This unique reading group has gone from strength to strength so we are delighted to be able to offer an opportunity to explore, examine and enjoy the books below. Our presenters have been stimulating and challenging, and have introduced us to new delights or opened up fresh vistas onto pre-loved favourites.

Although many participants have been trainees and practising counsellors or psychotherapists, everyone is welcome to attend. If you are thinking of attending for the first time or have enjoyed one of the previous sessions, why not tell a friend and encourage them to come along too. Please read the novel before attending.

All are welcome to attend this event. Refreshments provided.

Friday 25th January 2019
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
Led by Kristina Hemon

Friday 22nd February 2019
Staring at the sun – Overcoming the Dread of Death by Irvin Yalom
Led by Virginia Lewis

Friday 22nd March 2019
The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordando
Led by Michael Lyons

We are still looking for people to facilitate reading groups so please e-mail events@wpf.org.uk if you are interested.

This is a repeat of last year’s very successful and fully subscribed study group.

Did you study Kleinian theory on your training? Maybe you would like the opportunity to explore it in more depth now that you have more clinical experience.  Theory only really comes alive when we can connect with it from our clinical practice. Maybe you did not cover Klein during your training and would like to know more about her work and how it might help you in your practice.

This study group sets out to explore developments in Kleinian theory and practice over the past seventy years – what has remained central, what has been discarded, what has become better understood and what is contentious today. The course is designed to work at different levels, offering food for thought to those unfamiliar with Kleinian thinking as well as those who wish to deepen and enrich their understanding and use of psychoanalytic concepts.

Melanie Klein and those influenced by her have formed a central strand in British psychoanalytic and psychodynamic thinking since the Second World War. Much that was once considered innovative and controversial in her approach has been taken up by those with reservations about her basic tenets. Lively debate continues among those more sympathetic to Kleinian ways of seeing and understanding.

It is possible to attend individual sessions, but there is much to be gained by revisiting material that may seem familiar and through involvement in an ongoing process. In previous years there has been a lively dynamism in the group: participants have found a space to share impressions, responses, puzzlement, connections and insights, including reflections on clinical issues.

The readings include earlier and later practitioners, clinical and theoretical considerations. We refer back to Freud and Klein as we consider how thinking and technique has developed, aiming to replicate the analytic cycle of learning and working-through. Detailed notes are provided to help contextualise the readings; there are suggestions of secondary sources that discuss and summarise the main readings and of further relevant material.

If you attend these study groups, you can expect:

1. A deeper understanding of projective and identificatory processes in work with clients.
2. A broader conception of how internal and external worlds interact and affect each other.
3. Greater clarity about where you stand in relation to key theoretical and ethical issues.
4. An overview of what the Kleinian tradition has contributed to British Object Relations.

There will be a different paper for each session. The programme centres on readings from key figures in the Kleinian tradition – Freud, Segal, Rosenfeld, Bion, Money-Kyrle, Meltzer, Joseph, Steiner, Britton. We will think about the issues raised in the readings in relation to participants’ clinical experiences and dilemmas.

Comments from Previous Participants

• “This once monthly format is really good value, as I have learnt so much more compared to the equivalent amount of hours in an average 2 days CPD course.”

• “I’m finding the papers enriching whilst at the same time challenging as well as questions and views raised by the group.  This is good as its stirring me up out of lazy thinking.  I have found the relevance/benefit of theories has been demonstrated in the group on several occasions and also it’s helping me with often confusing work.”
• “Linking the reading to our clinical work is most valuable.”

Course Reading

Participants will be expected to have a basic understanding of the concepts of the paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions and of projective identification. Detailed session reading will be sent on booking.

David Smart’s first career was in multi-disciplinary work in mainstream educational and off-site settings with secondary-age pupils experiencing difficulties. He trained with WPF Therapy to practice as a school counsellor and work privately as a psychotherapist with adults. He is committed to collaborative learning and understands development as a life-long, spiral process. Publications include “Play’ in practice in psychotherapy and education’, European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling, Volume 10, Issue 2, 2008, pp. 147 – 158 (with L. Gomez).

These sessions will be of interest to practicing counsellors/psychotherapists and trainees engaged in clinical work. There will be a focus on working with the ideas and issues clinically. Priority will be given to participants who can attend all 10 sessions.

If you experience any problems during the application process then please call or e-mail Training Administration on 020 7378 2050/events@wpf.org.uk in order to be sent an application form.

How do we understand and work with violence? For many psychotherapists the idea of working with violent offenders is frightening. But, is there violence in all of us?  This lecture is an opportunity to hear from a leader in the field who has extensive experience of working therapeutically with the worst of society’s offenders. You will learn more about violence as a form of criminal rule breaking, and the psychopathology of violence as well as the implications for psychotherapeutic treatment.

In this lecture Gwen will set out some data about violence as a form of criminal rule breaking; and describe some of the theories about how violence occurs. She will focus on the psychopathology of violence from the perspective of development psychopathology, especially attachment theory and disorders of embodiment. She will conclude with some discussion about the implications for intervention and treatment.

Lecturer
Dr Gwen Adshead is a forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist.  For nearly 20 years she worked with seriously disturbed patients at Broadmoor Hospital. She is trained as a group analyst, mindfulness based cognitive therapist and in mentalisation based therapy. She has worked with people whose mental disorders have led them to commit acts of serious violence, and who are usually detained in secure units or prisons. Gwen is the author of over 100 papers, commentaries, and book chapters and she has co-edited several textbooks on forensic psychiatry, personality disorder and psychotherapy.

Applications must be received by Thursday, 30th May 2019. Booking will be final after receipt of payment.

If you experience any problems during the application process then please call or e-mail Training Administration on 020 7378 2050/events@wpf.org.uk in order to be sent an application form.

Wilfred Bion is a major figure in psychoanalysis. His work is illuminating, sometimes controversial, and above all clinically wise. In the First World War he served in the Tank Corps in France as a tank commander and then captain, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his actions at the Battle of Cambrai. His deeply honest autobiography includes some unmatched descriptions of the reality of war; and towards the end of his life he addresses the question of ‘why war?’ in his novel A Memoir of the Future.

Speaker
Nicola Abel-Hirsch is a training analyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society. She has given papers and seminars on Bion in the UK, Taiwan (annually 2005-2012), the USA, and Europe. She was a visiting professer at Essex University (2013-2015) and is the editor of Hanna Segal’s Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Her book, Bion: 365 Quotes  is published by Routledge (2019). She works in full-time psychoanalytical practice in North London.

Applications must be received by Thursday, 5th June 2019. Booking will be final after receipt of payment.

If you experience any problems during the application process then please call or e-mail Training Administration on 020 7378 2050/events@wpf.org.uk in order to be sent an application form.