This book deals with the link between the purpose of therapy and the boundaries of the therapeutic situation, which - the author argues - derive from the omnipresence of the anxiety surrounding separations and death. The theoretical framework of this book is part of a developmental line from Freud, Klein and Winnicott to Langs, via Sartre and Buber.

In this innovative text, Carol Holmes provides students and professional psychotherapists with an historical account leading to the most up-to-date information on the core psychoanalytic concept of countertransference and the subsequent changes that have occurred in its clinical application. This book uniquely examines the fundamental principles and practice that underpin some of the major schools of psychotherapy including psychoanalysis, existential, humanistic, integrative, systemic and communicative therapy. The author compares the philosophies that underline these diverse schools and...