Shadows of the Therapy Relationship

The author argues that the relational turn in psychotherapy has led to moralism, conformism and hypocrisy on the part of many clinicians. Relationality cannot engage with the phenomenon of solitude in a satisfactory manner leading to a potential flight from the unconscious. The author proposes that there is more than one therapy relationship to sondier and that the key task is to hold their simultaneity in mind. He proposes a methodology by which this might be done. The author argues that what is being discussed will be incomprehensible in terms of the project of state regulation of psychotherapy currently being proposed by the British Government. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.