Breaks

Whatever helping role we hold and whatever context we work in, breaks in the contact between us and our clients/patients always have an impact on the relationship between us, and so on the work.

Breaks may be longer-than-usual gaps in contact (caused by holidays, interruptions due to illness or other commitments), or they may be the regular gaps between meetings, or breaks in the emotional contact within a meeting. 

Psychoanalytic thinking, by focussing on unconscious processes, can help us to understand what any particular break may mean to our patient/client, and how it is being experienced by them. This understanding can then mitigate the otherwise damaging effect of the break on the working alliance.

This workshop will give participants an opportunity to deepen their understanding of psychoanalytic ideas with reference to breaks and to apply this understanding to their own work.

Workshop leader: Clare Harris