Main description:

How do you develop a truly rich and rewarding career in psychotherapy? How can you find joy in such painful work? How do you develop your skills in the field? How can you conquer your creative inhibitions? In short, how do you flourish as a psychotherapist?

Brett Kahr answers these questions, and so many more, in his brilliant new book, painting a frank portrait of the life of the psychotherapist.

Taking the reader through the life cycle of the therapist, Brett offers lots of practical advice, from assessing one's suitability for the career, to managing one's finances, to preparing for death. His clear voice and style shine through in this authentic, readable narrative. Professor Kahr has produced a must-read, gripping account of how you can thrive in every respect in this complex and rewarding career.

How to Flourish as a Psychotherapist should be required reading for every therapist, anyone considering taking up the career, and everyone who has ever wondered what kind of person becomes a therapist. This is a truly original work that should become compulsory reading by all in the field.

Contents:

INTRODUCTION

Survival may not be enough

Part One

Building a Secure Base

CHAPTER ONE

A Noble, Complicated Passion

Mouthwash for the Mind

Zyklon B Gas in the Consulting Room

Friends with Oesophageal Cancer and Vascular Dementia

CHAPTER TWO

Assessing One's Own Sanity

The Perfect Candidate

Pathological Motivations

Can We Afford to Train?

CHAPTER THREE

On Marrying a Library

Bibliophilia Psychotherapeutica

Curling Up with Sigmund Freud

My Three Favourite Reading Rooms

CHAPTER FOUR

The Joys and Pitfalls of Training

A Child in a Sweet Shop

Exhausted, Frazzled, and Scrutinised

Legitimate at Last

CHAPTER FIVE

Cultivating Brilliant Mentors

Dis-identifying from Disappointing Tutors

A Most Inspiring Lecturer from Mendoza

A Great Teacher Under Whom I Never Studied

Part Two

The Art of Prospering

CHAPTER SIX

Perpetual Pupils

Training Never Ends

How to Be a Medieval Monk

Swimming in Organisations

CHAPTER SEVEN

Attracting Referrals

The Art of Advertising

My Last 500 Patients

Answering the Telephone

CHAPTER EIGHT

Managing Money

Under-Charging and Over-Charging

Collecting Fees

Financial Planning for the Future

CHAPTER NINE

The Promotion of Expertise

Flagrant Exhibitionism or Neurotic Inhibitionism?

Generativity versus Stagnation

On Stage at the Royal Opera House

CHAPTER TEN

Patients as Persecutors and as Privileges

The Prevention of Burn-Out

Hate in the Countertransference

Delightful, Honourable People

Part Three

Thriving Beyond the Consulting Room

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Nourishing Fledgling Colleagues

Enlivening the Classroom

On Being a Clinical Supervisor

A Little Drink After Work

CHAPTER TWELVE

Public Lecturing

My Very First Paper

The Length of the Applause

Addressing the United Nations

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Daring to Research

The Humiliation of Edward Glover

A Search for the Traumatic Origins of Psychosis

Sexual Fantasies at the Dinner Table

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Writing Articles and Books

The Agony of 300 Words and the Ease of 300,000

Publishing as a Relational Experience

"Not Another Book on Projective Identification"

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Blue-Sky Projects

Freud Thinks Big

A Bestseller and a Serial Killer

Psychotherapists in Prison and in the Middle East

Part Four

Surviving Success

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Avoiding Isolation

The Need for Solitude

Beware the Ethics Committee

Choosing the Best Dinner Parties

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Navigating Envy

Winnicott's Mutterings in Geneva

Thank God I'm Overweight

On Being Provocative

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Nurturing the Ageing Spine

The Ultimate Narcissistic Injury

The Ten-Minute Gymnasium

Lounging on the Beach

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Embracing Idiosyncrasy

Conquering Creative Entanglements

Mourning Unfulfilled Dreams

The Maverick in Mental Health

CHAPTER TWENTY

Preparing for Death

The Appointment of Clinical Executors

How to Retire Properly

On the Shaping of a Legacy

EPILOGUE

My Parting Thoughts

Acknowledgements

About the author

References

Index