Briefly:

The book gets to the heart of psychotherapy by exploring how core relational processes work regardless of model, and by presenting innovative techniques for using reflection, time and visual conversation maps to maximize effectiveness and improve client outcomes.

Description:

A therapeutic relationship is a web of interactions, tasks and processes in space and time. It is not easy to stay aware of the relationship in the thick of talking and trying to help someone, but doing so boosts flexibility and enables deeper formulation. A therapist who can be attentive not only to a specific therapeutic model, but also to relational factors underlying all therapy, has a far greater chance of enabling change. Building on thirty years of theory and practice in the field of Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT), yet speaking directly to practitioners across all schools of thought, Therapy with a Map sets out a therapeutic process of talking accompanied by visual conversation maps set down in real time on paper. By mapping these patterns of thinking and relating, therapists can help clients to develop self-understanding and solve problems, and to take away a freer, more self-aware relationship with themselves in the world.

Author:

STEVE POTTER is a psychotherapist who is teaches and supervises Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) and its application to reflective practice in the UK and internationally. His central interest is in the co-creative process of relational mapping, and how it allows us to see and say things that otherwise might be too complex to hold in mind. He is co-editor of the International Journal of Cognitive Analytic Therapy and Relational Mental Health.