Some of the fundamental dynamics underlying the spontaneous developmental changes in therapy emanate from the nature and structure of therapy that foster both regressive and progressive urges and thrusts. The progressive forces are derived from developmental pressures that urge people to seek new ways of experiencing the self and connecting to significant others authentically and maturely. The therapy framework is designed to release these developmental thrusts from obstructions created in early life by traumatic relationships. In this presentation, I will suggest how the intervention of meta-communication can facilitate the release of the developmental thrusts and enhance the expression and the realization of people’s progressive wishes
We are delighted to welcome Dr Hanoch Yerushalmi, who will be discussing his work on regressive and progressive forces in the therapeutic relationship.
Hanoch Yerushalmi, Ph.D., is a consultant to the Psychoanalytic Social Work Journal, USA. He is a Clinical Psychologist and a Professor Emeritus at the Department of Community Mental Health of the University of Haifa, Israel. He has formerly been the Director of the Student Counselling Centre and a Senior Lecturer at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Prof. Yerushalmi served as a consultant to psychotherapy centres in Israel, the USA and Central America and has published numerous articles on relational psychoanalytic therapy, supervision and therapists’ development, crisis and growth, and psychiatric rehabilitation