New Horizons in Systemic Practice with Adults (Palgrave Texts in Counselling and Psychotherapy)

Acknowledgements
Contents
Notes on Contributors
1: Editors’ Introduction
	Reference
2: The Therapeutic Relationship: A Systemic View of Agape
	How We Came to Write This Chapter
	The Conceptual Belonging of Agape
	‘Therapeutic Love’ Within the Psychoanalytic Tradition
	Reflections on Agape Within the Systemic Tradition
	Power and Difference
	Therapy as an Attachment Process
	The Meeting of Minds
	Supervision and Therapist Self-Care
	Conclusion
	References
3: Trust, Movement and Collaboration: An Exploration of Trust, Its Significance and Its Forms of Expression in Therapy Sessions
	Dear Reader
	This Chapter’s Invitation to You
	“Show, Don’t Tell” and the Refinement of Knowledge About Oneself
	Moving the Perspective
	Suicide: Caring
	What Creates Trust When Different Considerations Are in Opposition?
	Final Remarks
	References
4: Questioning Forgiveness
	Prelude (Anne)
	Introduction
	II
	III (Bård)
	IV
	V (Anne)
	VI (Bård)
	VII
	VIII (Anne)
	IX
	CODA
	References
5: Longing, and Longing for Oneself: What Can Therapists Learn from “Soul Activism”?
	Introduction
	The So-Called Self
	Turning the Gaze Away from Oneself
	A Departure from Nature?
	Healing Through Surrendering
	Therapy: A Healing Process for the Therapist?
	Love as a Transaction or as a Universal Dimension? Soul Activism
	Are We All Therapists?
	References
6: Giving Resonance and Room to Spirituality in Systemic Practice
	Introduction
	Our Journeys
	The Spiritual Human
	Religious Life
	Humanistic Spirituality
	Voices of Spirituality from Youths
	Longing for Belonging
	The Mystery of Life
	Spirituality and Systemic Practice
	To Be Met in Love
	How to Be Familiar with the Unfamiliar?
	Making Room for Wondering and Reflections
	Embrace the Complexity
	The Therapist’s Spiritual Path
	Time for Contemplation
	Closing Reflections
	References
7: The Gift of Literary Fiction to Systemic Training and Practice
	My First Reading Experiences
	Longing for Home
	What Does It Mean to Live Separately and Together?
	Literary Fiction: A Tuning Fork for Sensitivity
		The Journal, the Novel and Their Different Voices
	Bringing Literature Groups into the Study of Family Therapy
	Report from One of the Literature Groups
	References
8: Till Life Do Us Apart: An Exploration of Crumbs on the Floor and Existential Themes in Couples Therapy
	Introduction
	Our Own Life Experiences
	Cultural Context and Background
	The Couple
	How to Explore Existential Themes
		Theoretical Introduction
	Relating to Melody and Margot
	Exploring with Melody and Margot: Step by Step
		Step 1: Creating a Community of Wonder and Finding an Existential Theme
		Step 2: Find Events of Positive Manifestation of Phenomena and Choose One
		Step 3: Explore and Find the Essential Characteristics of the Phenomena in the Narrative
		Step 4: Explore and Challenge What We Find
		Step 5: Strengthening What We Find in Everyday Life and Relationship
	Alternative Themes to Explore
	Conclusion What Can Existential Exploration Offer Couples?
	References
9: Should I Stay, or Should I Go? Rethinking Identity and the Experience of Migration as a Systemic Dialogue in Therapy
	The Subtle Layers of the Migration Process
	What Happens in the Therapy Room When Both Therapist and Client Are Migrants?
		Intergenerational Implications and Cultural Assumptions
		Rethinking Identity: Reframing and Self-disclosure
		Musings About “Home”
		Conflict of Loyalty: Should I Stay, or Should I Go?
	Resources and Traps Behind a Common Cultural Origin
	Concluding Thoughts
	References
10: If We Only Met Once? A Talk with Five Single Session Orientated Therapists
	Introduction
	Therapeutic Findings
		The Bigger Picture
		Context and Process
		Preparation and the Beginning of a Session
			Questionnaires
			The First Hello
			Creating a Belief for Change
			During the Session
				Collaboration
				Embedded Hope
				Creativity in How We Work
				Safety and Openness
			Towards the End and After a Session
	Sharing Reflections
	Summaries and the Takeaway
	Being the Therapist
	When We Need More Than One Session or a Different Therapist
	Conclusion
	References
11: Coming Full Circle with the Neuroscience: Using New Theory to Re-understand Therapy
	Complex Trauma
	Dispositional Representations
	Integration and Self-Reflexivity
	The Advent of Polyvagal Theory
	Conclusion
	References
12: Epilogue
Index