Off the Couch

Summary

This book explores how psychoanalytic thinking can be applied beyond the traditional consulting room and to a wide range of clinical and social settings. It focuses particularly on patients and groups who may be difficult to engage through conventional psychotherapy.

The chapters address diverse areas such as work with traumatized adolescents, mothers and babies in prison, young people, and families with young children. The book also examines how psychoanalytic ideas can contribute to mental health services, public health, and social interventions. A central theme is that psychoanalytic concepts such as containment, unconscious processes, attachment, and emotional relationships can remain clinically useful even when therapy takes place outside the traditional psychoanalytic setting. Overall, the book presents psychoanalysis as a flexible approach that can be adapted to different populations and real-world environments.