Trauma, Abandonment and Privilege: A guide to therapeutic work with boarding school survivors

ISBN-13: 9781138788718 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 208 str.

Thurstine Basset

Opis

Trauma, Abandonment and Privilege discusses how ex-boarders can be amongst the most challenging clients for therapists; even experienced therapists may unwittingly struggle to skilfully address the needs of this client group. It looks at the effect on adults of being sent away to board in childhood and the problems associated with boarding, which have only recently been acknowledged by mainstream mental health professionals.

This practice-based book is illustrated by case studies, diagrams and exercises and is divided into three parts: Recognition; Acceptance; Change . It aims to help readers understand the emotional processes of boarding and the psychological aspects of survival, outlining the steps toward recovery and the repercussions of survival. The book also explores how ex-boarders frequently struggle with intimate relationships with spouses and partners and offers interventions and strategies for those working with ex-boarder clients.

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Trauma, Abandonment and Privilege" will be of interest to therapists, counsellors and mental health workers across the UK. It will also be relevant to those who are well acquainted with boarding schools based on the UK model, for example in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India.

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Recenzje

"This book alerts psychotherapists to the hidden emotional trauma of boarding school. Case histories show how deceptive appearances can be. Many boarding children grow up with chronic anxiety, despite leading busy, conscientious, adult lives; they struggle with close relationships having learnt to dissociate and to project disowned feelings onto others. A helpful addition to a growing literature on this peculiar aspect of British life." - Sue Gerhardt, author of Why Love Matters and The Selfish Society

"British independent boarding schools are frequently seen as the envy of the world. This provocative book - based on twenty-five years of therapeutic practice - suggests that far from being models of excellence, they are the source of psychological distress which mars the lives even of those who appear to be their most successful products. Passionate engagement, exceptional clinical experience and case studies which portray the anguish of the human soul make this an impressive book which should be required reading for therapists, educationists and politicians. It may also prove a life-saver for many boarding school 'survivors'." - Brian Thorne, Emeritus Professor of Counselling, University of East Anglia, Co-founder, the Norwich Centre for Personal, Professional and Spiritual Development

"Informed by a wealth of experience Bassett and Duffell have created a valuable and timely resource for therapists and counsellors.Vivid examples from workshops and testimony from boarding school survivors build a convincing picture of the 'strategic survival personality'. Informed by theory the book is accessible and practical; it offers suggestions on technique, including exercises and questions for practitioners. It will equip the professional reader to identify and work with this client group and offers significant insights for ex-boarders. This is an excellent and lively contribution to the growing literature in this field." - Professor Joy Schaverien PhD, Jungian Psychoanalyst and author of Boarding School Syndrome: The Psychological Trauma of the Privileged Child'

"Basset and Duffell have written a helpful, lucid and controversial book that sets out the fruits of 30 years work with this newly recognised and challenging client group. Using real life case studies they show how a, so-called, 'privileged' education, based in a style of 'attachment breaking institutionalisation with its roots in Victorian hyper- masculinity', has a cost for individuals and society as a whole. The case studies show how painstaking psychotherapy can offer a route to helping these clients reclaim their humanity. This is a follow up to nick's groundbreaking 'The Making of Them' - which stripped the veil from the culturally acceptable face ofpublic school education." - Adam Jukes

Spis treści

Foreword  Part 1 Recognition  Chapter 1 Introduction  Chapter 2 What Therapists Can Do: an overview  Chapter 3 Managing Separation and Loss  Chapter 4 Survival  Chapter 5 Signs, Symptoms and Relationship Issues   Part 2 Acceptance  Chapter 6 Remembering  Chapter 7 Adapting  Chapter 8 Trauma  Chapter 9 Sex: Puberty, Gender, and Abuse  Part 3 Change  Chapter 10 The Healing Process  Chapter 11 Unmasking Survival Patterns  Chapter 12 Homecoming  Postscript Boarding in the 21st Century  Appendix Useful Organisations