Clinical Commentary II

[In this section a short piece of clinical material from a actual session is presented with a brief introduction about the case. The material as published here was seat ‘blind’ to three people who represent different psychotherapeutic schools of thought. They have been asked to comment on the material and the approach of the therapist in the session. The intention in putting these commentaries side by side is to compare the approaches of the different schools in order to facilitate the understanding of alternative terminologies and modes of practice.]

This man, a Roman Catholic priest in his early forties, came into therapy for three slated reasons: to cope with his feelings about his father's death; to explore his roots, cultural, familial and religious; and to ‘have the experience of therapy’.

The material in this report has been disguised to preserve confidentiality.

The History

He comes from an extremely enmeshed family. Father was fifteen years older than mother and, though a devout Roman Catholic, had already been divorced. His sister is twelve years older than himself, born before his parents were married. The family are Anglo-Asians, who lived in Africa, but came to England to escape political troubles when he was nine. The family considered England to be their homeland and suffered a great shock when their joint fantasy of living in ‘a cottage in the country’ was destroyed by their first sight of the two-roomed flat in a Liverpool tenement which was to be their home for the next seven years. They never spoke of their disappointment with each other. The whole family shared one bed until he was seventeen, but he did not think this abnormal until later. He has no recollection of any possibility of sexual relationship between his parents and finds the thought of it ‘rather distasteful’ - his father would have been a ‘dirty old man’. His father was ‘always old’, treated by mother more as uncle or grandfather rather than husband. He has had no sex