The Impact of Breaks in Therapy

Organised by:

Tavistock Relationships

Description

With Charles Brown, Linda Cundy & Joy Schaverien

This conference will identify and explore the different types of breaks that may occur in the process of a therapy. Breaks might include an unexpected break or a planned holiday, a tech dysfunction or the time between sessions. Each type of break carries its own unique significance and challenge for therapeutic practice.

A key aspect of understanding the impact of breaks is recognizing that client responses to the breaks are deeply influenced by their relational history and core patterns of attachment. Separations in early life and defences to protect against them play a crucial role in shaping reactions to breaks in therapy from crisis to avoidance. By considering early dynamics, and dynamics in the transference therapists can gain valuable insights into how to effectively navigate and support clients during these periods.

Our speakers will explore how shifts from separation terror and anxiety can move towards a sense of ‘going on being’ and tolerance of breaks and how this can be fostered within the therapeutic alliance. By creating a secure and consistent therapeutic environment, therapists can help support clients to develop object constancy and resilience in the face of separations whether micro or macro and enable the client to use the separation as a positive experience of agency and growth.

We will have three presentations through the day each with a different emphasis and an extended Q&A of one hour to dig deep into the challenges that working through separations can present and the possibilities of deep internal change.

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