Taking as its point of departure Frued's notion of transference as a playground and building on the foundations of the independent tradition of British object relations theory and modern infancy research, The Playground of Psychoanalytic Therapy proffers a new understanding of the role of play in the clinical situation. Jean Sanville takes the reader on a fascinating journey in which the safe playground of the therapeutic situation, the therapist's playful engagement of the patient, and the latter's emergent ability to embrace playfully the liberating possibilities of psychoanalytic therapy...

Wherever contemporary therapists offer treatment, whether in social agencies or clinics, in outpatient or inpatient services, or even in private practice, they are likely to find themselves increasingly working with people whose histories are characterized by deprivation and repeated trauma-experiences that have left them feeling damaged, often short of basic trust in others, and lacking confidence in themselves. These people have tended to be seen as beyond the pale for psychoanalytically oriented treatment. The contributors to this volume would disabuse us of such a prejudiced opinion. They...