Sutton, Sarah (2013) Being taken in: How can psychoanalytic psychotherapy lead to better relationships for an adopted child? Professional Doctorate thesis, Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust / University of East London. Full text available

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Abstract

Neuroscience now demonstrates that a child’s early relationships establish the brain patterns that make a mind (Balbernie, 2001). Through intersubjectivity, the qualities of these earliest relationships set up a frame of reference for understanding experience, as a way of getting to know the world to which the child must adapt in order to survive. They are thus framing relationships, which set a template for relating through which experience is understood. The template for neglected, abused and deprived children is adapted to a neglectful, abusive and depriving world, with the result that this is not just what they expect, it is what they experience, even when other possibilities are on offer. The question is, how do you develop if development happens through intersubjectivity in relationship and you experience the mechanism of change, the relationship itself, as suspect - even dangerous? I address this question through investigating the process of intersubjectivity in psychoanalytic psychotherapy with an adopted boy of nine. Clinical material demonstrates how the early template, adapted to adversity, is applied to the present moment. The evidence suggests that the process of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, working by the same intersubjective process in which the brain was wired early on, is potentially a re-framing relationship. Its reflexive nature offers a way of addressing the problem that the mechanism of change, the relationship itself, is suspect. I offer findings from neuroscience and clinical material which support the view that the integration of intersubjective emotional regulation with attuned reflexivity constitutes the mechanism of change for disturbed children.

Item Type:	Thesis (Professional Doctorate)
Additional Information:	A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of East London in collaboration with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust for the Professional Doctorate in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with Children, Adolescents and their Families
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Professional Doctorate in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with Children, Adolescents and their Families, University of East London, 2023 additions
Subjects:	Children, Young People and Developmental Pyschology > Child Psychotherapy Children, Young People and Developmental Pyschology > Emotions Children, Young People and Developmental Pyschology > Adoption & Fostering- Psychology Children, Young People and Developmental Pyschology > Child Abuse & Neglect - Psychology Disabilities & Disorders (mental & physical) > Behaviour Disorders
Department/People:	Children, Young Adult and Family Services Research
URI:	https://repository.tavistockandportman.ac.uk/id/eprint/2753

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