The Art and Science of Relationship

Reissue of a classic work with updated introduction, this clearly written book is useful for both practitioners and students in psychotherapy and other mental health professions. It focuses on the central role of the therapeutic relationship, and of relationships in general, in the healing process and in maintaining a psychologically healthy life. The Art and Science of Relationship: The Practice of Integrative Psychotherapy is an easy-to-read explication of relationally focused integrative psychotherapy/counselling that will be enjoyed by novice and experienced mental health professionals worldwide. Richard Erskine and Janet Moursund illuminate the central role of the therapeutic relationship, and of relationships in general, both in the healing process and in maintaining a psychologically healthy life. They posit that the therapeutic relationship is key to helping clients become integrated or whole, and present both theory and practice to demonstrate this view. The book is divided into three parts: Theoretical Foundations, Therapeutic Practice, and a full verbatim transcript of a therapy session. The book's unique feature is the linkage of the transcript section with the earlier, theoretical and practice-oriented sections to clearly show how theory can be applied in the consulting room. For virtually every exchange between therapist and patient, the reader is directed back to a discussion of the specific aspect of theory and method that underly the actual words being spoken. The result is theory brought to life, theory brought out of the classroom or the professional workshop and into the real world of ongoing psychotherapy. This book is highly recommended for students and practitioners of psychotherapy, counselling, and clinical psychology, and will be of interest to all those who work in a mental health setting. AUTHORS: Richard G. Erskine, PhD, Training Director at the Institute for Integrative Psychotherapy, is a clinical psychologist with five decades of experience in the clinical practice and teaching of psychotherapy. He has specialised in the treatment of severely disturbed children, run a therapeutic community in a maximum security prison, and conducted his psychotherapy practice in New York City specialising in the treatment of obsession, dissociation, narcissism, schizoid processes. Janet Moursund, PhD, is a retired psychotherapist and professor of counselling psychology. Originally trained in educational psychology, she brings to the practice of psychotherapy a grounding in learning theory as well as years of experience as a therapist and a teacher.