EDI and Transference in Contemporary Practice

This presentation develops themes explored in a recently published paper in the Journal of Child Psychotherapy, “Playing Music in Child Psychotherapy: Relinquishing the Analytic Superego”, with a particular focus on the ways in which child psychotherapists work with and acknowledge different dimensions of the transference relationship, including those relating to the lived reality of sameness and difference between therapist and patient. As clinicians involved in teaching child psychotherapists in training, we observe the challenge of integrating a theoretical understanding of transference phenomenon with the actual experience of therapeutic work, particularly when the transference relationship can be so deeply interlinked with issues of identity for the therapist and patient.

We will explore a contemporary conceptualisation of transference that recognises the interplay between its historical, fantasised and projective dimensions - familiar territory within psychoanalytic thinking - and the present-day reality of the relationship between therapist and patient, or the “real object relational experience”, as described in the paper.

As the child psychotherapy profession and the populations we work with become increasingly diverse, there is a growing need to think about the psychosocial complexity of our clinical work. At the same time, new ways of thinking can unsettle established understandings of psychoanalytic practice and raise questions about professional identity, including: “Am I still doing proper psychoanalytic work?”

Drawing on clinical material, we will invite participants to reflect on these tensions and consider how acknowledging both reality and fantasy might enrich our clinical practice.

CPD learning opportunities

Participants will have the opportunity to:

• Explore contemporary ways of thinking about transference, sameness and difference within psychoanalytic work.
• Reflect on how psychosocial realities intersect with unconscious processes in the therapeutic relationship.
• Reflect on these questions from the perspectives of both practitioner and educator, drawing on our experiences of teaching and supervising child psychotherapy trainees.

Presenters:

Flavia Ansaldo is an IPCAPA-trained Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist with over 15 years’ experience working across NHS, third sector, and independent settings. Her clinical work has increasingly focused on adolescents and young adults, and she continues to be deeply engaged by the challenges and possibilities of this developmental stage, particularly within the context of rapidly evolving social and digital worlds. Flavia currently holds a position as Principal Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist at Open Door Young - People's Consultation service. Alongside her clinical practice, she is passionate about writing and teaching and currently holds a senior tutor role on the IPCAPA training, where she teaches and supervises trainees.

Akin Ojumu is a Principal Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist in Bromley CAMHS in south London. He is a Senior Tutor and the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead for The Independent training, and supervises students on the Psychodynamics of Human Development MSc which is taught jointly by the British Psychotherapy Foundation (BPF) and the Centre for Counselling at Birkbeck. He trained at the British Association of Psychotherapists (now The Independent training). He has a particular interest in working in community (non-clinic) settings, group work with adolescents and issues of diversity in child psychotherapy.

This event will be chaired by Elena Della Rosa, Deputy Director of Scientific Development.