Transference and Countertransference from an Attachment Perspective

137 Pages·2019·4.433 MB·English

by  Una McCluskey

‘The power of this case for “exploratory goal-corrected psychotherapy”
(EGCP) lies in the diversity of the issues covered: From the broad sweep of
theory – the historical evolution of the understanding of the Transference
from Freud via Fairbairn, Guntrip and Neuroscience to Heard and Lake’s
extension of Bowlby’s Attachment Theory – to the tiny minutiae of inter-
personal interactions, translating the template of mother-infant videoed
observation studies to the adult-to-adult psychotherapy domain, from indivi-
dual to group therapy, we get an integrated perspective which rings true. In
short this is vintage McCluskey.’
—Dr. Tirril Harris, Kings College London
‘In this original and important work, McCluskey and O’Toole bring insights
from Attachment Theory and research and Interpersonal Psychoanalysis to
bear on professional care-giving. They show convincingly how tone of voice,
prosody, and body posture are preconditions for the goal corrected affect
attunement that forms the basis of successful psychotherapies. Their training
groups help practitioners to understand theircountertransferences, the origins
of defensive caregiving, and move towards the joint exploration which is the
mutative edge of therapies. An accessible and pragmatic volume with vital
messages for all serious care-giving professionals.’
—Prof. Jeremy Holmes, University of Exeter
‘This new work by Una McCluskey and Michael O’Toole is one of the most
encouraging books to emerge in the practice and theoryof psychotherapy for
a long time. It contains one of the best accounts of a therapeutic relationship
in the crisis of reliving and making sense of an original trauma. Stunning,
loving and benign. Bravo!’
—Colin Kirkwood, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, Edinburgh.

Transference and Countertransference
from an Attachment Perspective
Locating the phenomenon of transference within an evolutionary perspec-
tive, this important book develops a new form of dynamic therapy that
focuses on the dynamics of attachment in adult life and will be of use to a
range of mental health professionals and those at all levels in the caring
and education professions.
Transference and Countertransference from an Attachment Perspective: A
Guide for Professional Caregivers explores the ways in which transferential
phenomena can be located in the different aspects of the self that are instinc-
tive, goal-corrected, and interrelated. At the centre of the book is the ideathat
when intrapersonal or interpersonal systems (aspects of the self, such as car-
eseeking, caregiving, sharing interests, sexuality, self-defence, building a home)
get aroused, the behaviour that follows is only logically and meaningfully con-
nected when the system (aspect of the self) reaches its goal. Placing this new
theoretical and clinical approach within the psychoanalytic tradition, the work
ofdevelopmentalpsychologists,andthefieldofneuroscience,thebooktakesus
to the heart of the clinical encounter and explores a range of issues including
trauma, the effect of early misattunements, love and hate in the therapeutic
relationship, burnout in caregivers, and the need for exploratory care for care-
givers themselves.
Buildingonthetherapeuticmodalitythatemergedfromtheresearchdescribed
inMcCluskey’sToBeMetasaPerson(2005),thisbookprovidesavaluableguide
for psychologists, psychotherapists, medical practitioners, nurses, social workers,
organizationalconsultants,educators,coaches,andworkplacemanagers.
The McCluskey model for exploring the dynamics of attachment in adult
life which underlies the work described in this book is currently being prac-
tised in a variety of settings and with different ages and communities. These
include end-of-life care, organizations, homelessness, mental health, dementia
care, children, adolescents and families, schools, pastoral work, training of
clinical psychologists and attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapists,
occupational therapy, art therapy, private practice, domestic violence, police
training, GP support and consultation, nurse training and support, pain
management clinics, foster carers, social workers, couple relationships, super-
vision of psychotherapists and counsellors, therapeutic communities, and
complex grief and learning disabilities.
Una McCluskey is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of York.
She is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, a trainer, consultant, researcher, and
supervisor. She developed and rated the concept of ‘goal-corrected empathic
attunement’ (GCEA), a key factor in the therapeutic alliance and essential in
regulating both careseeking and fear. She has developed a model of psy-
chotherapeutic practice based on the dynamics of attachment in adult life,
called exploratory goal-corrected psychotherapy (EGCP). This model is rele-
vant to individual, group, and organizational development. She has an inter-
nationalreputationintheattachmentfieldandhasdevelopedacommunityof
professionals who are trained and experienced in the practice of EGCP. She
has publishedwidely in the field.
Michael O’Toole is a Registered Counselling Psychologist and Psychothera-
pist. Michael works in private practice in the west of Ireland. He has taught
and lectured for many years in the University of Limerick and is currently
offering the model presented in this book to trainees at the Bowlby Centre in
London. He has published papers exploring clinical dilemmas in the field of
attachment.
Transference and
Countertransference from an
Attachment Perspective
A Guide for Professional Caregivers
’
Una McCluskey and Michael O Toole
Firstpublished2020
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This book is dedicated to Dorothy Heard and Brian Lake

Contents
Foreword xi
Acknowledgements xiii
1 Transference and countertransference from an attachment
perspective: introducing the idea of a keystone system within the
dynamic organization of the self 1
2 The dynamics of attachment in adult life 16
3 One’s home base: the keystone system to be addressed as the
source of the transference 22
4 One’s affectionate careseeking self: the keystone system as the
source of the transference 33
5 One’s defensive self: the keystone system as the source of the
transference 46
6 One’s internal environment: the keystone system as the source of
the transference: an exploration of lackof personal narrative and
the presentation of psychosomatic symptoms 53
7 Early misattunements re-enacted in a group context: regulating
virulence in the transference and countertransference from an
attachment perspective 66
8 When one’s caregiving self is the keystone system: an exploration
of data from McCluskey’s work with over 800 professional
caregiverswho explored the dynamics of attachment in theirown
lives 72