A Practical Psychoanalytic Guide to Reflexive Research offers an accessible guide to enriched qualitative research. In this novel approach, the researcher’s feelings and empathy in relation to participants take centre stage, leading to fresh, exciting and usable research findings. The psychoanalytic concept of reverie refers to those startling and unexpected images, feelings and daydreams which can come to mind as we interact with other people in the world. Qualitative research involves interacting with human subjects, and the book shows how uncanny or troubling reverie experiences can be turned to good use by being linked back to deeper research questions and hypotheses. Joshua Holmes critically explores the role of self-reflection (reflexivity) in psychoanalysis and qualitative research. Practical guidance is offered while planning research; conducting research interviews; analysing interview data; teaching methods which foster the capacity for reverie; and in relation to research groups. Examples are given throughout, including the author’s own missteps along the way, in which he shares the importance of learning from experience. The book breathes life into research processes offering much-needed clinical relevance. The method moves away from one-size-fits all, formulaic research procedures and brings tenor, colour and texture into the research process, to create vivid, real-life meaningful findings. A Practical Psychoanalytic Guide to Reflexive Research will be essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate qualitative researchers wishing to enhance their reflexive practice, while psychotherapists and psychoanalysts will find a genuinely psychoanalytic research method, where their clinical skills become vital capacities rather than an awkward hindrance.

A research methodology guide in the health and social sciences, focusing on the researcher's reflective processes.

This book proposes a new method for working on the complex and polysemic notion of interculturality, aimed at scholars, students and educators who have an interest in enriching and challenging their own take on this somewhat controversial scientific notion. Multiple examples of observability made by the authors are provided to illustrate the method. The book helps readers to look at themselves as ‘producers’, ‘consumers’ and ‘promoters’ of selected knowledge of interculturality. This book represents an original contribution to the field, by introducing the importance of observation and reflexivity in building up varied epistemic engagements with the notion of interculturality.

We are fed at the breast of culture, not wholly but to differing degrees. The Culture-Breast in Psychoanalysis: Cultural Experiences and the Clinic focuses on the formative influence of cultural objects in our lives, and the contribution such experiences make to our mental health and overall wellbeing. The book introduces “the culture-breast”, a new clinical concept, to explore the central importance played by cultural objects in the psychical lives of patients and psychoanalytic clinical practitioners inside and outside the consulting room. Bringing together clinical writings from psychoanalysis and cultural objects from the applied fields of film, art, literature and music, the book also makes an argument for the usefulness of encounters with cultural objects as “non-clinical case studies” in the training and further professional development of psychoanalysts and psychotherapists. Through its engagement with psychosocial studies, this text, furthermore, interrogates, challenges and offers a way through a hierarchical split that has become established in psychoanalysis between “clinical psychoanalysis” and “applied psychoanalysis”. Combining approaches used in clinical, academic and arts settings, The Culture-Breast in Psychoanalysis is an essential resource for clinical practitioners of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, counselling, psychology and psychiatry. It will also be of interest to researchers and practitioners in the fields of psychosocial studies, sociology, social work, cultural studies and the creative and performing arts.

Learning how to use critical self-reflection creatively when practising therapy is an important component of training. This level of self-awareness is, however, often neglected in research, despite the centrality of the researcher to their work. Doing Practice-based Research in Therapy: A Reflexive Approach makes the vital link between practical research skills and self-awareness, critical reflection and personal development in practice-based research. Starting with a clear introduction to the theory, practice and debates surrounding this type of research, the book then guides the reader step-by-step through the practicalities of the research process, encouraging them to reflect upon and evaluate their practice at each stage. The book: - incorporates case studies throughout to illustrate different methodological approaches - uses real life examples from students conducting practice-based psychotherapy research - includes exercises, chapter objectives, end-of-chapter questions and suggestions for further reading to help consolidate learning - encourages ongoing personal development by introducing personal development planning (PDP) and lifelong learning in the field of research. By demystifying the reflexive approach, this highly practical guide ensures that trainees and qualified therapists get the most, both professionally and personally, from their practice-based research.

With close attention to Wilfred Bion's influence on the literature about groups and organisations, this book explores how containment has been transposed from the clinical setting to enlighten the work being carried out by psychodynamic practitioners and researchers, especially within organisations. In the first part, contributors explore the origins of containment, comparing and contrasting it with similar concepts such as holding. A second part is devoted to addressing the implications of utilising psychoanalytic ideas beyond the couch and bringing them to the social field of groups and organisations. The early days of such ideas, as well as the wide range of methods applied, are also addressed in this section with the aim of giving the reader a more comprehensive base for the application of psychoanalytic knowledge. Finally, the third part provides a detailed view of the different applications of containment in consulting, leadership, therapeutic communities and group relations. Drawing on their own experiences, the authors highlight how psychoanalytic concepts impact their own practice, contributing to a collection that will prove essential for psychoanalysts, managers, policymakers, consultants and researchers in a wide range of professional and clinical settings.