Clinical Commentary 36

The Clinical Commentaries were a regular feature in the British Journal of Psychotherapy from the first issue in 1984 to the 35th commentary in 2007. They offered clinicians an opportunity to think carefully about a detailed piece of clinical work, formulate their own thoughts about it, and then read the responses of the commentators. This opportunity to ‘play’ with clinical material and reflect on the different responses and approaches of the commentators was often not only an enlivening and enjoyable reading experience in itself, but also helped readers to clarify their own ideas in relation to those of the commentators. Ann Scott, the editor of the BJP, has been keen to revive and develop the clinical commentaries and we are delighted to be introducing the first of what we hope will become a regular bi-annual feature of the BJP.

We are very grateful to the therapist who has offered the clinical material which follows. It requires a particular quality of generosity to offer clinical material in this context, as well as a relatively low level of paranoid anxiety. We hope that you will enjoy reading the material and will be able to take a moment to formulate your own responses to it, before reading the responses of the commentators.

Those offering clinical material are invited to present material from one session, or from one session with brief reference to material from the previous or subsequent session, and to give enough of the context in which the work takes place, of the patient's history, and of the stage in the therapy when the clinical material occurs, to orientate the reader. We also ask to hear something about the questions, dilemmas or difficulties that the work presents to the therapist at the time the clinical exchanges take place.

It is of the essence of these commentaries that the clinical material is offered anonymously, and so there are none of the benefits of recognition and reputation as a compensation for the considerable work put into the writing.