The therapy relationship : a special kind of friendship / Richard Hallam.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hallam, Richard, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Psychotherapy.

Social psychology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (197 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

London : Routledge, 2018.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"This book proposes that the age-old rules and virtues of friendship lie at the heart of all forms of psychotherapy and counselling. A therapist, however, is a special kind of friend. The unwritten moral code of friendship that governs reciprocity, trust, truth-telling, commitment, support, and advice is adopted by all forms of therapy but is modified in unique ways according to underlying theory, philosophy, values, and forms of self-presentation. Codes of conduct and ethical guidelines are viewed in this book as ways to protect the participants from unwanted and distracting obligations and temptations while still benefiting from the intimacy and commitments of friendship. The norms of friendship are adopted as a template in order to evaluate how therapy has deviated from them in order to position itself under the influence of professionalisation, medicalisation, commercialisation, politicisation, and the need to brand itself as an applied technology. It is argued that psychotherapy and counselling will cease to exist if the underlying moral foundation of their practices is ignored and submerged under the pressures of cost-efficiency, government agendas, and the excesses of statutory regulation. In this light, the book critically examines sociological critiques and the wisdom of present ethical codes."--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

chapter One Introduction to the issues / Richard Hallam

chapter Two A brief historical survey of wise counsel and friendship / Richard Hallam

chapter Three The humanistic approach / Richard Hallam

chapter Four The psychodynamic approach / Richard Hallam

chapter Five Applied science/technology / Richard Hallam

chapter Six Can we compare different approaches to therapy? / Richard Hallam

chapter Seven Therapy: Cracks in the foundations / Richard Hallam

chapter Eight The client’s perspective / Richard Hallam

chapter Nine Do-it-yourself (DIY) therapy / Richard Hallam

chapter Ten Therapy as social regulation / Richard Hallam

chapter Eleven Ethics, therapy, and friendship / Richard Hallam.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed November 13, 2015).

ISBN:

9780429922459

0429922450

9780429908224

0429908229

9780429483455

0429483457

9781782414568

1782414568

OCLC:

925291944