Main description:

Therapeutic presence-one's ability to exist fully in the moment with a client-is crucial to effective psychotherapy practice.

Since the first edition of Therapeutic Presence was published nearly a decade ago, further research has emphasized the role and deepened our understanding of this essential building block of effective therapeutic relationships.

This book is a detailed guide on cultivating therapeutic presence for new and seasoned therapists alike. The authors' model is based on the results of their extensive study, and revolves around three key aspects of therapeutic presence:

Using mindfulness and experiential exercises to create the conditions for presence, both prior to and in sessions;
Generating attunement to self and others, as a precursor that facilitates therapeutic presence; and
Recognizing the felt experience of in-session presence.

With practical, research-based scenarios and exercises, as well as a full training program for cultivating presence in students and trainees, this text will help train the next generation of therapists in the nuts-and-bolts of empathic attunement and a strong therapeutic alliance to create effective therapy.

Contents:

Introduction to Therapeutic Presence: A Foundation for Effective Therapeutic Relationships
Part I. Theoretical and Empirical Basis of Therapeutic Presence
Chapter 1. Therapeutic Presence: A Theory of Relationship
Chapter 2. History of Presence Across Theoretical Approaches
Chapter 3. Research on Therapeutic Presence
Part II. The Model of Therapeutic Presence
Chapter 4. Preparing the Ground for Therapeutic Presence
Chapter 5. The Process of Therapeutic Presence
Chapter 6. The Embodied Experience of Therapeutic Presence
Part III. Additional Perspectives on Therapeutic Presence
Chapter 7. Levels of Therapeutic Presence
Chapter 8. Challenges to Therapeutic Presence
Chapter 9. Presence Related to Therapists' and Clients' Emotional Experience
Chapter 10. Neurobiology of Therapeutic Presence
Part IV. Approaches to Cultivating Therapeutic Presence
Chapter 11. Mindfulness and Self-Compassion: Ways to Enhance Therapeutic Presence
Chapter 12. Experiential Approaches to Presence
Part V. Training in Therapeutic Presence
Chapter 13. Psychotherapy Training: Cultivating Therapeutic Presence
Chapter 14. Therapeutic Presence Exercises and Practices
Chapter 15. Cultivating Online Therapeutic Presence
Epilogue
References
About the Authors