The Psychotherapist and the Professional Complaint
The Shadow Side of Psychotherapy
Editors: Adah Sachs and Valerie Sinason
The patient’s word was once easily dismissed against the word of the psychiatrist, doctor or therapist, leaving the patient vulnerable. Recognising this inherent risk in the relationship between clinicians and patients, professional regulations have gradually been established to facilitate patients’ access to information, support and recourse. However, while most professions also explicitly protect their own members, there are, notably, no systems in place to protect psychotherapists. The current complaint procedure presumes the therapist’s guilt until proven innocent, rather than the reverse.
The Psychotherapist and the Professional Complaint explores this problem with sensitivity and rigour. In these chapters, the contributors examine ways to address serious conflicts in the psychotherapy relationship and the role of professional bodies in protecting their members while regulating their performance. Acknowledging both strengths and flaws, they outline the historical context and future prospects of the current complaint procedures. This book invites us to think and speak on the controversial subject of complaints, supporting patients, therapists and policymakers alike.
ABOUT THE EDITORS
Adah Sachs is a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, previously NHS consultant and psychotherapy lead for the London Borough of Redbridge. She lectures, trains and supervises worldwide on complex trauma, attachment and dissociation, and has authored over 100 conference papers, book chapters and journal articles including three co-edited books. She is a fellow of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD).
Valerie Sinason is an internationally published poet, writer, child psychotherapist, adult psychoanalyst, and lecturer. She is a former consultant psychotherapist at the Tavistock Clinic, President of the Institute of Psychotherapy and Disability (IPD), Founder and Patron of the Clinic for Dissociative Studies (CDS), and currently serves on the board of the ISSTD.
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