that is always open to being led by the process emerging between analyst and patient, frequently leading to unexpected and fresh insights. This work makes a natural pair with Casement's first, most celebrated book, On Learning from the Patient. Here he builds upon all that was outlined before, challenging the reader further and inspiring clinicians to re-think their established ways of working. Learning Along the Way is an invaluable addition to every clinician's library and an essential aid to practicing psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, counsellors and anyone training in psychoanalysis.

In Further Learning from the Patient, Patrick Casement stresses the value of 'internal supervision' which monitors clinical work from the patient's point of view as well as the therapist's. This follow-up book to On Learning from the Patient shows that this process can teach the therapist important new things, and, by developing original concepts and using many illustrative examples, Casement enables the trainee and practising analyst to clarify and deepen their clinical understanding of the processes involved in analysis and psychotherapy. This Classic Edition includes a new introduction to the work by Maria Gilbert and together, with On Learning from the Patient, will be an invaluable training resource for trainee and practising analysts or therapists, and those teaching in related professions.

All of life can be a resource for our learning. In his fourth and most personal book, Patrick Casement attempts to understand what he has learned from life, sharing a wide range of those experiences that have helped shape the analyst he has become.

Patrick Casement shares various incidents in his life to demonstrate how these helped lay a foundation for his subsequent understanding of psychoanalysis. These examples from his life and work are powerful and at times very moving, but always filled with hope and compassion.

This unique book gives a fascinating insight into fundamental questions concerning the acquisition of analytic wisdom and how personal experiences shape the analyst's approach to clinical work. It will be of great interest to all psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists.

All of life can be a resource for our learning. In his fourth and most personal book, Patrick Casement attempts to understand what he has learned from life, sharing a wide range of those experiences that have helped shape the analyst he has become.

Patrick Casement shares various incidents in his life to demonstrate how these helped lay a foundation for his subsequent understanding of psychoanalysis. These examples from his life and work are powerful and at times very moving, but always filled with hope and compassion.

This unique book gives a fascinating insight into fundamental questions concerning the acquisition of analytic wisdom and how personal experiences shape the analyst's approach to clinical work. It will be of great interest to all psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists.

Learning from our Mistakes: Beyond Dogma in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy examines some of the problems that are inherent to psychoanalysis, particularly in view of the analyst's claim to know the patient's mind better than the patient which can blind the analyst to those times when he is in error. Patrick Casement examines the processes of supervision and internal supervision by which practitioners can develop their awareness of the patient's experiences within the clinical encounter, and particularly considers the issue of mistakes and enactments by the analyst. Illustrated with numerous clinical descriptions and taking into account psychoanalysis over the past 100 years, Casement makes a strong case for being open minded rather than dogmatic in clinical practice.
This book will be invaluable to practitioners, trainers and trainees of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, and is readily accessible to the educated general reader.

In Further Learning from the Patient, Patrick Casement stresses the value of 'internal supervision' which monitors clinical work from the patient's point of view as well as the therapist's. This follow-up book to On Learning from the Patient shows that this process can teach the therapist important new things, and, by developing original concepts and using many illustrative examples, Casement enables the trainee and practising analyst to clarify and deepen their clinical understanding of the processes involved in analysis and psychotherapy. This Classic Edition includes a new introduction to the work by Maria Gilbert and together, with On Learning from the Patient, will be an invaluable training resource for trainee and practising analysts or therapists, and those teaching in related professions.

This book, by a well established author previously writing in a quite different genre, that of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and counselling, is written for an entirely different readership. Patrick Casement has put together a fascinating account of his strange journey from a privileged background, through schools and national service, and then through university, avoiding throughout the wishes of his family for him to join the Royal Navy. Instead, he leaves university with a degree but heads straight into becoming a bricklayer's mate. From there, eventually, he gets through the vicissitudes of probation and social work, and the hilarious experiences of trying to furnish his first flat. He thus moves into what he describes as the "real" world - getting what his family would regard as a "real job" (or two). But despite that, he continues on his unpredictable journey - into becoming a psychotherapist and then a psychoanalyst: what his mother thought was "training to become a psychotic." This book is filled with laughter - that of the author laughing at himself as he invites the reader to laugh along with him in his journey through the vicissitudes of life.

Learning Along the Way sees Patrick Casement trace the development and application of his earlier key contributions to psychoanalytic technique. These include his observations about internal supervision, trial identification with the patient, and monitoring how the analytic space is either preserved or spoiled by the analyst's contributions. Throughout the book, Casement cautions against preconceptions that steer the analytic process along familiar lines. He advocates a more radical approach that is always open to being led by the process emerging between analyst and patient, frequently leading to unexpected and fresh insights. This work makes a natural pair with Casement's first, most celebrated book, On Learning from the Patient. Here he builds upon all that was outlined before, challenging the reader further and inspiring clinicians to re-think their established ways of working. Learning Along the Way is an invaluable addition to every clinician's library and an essential aid to practicing psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, counsellors and anyone training in psychoanalysis.

On Learning from the Patient is concerned with the potential for psychoanalytic thinking to become self-perpetuating. Patrick Casement explores the dynamics of the helping relationship - learning to recognize how patients offer cues to the therapeutic experience that they are unconsciously in search of. Using many telling clinical examples, he illustrates how, through trial identification, he has learned to monitor the implications of his own contributions to a session from the viewpoint of the patient. He shows how, with the aid of this internal supervision, many initial failures to respond appropriately can be remedied and even used to the benefit of the therapeutic work. By learning to better distinguish what helps the therapeutic process from what hinders it, ways are discovered to avoid the circularity of pre-conception by analysts who aim to understand the unconscious of others. From this lively examination of key clinical issues, the author comes to see psychoanalytic therapy as a process of re-discovering theory - and developing a technique that is more specifically related to the individual patient. The dynamics illustrated here, particularly the processes of interactive communication and containment, occur in any helping relationship and are applicable throughout the caring professions. Patrick Casement's unusually frank presentation of his own work, aided by his lucid and non-technical language, allows wide scope for readers to form their own ideas about the approach to technique he describes. This Classic Edition includes a new introduction to the work by Andrew Samuels and together with its sequel Further Learning from the Patient, will be an invaluable training resource for trainee and practising analysts or therapists, and those teaching in related professions.

What is it that lies beyond our knowing, beyond our imagination and beyond our understanding: beyond the reach of either science or philosophy? Might there be some unimaginable energy, some incomprehensible wisdom and purpose, that will forever remain beyond our comprehending?Patrick Casement explores the questions that arise repeatedly in the minds of all those who have faith, or an interest in faith. Some of the pieces in this collection are from the early part of his life, before he became interested in psychoanalysis, when as a young man he considered ordination. These are followed by reflections from later life, looking at his life's journey and how faith and psychoanalysis have been entwined throughout.This collection is offered to the reader in the hope that some of it might resonate in the minds of others who have been asking similar questions about life, and why are we here.