This August 2025 issue of the British Journal of Psychotherapy opens with a collection of papers from the Cassel Hospital Summer Conference 2024, introduced by Sally Arthur. The Cassel Hospital section includes Tom Dalton’s examination of healthcare professionals’ complex responses to self-harm, described as “double-edged,” exploring the challenging dynamics that emerge when treating patients who engage in self-injurious behaviors. Sarah Miell and Simmi Protab contribute a piece on managing separation anxiety and risk assessment when patients are away from the hospital setting, addressing the clinical challenges of maintaining therapeutic continuity during absences. Ricardo Readi rounds out the conference papers with an exploration of “defensive care,” examining how defensive practices in healthcare settings can impact therapeutic relationships and patient outcomes.
The remaining articles cover a diverse range of contemporary psychoanalytic concerns. Paul C. Mollitt offers a historical and clinical perspective on gay identity in psychodynamic practice, tracing the evolution from pathologizing “sodomites” toward understanding gay sensibility and embedding minority stress theory within therapeutic work. Hanoch Yerushalmi (open access) examines the complex dynamics of meaning-making and its loss within supervisory relationships, while Meir Peres (open access) presents an interdisciplinary approach to what he terms “inner authentic consent,” exploring the analyst’s capacity for negative capability and tolerance of suffering during sessions.
Several articles address specialized clinical populations and techniques. Robert Jay Lowinger, Leah Alexander, and Tara P. Vilk explore Spotnitz’s modern psychoanalytic approach to treating excessive self-criticism, while Eduardo Brusius Brenner, Guilherme Fiorini, and Vera Regina Röhnelt Ramires (open access) present research on predictors of adolescent return to psychodynamic psychotherapy. Sheila Levi (open access) contributes a psychoanalytic case study examining transgender identification and psychological distress, offering clinical insights into contemporary gender identity issues.
The issue also features several theoretical contributions. David Simpson explores Bion’s concepts, particularly examining the connection between curiosity and love in fostering emotional growth, drawing on ideas about “the mothering instinct.” Jaime Yasky (open access) traces the evolution of psychoanalytic approaches to somatic disorders, while Timothy Keogh (open access) investigates violent impulses emerging from primitive mental states. Mark J. Goldblatt, Elsa Ronningstam, and Reinhard Lindner provide post-pandemic reflections on treating suicidal patients remotely during COVID-19 restrictions, and Ralph Holtom and Gilly Stiffell offer a comparative analysis of Oedipus and Narcissus as “brothers in defeat.”
The issue concludes with an extensive book review section, covering recent publications on topics ranging from Hindu-Muslim relationships in psychoanalytic perspective to independent women in British psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic ethics, trauma and history, and innovations in group work with babies. Several articles are marked as open access, and you can see the full issue here.