ABSTRACT

Intellectual Disability and Psychotherapy: The Theories, Practice and Influence of Valerie Sinason charts the transformative impact of the noted psychotherapist’s work with children and adults with intellectual disabilities upon both a generation of clinicians and the treatment and services delivered by them.

Examining how contemporary Disability Therapists have discovered, used and adapted such pioneering concepts as the Handicapped Smile and Secondary Handicap as a Defence Against Trauma in their clinical work, the book includes contributions from renowned practitioners and clinicians from around the world. It shines a light on how Sinason’s work opened doors for working with people who were previously thought of as unreachable.

Intellectual Disability and Psychotherapy will be an essential resource to anyone working with children or adults with disabilities, as well as psychotherapists interested in exploring Valerie Sinason’s work.

chapter |7 pages

Introduction

chapter Chapter 1|13 pages

Including the excluded

Valerie Sinason, psychoanalytic pioneer

chapter Chapter 2|13 pages

Creativity and the analytic condition

Creative arts approaches within a psychoanalytic frame

chapter Chapter 3|12 pages

We are who we see looking back at us

Valerie as a supporter of a developing organisation

chapter Chapter 4|11 pages

The handicapped smile

Language and identity

chapter Chapter 6|11 pages

Forensic groupwork and Books Beyond Words

Valerie Sinason as colleague, co-author, and friend

chapter Chapter 7|12 pages

The best of both worlds

The making of a disability psychiatrist

chapter Chapter 8|13 pages

Building insight and changing lives

The contribution of Valerie Sinason to the history of disability psychotherapy

chapter Chapter 9|12 pages

Sharing our history, informing our future

Valerie Sinason and the development of training for frontline care workers and therapists

chapter Chapter 11|11 pages

Labels, death-making and an alternative to Social Role Valorisation

Valerie Sinason’s influence on my work

chapter Chapter 13|9 pages

Like an owl in the tree

Learning from Valerie Sinason in treating patients with intellectual disabilities in Sweden

chapter Chapter 14|14 pages

Valerie Sinason and the psychodynamics of bravery