bpas Home Information Events Reviews Articles Contact Media Watch Links
|
bpas Home Information Events Reviews Articles Contact Media Watch Links
|
 |
Book
Review
|
||
|
|
Counselling
Students: A Psychodynamic Perspective Published by
Macmillan Press Ltd41;
An introduction to the main psychological and developmental factors that affect students, and how these typically influence and shape their experiences at university. Using a psychodynamic model, it provides a clear account of the various emotional and developmental issues that underlie the problems that students encounter, and of the role of counselling in dealing with these problems. The book will be of use to individuals with a personal or professional interest in student welfare, as well as those who wish to gain a deeper understanding of the psychological issues that affect the development and well being of students.
The rapid growth in the number of students entering higher education in recent years has led to a significant increase in the supportive work expected from staff and others whose personal or professional life brings them into contact with students. The student body arguably is a more diverse group than was previously the case, bringing both a cultural richness to centres of higher education, but also demanding a more sophisticated level of understanding from those who have an interest in their development and well-being. This engaging and clearly written book, rich in illustrative case material, uses a psychodynamic model to provide a comprehensive introduction to the main psychological and developmental factors that affect students and how, typically, these influence and shape their experiences at university. Counselling Students: A Psychodynamic Perspective also portrays the various emotional and developmental issues that underlie the problems that students encounter, and considers the role of counselling in dealing with these problems. In Counselling Students: A Psychodynamic Perspective, Ravi Rana has written a book that extends and deepens awareness and understanding of the diverse problems faced by students, both amongst individuals with a professional interest, as well as those concerned personally with the well-being of students during this crucial stages in their lives. Ravi Rana is Senior Counsellor and Deputy Head of the Student Counselling Service at University College London, and is a practising psychoanalytic psychotherapist.
Book
Reviews First published in the AUCC Newsletter & Journal
Counselling
Students: A
Psychodynamic This
new book in Paigrave’s series ‘Basic Texts in Counselling and
Psychotherapy’, aims to “provide individuals who have a professional
or personal interest in student welfare with an introduction to the main
psychological and developmental factors that affect students and how these
typically influence and shape their experiences at university”
(Introduction, p1). It fulfills that aim admirably and would be ideal
reading for anyone, from fellow professionals to parents, who would like a
greater understanding of the way that psychodynamic counsellors in
university settings approach their work with individual students. Ravi
Rana provides a thorough introduction to the basic concepts of the
psychodynamic counselling model as derived from psychoanalysis. To have
done so in a way which is accessible to a nonspecialist readership and
yet does justice to the theory is no mean feat. To achieve this she admits
that she has necessarily had to omit much of the complexity and continuing
debate surrounding the theoretical ideas which she discusses; nevertheless
the ideas are presented in considerable depth and with admirable clarity.
The author has sensibly omitted all references in the body of the text;
however, each chapter ends with a brief but relevant list of references
for further reading. Throughout
the book the theoretical background is constantly related to the student
context, with chapters on relationships, separation and loss, families,
adolescence and learning and study problems, all vividly illustrated with
a wealth of clinical examples. The emphasis is on the developmental stage
of late adolescence and readers will find little on other significant
aspects of the university community, e.g. mature students, overseas
students, disabled students. Rana acknowledges these omissions in a
postscript. There is certainly scope for another book here! Whilst
this book is not aimed at experienced psychodynamic counsellors, who may
find little here that is not already familiar, it may well be of interest
to counsellors from other orientations who would like more insight into
working psychodynamically with students. I would also recommend the book
to trainee counsellors on placement for the insight it gives into relating
psychodynamic theory to the university setting and the specific issues
that students tend to present with. One
of the most pertinent chapters is Chapter 7: A
final chapter looks at the special constraints of the university context
and the impact of these on both the student and the counselling process,
such as term dates and vacations, examinations, placements, etc. In a
section on the ‘closed’ environment and confidentiality I was very
pleased to see the author placing the need for confidentiality which is
not routinely compromised very highly indeed and emphasising that the
counsellor’s primary responsibility is to the student and not to tutors,
parents etc, however understandably anxious to ‘do’ something to help
the student these third parties may be. This
is not a ‘how to’ book for counsellors, but can be recommended for
anyone who is interested in how the psychodynamic approach offers a
particular model for thinking about the problems that students encounter
during their time at university. Kitty
Warburton (1)
Craig McDevitt Counselling Students is the latest book to emerge from the excellent series: Basic Texts in Counselling and Psychotherapy edited by Stephen Frosh. Dr Rana's book focuses on the psychodynamic approach to counselling students in tertiary education. Basic and accessible though the text might be, Dr Rana carefully constructs chapter by chapter a very comprehensive description of the interplay between the inner and outer world of the student in the past and present environment. Throughout, Dr Rana uses fictionalized but extremely authentic-feeling case studies. These illustrate complicated learning points about process and theory as well as provoking thought and feeling. In the first chapter the basic concepts of psychodynamic theory and practice are clearly described and this forms a solid base for the succeeding chapters on personality formation in the early years in relationship to mother, father, siblings and peers, all of whom strongly influence how the adolescent responds to current internal and external demands. The three chapters appropriately placed at the centre of the book are concerned with the processes of separation and individuation as the late adolescent student begins the key task of leaving home to establish a separate relationship to and with the world. At this stage Dr Rana brings us very fully into the world of the late adolescent. This is where the pressures and strains of academic and social life can affect the student to such a degree that the unfinished business of earlier years, the return of the repressed, comes very much to the forefront, often in dramatic and powerful ways. Alarming and depressing as this might seem, Dr Rana clearly has an optimistic message about this stage in life when the personality is still relatively flexible. The trials and tribulations of late adolescence provide a second chance to re-work the negative legacies of childhood. Doubly advantageous, therefore, is the fact that, with the existence of counselling provision in higher education, the student has the opportunity to work in a secure and contained fashion with a trained and skilled individual. Consequently, the possibility exists that past conflicts and the surrounding protective defence mechanisms can be unpacked so that clarity emerges and fresher, healthier resolutions become available, resulting in the emergence of a stronger and more integrated identity. Following these central chapters are two further chapters on the academic tasks and the wider institutional context of students. These chapters demonstrate vividly the powerful transferential relationships which students set up not only with peers and members of staff but also with their academic subjects and related tasks. Again this provides rich material that hints at what is happening in the unconscious and provides more opportunities for accessing the cause of disturbance in students which prohibits healthy development and functioning. Much of what Dr Rana describes is the day-to-day common or garden work of counsellors of students but she reserves a chapter for the description of more serious pathologies and their clinical management. Such presentations are becoming increasingly common and of concern to counsellors of students. This book will be of great interest and value to trainees and their trainers. This need not be confined to those trainees and trainers in the student counselling field but, because of Dr Rana's clear, accessible and concise exposition of psychodynamic theory and practice, it provides useful learning material for the neophyte generally, as well as those interested in child and adolescent development. The book will also be very informative to managers within higher education who have any line-management or resource responsibilities for the provision of counselling. Academics who have either an interest in or a responsibility for the pastoral care of students would also find it useful. In my early reading of this text, I could not see any value in the book for the experienced counsellor of students. However, the role of the student counsellor is not just confined to the consulting room and this is the key to the utility of Dr Rana's work for the experienced practitioner. Counsellors in this context, specifically heads of services, have preventive, proactive and developmental roles to play within their employing institutions. I often find myself scratching my head trying to find clearer ways of communicating complicated psychological phenomena and processes to managers, academic staff and others who have pastoral responsibilities. Dr Rana provides a rich store of material which comes from her talent to explain and make things of great complexity clear in simple straightforward language. I am sure I shall return to this book for inspiration on many a future occasion, I have only one disappointment from reading this book. Although there is a chapter related to the higher education context, there is very little discussion of organizational dynamics, an understanding of which is a valuable tool in working with students. The impact of the unconscious process of the organization as a whole can have a powerful effect on anybody working within an institution and is often present and addressed in the dialogue between counsellor and client. Perhaps this subject is a book in itself and my disappointment merely suggests that, should Dr Rana direct her talent to this area, I would value the result.
Craig McDevitt
Copyright
© 2001 British Psychoanalytical Society &
|
Click here
for catalogue description