Comments for Confer

Comment on Attachment Trauma, Deprivation and Violent Behaviour: offering psychotherapy to male prisoners in prison by Ursula Sattar

Ursula Sattar — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 20:58:11 +0000

I really appreciated this presentation. Mary Haley is clearly an extraordinarily compassionate person who works in a difficult environment. This aspect of the job can not be underestimated. Her work as a psychotherapist in Grendon appears to be multi-layered in that it involves the contribution of both the prison staff and the prisoners. I understand this is no easy task but she offers hope to many deeply wounded people who have completely given up on themselves.

Comment on The Psychodynamics of Personality Disorder, Sadism and Destructiveness in the Countertransference by Ursula Sattar

Ursula Sattar — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 20:22:08 +0000

I found Dr Ronald Doctor’s presentation most informative and interesting as he discussed concepts such as the consequences of projective identification and how it can lead to a narcissistic organisation of the patients mind. I was curious when he spoke about the countertransference practitioners might experience with certain patients with a propensity for violence. I found myself eager to understand more when Dr Doctor introduced two of his patients. The second patient he spoke about was a woman with a deeply traumatic childhood. While presenting her history he listed the adversity in childhood experiences she had endured in her life. The list included being sexually abused at the age of fourteen.
I am a humanistic and integrative psychotherapist. I have worked for many years with clients who have experienced sexual violence and sexual abuse in childhood. I worked in the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and a women’s prison. I am currently in private practice.
Dr Doctor was generous in sharing the strong feelings he had while taking this patient’s history. He mentioned that it was ‘difficult to believe’. He hinted at her untrustworthiness as he considered the likelihood that she had been sexually violated on more than one occasion. It was at this point that I thought about the clients that I have worked with. I have found that people who have been unfortunate enough to experience CSA are very lightly to experience it more than once. They are impacted in such a way that they are completely vulnerable to the possibility of missing signs of danger in adulthood. One of the most important interventions for a client such as this, is to be believed. A client already feels like a bad person as they tend to blame themselves for the CSA and so quite often they will offer these critical thoughts as a way of introducing themselves.
I also found it to be most insightful when Dr Doctor mentioned the possibility of collusion as countertransferance towards certain clients. This resonated with me as I considered occasions where the clients I worked with to be particularly difficult and I can identify that this was how I responded.

Comment on Women and Goddess Myths by Rebecca Pfister

Rebecca Pfister — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 06:38:11 +0000

This really piqued my interest!

Comment on Burning out? The importance of wildness, creativity and comfort in a sustainable life by Rebecca Pfister

Rebecca Pfister — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 17:49:50 +0000

Really enjoyed this video.

Comment on Burning out? The importance of wildness, creativity and comfort in a sustainable life by Olivia

Olivia — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 17:17:55 +0000

A wonderful presentation full of wisdom care and comfort, I will recommend it to my friends and colleagues!

Comment on Suicidality by Heather

Heather — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 16:47:22 +0000

Very thoughtful and containing

Comment on Black Feminisms in the Consulting Room by Heather

Heather — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 10:52:32 +0000

Very helpful, thank you.

Comment on Women, Nature and Rituals by Heather

Heather — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 15:46:42 +0000

Fascinating, very helpful to thinking about relationship to anture in client work and got me interested to explore more, thank you

Comment on Psychotherapeutic Work with Sexual Harassment by Heather

Heather — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 12:19:31 +0000

excellent, so helpful for my practice with women and men, lots to go away and think about, thank you

Comment on Sisters as Mothers by Heather

Heather — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 11:04:28 +0000

Really very interesting thank you. I have The primal Wound and found it very helpful when undertaking some research as part of the Adoption Support Fund a number of years ago, recommended by my clincial supervisor at the time. So important I think for anyone working in this field, and as therapy rules are changing regarding the qualifications of therapists to work in this area (which I think is a good change), educating ourselves about the dynamics and beliefs held around adoption and parenting are really key. Very helpful to get the historic context from this and to reflect on how much the history is still alive in how children’s/family social care and adoption currently works and the phantasies that all involved can be engaged in, at the expense of parents (birth and adoptive), children, the adults they grow into, and society as a whole.