Unlocked: Online Therapy Stories

(Paperback)

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Description

Unlockedtells the stories of ten different people in therapy in various cultural and geographical contexts from Saudi Arabia to Venice or New York.Each narrative explores a unique presenting situation and uncovers the complexities of the therapeutic experience.All therapeutic work described in this book happens online.

Rather than presenting a barrier,Unlockeddemonstrates how a curious and skilled therapist can make the most of the unexpected gifts that the screen offers be it the intrusion of a pet, a parent breaking into the session, or a client taking her therapist for a ride outside. Therapeutic conversations that happen on the screen have a surprising close-up quality; these stories convey the renewed intimacy and intensity of such practice and present new possibilities for the therapeutic process. They will be of interest not only to therapists who are transitioning their practice online but also to those considering therapy or curious about the therapeutic process.

Reviews

This is first-rate storytelling; these tales of therapy entirely drew me in and left me wanting more. A most impressive debut collection by Anastasia Piatakhina-Gir. Irvin Yalom, M.D., author of Loves Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy "This rich compilation of riveting, international online therapy tales prove that barriers and boundaries can be traversed by a skilled and caring clinician. A multilingual and courageous migr and explorer, Piatakhina-Gir offers no less than a dynamic clinical travelogue during the height of a global pandemic. Despite great distances, both psychological and geographic, her storytelling unlocks the mysteries of the human experience directly from the heart of psychotherapy." Lawrence Rubin, PhD, ABPP, Psychotherapist and Editor of Psychotherapy.net "A brilliant guide to therapy during the pandemic - or at any time. Piatakhina-Gir is a master therapist and writer. She offers fascinating illustrations of an online therapist working with clients from all over the world. Unlocked reads like a suspense novel, but the thoughtful, respectful and profound interventions are just enough to help clients free themselves from the circumstances that have locked them up." Monica McGoldrick, Director of the Multicultural Family Institute, New Jersey and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School "Beyond revealing how distance therapy thrived in surprising ways during worldwide lockdowns, these wise stories bring to life the unexpected richness of online psychotherapy - unique sources of therapeutic insight offered by visual cues and physical intrusions from a patient's 'virtual' life. More profoundly, Piatakhina-Gir shows how unconscious shame locks down so many of us; she models how an insightful, sensitive therapist may help them to break free of it, whether in person or online." Joseph Burgo, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist and author of Building Self-Esteem: How Learning from Shame Helps Us to Grow

Author Bio

Anastasia is accredited with the UK Council for Psychotherapy and European Certificate of Psychotherapy.She has practised therapy for a decade, with clients online around the world and in 4 languages. She now lives and works in Paris, France and is finalizing her DPsych at Middlesex University in London. She is also a faculty member of the Online Therapy Institute, London. Her 2015 essay In treatment but in which language appeared in the New York Times Couch series.