The Art and Science of Psychotherapy

This book identifies fifty crucial themes with which every therapist or counsellor, of any school, should be conversant. Its purpose is to offer students and professionals a strong theoretical outline, and practical directions for renewing their work.
The author writes in the perspective of Psychosynthesis, an open approach created by the Italian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli. In this orientation, all living is relationship; and the rapport between therapist and client is central. Body states, breathing, posture, and the voice reveal the client's emotional state. Metaphors and imagery are the language of the unconscious. Traumas are tackled with a view to recovery and renewal. Meditation, writing, and visualisation help clients explore the inner world and give shape to their existence. Will and the sense of agency are essential to wellbeing. Expansion of consciousness and peak experiences are pointers to healing and freedom. Even in the roughest times, it is possible to find one's own centre.