You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Patrick Casement is an inspiring psychoanalyst. He is highly respected as a very talented clinician, but his special gift is also the capacity to write about his work. He is able to describe what he has learnt and understood in a way that is easily grasped by others working in this field, be they analysts, psychotherapists or psychodynamic counsellors. It is in recognition of this that his books ‘Learning from Experience’ and now ‘Further Learning from the Patient’ are being reissued. ‘Further Learning from the Patient’ was first published in 1990 and is now reissued in 2014. There is a new introduction by Professor Maria Gilbert which is an accolade to his insights and to his capacity to write in a way that means his thoughts are available to those trying now to use psychoanalytic ideas.
The initial chapter ‘Beyond Dogma’ is his account of his journey to psychoanalysis from religious life, to social work and on to psychoanalysis. It places the man in his context, and helps us to understand his centredness and his sense of containment. This initial chapter also highlights his key ideas: the importance of transference and countertransference, the value of trial identification prior to interpretation, the ‘internal supervisor’ (distinct from the internalised external supervisor) and the importance of allowing himself not to know, but to follow the patient.
These themes recur and are elaborated in subsequent chapters. Whilst in the room with a patient it is often obvious what is going on, but the skill lies in knowing when and how to interpret. He explains this crucial skill for a therapist, the how and when to interpret, with telling clinical examples.
His lengthy example is very moving and instructive, a description of managing and recognising the patient's sexuality, and of responding in a way that is helpful to their understanding. This is beautifully illustrated. He goes on to use Matte Blanco's idea of unconscious sets as a way of thinking about the impact of trauma