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This recently published Tavistock Clinic Series book is an engaging, comprehensive, much-needed and ground-breaking publication edited by Jo Stubley and Linda Young. It has been deservedly nominated for a Gradiva Award, which showcases the best works that advance psychoanalysis.
Clinicians in the second generation of the Trauma Service have been building on Caroline Garland's (1998) work by moving it into the territory of complex trauma, anchoring it in neuroscience and attachment theories, and acknowledging the narrowness of Cartesian dualism splitting the mind from the body. They have been responding to the needs of various groups of patients presenting to the service, developing their expertise in general principles and in specific areas. This work required clinicians to be creative and adapt the psychoanalytic technique, as well as embrace innovative interventions incorporating the mind and the body, resulting in a truly holistic approach which places relationships at the heart of the work. Confidence and joy in clinical work is abundant through the book, and one of its biggest assets—despite the distressing nature of patients’ stories—is that it is always underpinned by the humility of the clinicians. A stance of curiosity, sensitivity and kindness is paramount across all chapters and anchored in the robust conceptual framework. The importance of not working in isolation and connection to others is highlighted, acknowledging the weight of work with trauma and the potential for vicarious traumatization. This work can get caught up in repetition compulsion patterns and is prone to re-enactments which serve the purpose of communication, moving the work forward. To disentangle an often complex web of these dynamics—a space for reflection in the context of relationships with others—is vital. The Tavistock Trauma Service certainly comes across as taking this seriously, including the innovative approach described in the chapter ‘Writing Trauma’.
Even the book cover lith