The Psychotherapist and the Professional Complaint

This much-needed book explores the hazards of being a therapist and the unique problems of countering a client complaint. It investigates the difficulty of such situations and why the risks of a client complaint are not adequately addressed or mitigated by professional bodies, outlining the kind of support and protection that thera

The patient’s word was once easily dismissed against the word of the psychiatrist, doctor or therapist, leaving the patient vulnerable. Recognising this inherent risk in the relationship between clinicians and patients, professional regulations have gradually been established to facilitate patients’ access to information, support and recourse. However, while most professions also explicitly protect their own members, there are, notably, no systems in place to protect psychotherapists. The current complaint procedure presumes the therapist’s guilt until proven innocent, rather than the reverse. The Psychotherapist and the Professional Complaint explores this problem with sensitivity and rigour. In these chapters, the contributors examine ways to address serious conflicts in the psychotherapy relationship and the role of professional bodies in protecting their members while regulating their performance. Acknowledging both strengths and flaws, they outline the historical context and future prospects of the current complaint procedures. This book invites us to think and speak on the controversial subject of complaints, supporting patients, therapists and policymakers alike.

About the Authors Acknowledgements A Note From The Editors Introduction

PART 1: CLINICAL PERSPECTIVE 1. The psychotherapist, the profession and the professional complaint Adah Sachs 2. When healing is halted by fear Fiona Farley 3. Love and hate in the time of Covid: who will watch the watchmen? Anne Kearns 4. A constructive way of dealing with conflict Kay Beaumont 5. Complaints in the field of dissociative disorders: six key categories Valerie Sinason

PART II: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 6. Filing psychoanalytical complaints: from verbal assaults to the crushing of the larynx Brett Kahr 7. Reflections on a 25-year-old professional complaint Leslie Ironside 8. Then and now - a historical perspective 113 Emerald Davis in an interview with Valerie Sinason

PART III: TOWARDS THE FUTURE 9. The unique nature of boundaries in psychoanalytic therapy and the implication for ethics and complaints procedures Philip Stokoe 10. Complaints and incident procedures in the NHS Romanie Nedergaard-Couchman and Rajnish Attavar 11. Uses, misuses and abuses of fitness to practise processes Philip Cox 12. The Psychotherapy and Counselling Union: therapists supporting therapists through complaints processes - emergent learning and new possibilities for regulatory change Philip Cox, Richard Bagnall-Oakeley and Sasha Kaplin 13. Reform Julie Norris and Andrew Campbell-Tiech,

About the Authors
Acknowledgements
A Note From The Editors
Introduction

PART 1: CLINICAL PERSPECTIVE
1. The psychotherapist, the profession and the professional complaint
Adah Sachs
2. When healing is halted by fear
Fiona Farley
3. Love and hate in the time of Covid: who will watch the watchmen?
Anne Kearns
4. A constructive way of dealing with conflict
Kay Beaumont
5. Complaints in the field of dissociative disorders: six key categories
Valerie Sinason

PART II: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
6. Filing psychoanalytical complaints: from verbal assaults to the crushing of the larynx
Brett Kahr
7. Reflections on a 25-year-old professional complaint
Leslie Ironside
8. Then and now – a historical perspective 113
Emerald Davis in an interview with Valerie Sinason

PART III: TOWARDS THE FUTURE
9. The unique nature of boundaries in psychoanalytic therapy and the implication for ethics and complaints procedures
Philip Stokoe
10. Complaints and incident procedures in the NHS
Romanie Nedergaard-Couchman and Rajnish Attavar
11. Uses, misuses and abuses of fitness to practise processes
Philip Cox
12. The Psychotherapy and Counselling Union: therapists supporting therapists through complaints processes – emergent learning and new possibilities for regulatory change
Philip Cox, Richard Bagnall-Oakeley and Sasha Kaplin
13. Reform
Julie Norris and Andrew Campbell-Tiech

• Edited by Adah Sachs
• Edited by Valerie Sinason