1st Edition
Personification Using the Dialogical Self in Psychotherapy and Counselling
Personification discusses the theory behind multiplicity of the person and considers the implications that the relationships between the different parts of the same person have in practice. Providing both historical and contemporary insights John Rowan reveals new thinking and research in the field, as well as offering guidelines for using this information in practice.
The book also looks closely at the practice of personification – a technique involving the turning of a problem into a person and allowing a two-way dialogue through which the inner critic can be addressed and explored.
As such areas of discussion include:
- the use of multiplicity in therapy
- group work and the dialogical self
- the transpersonal
This practical, straightforward book will be ideal reading for anyone using personification in their therapeutic work, including psychotherapists, counsellors and coaches.
Part I: Introduction 1. A Fresh Look 2. Implications 3. The Brave New World. Part II: The Dialogical Self in Therapy 4. The Use of Multiplicity in Therapy 5. How To 6. The New Practice 7. Groupwork and the Dialogical Self. Part III: Directions and The Potential 8. The Transpersonal 9. Some Ways Forward.
Biography
John Rowan is a counsellor and psychotherapist, working with both individuals and couples, in private practice in north-east London. He is a Fellow of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and has an Honorary Fellowship from the UKCP. He is also a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a founder member of the UK Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners.
"I use psychotherapy and counselling models and methods, including multiplicity, in my professional coaching work. Like John I am sceptical about the "absolute truth" of any such models, but I find that when I and a client use them as if they are true, while all the time knowing that they are not, the work can be very productive. This book deepens my understanding of the processes which I use, and it will refine my work. I found it fascinating." - Sir John Whitmore PhD, Chair of Performance Consultants International, The Institute of Human Excellence, and a strong advocate of the use of the Transpersonal in coaching
"John Rowan’s book is an impressive and audacious attempt to overcome the "narcissism of small differences" so typical of many psychotherapeutic traditions. As a bridge builder with an open and integrative mind, he throws new light on the broad literature about subpersonalities. By introducing dialogical self theory, he presents a compelling new vision that brings together personal and transpersonal phenomena that were treated too long as dichotomous domains in the literature on the self." - Hubert J.M. Hermans, Radboud University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
"This book provides an in depth tour of multiplicity and the dialogical self. If you want to know what is happening on the leading edge of psychotherapeutic work read this. An integrative text that will inform and challenge you." - Leslie S. Greenberg, York University, Canada
