Overview
`This book is a model of didactic writing. Evans has achieved an unusual blend of theoretical disquisition, technical clarity, personal revelation and clinical illustration that makes for an enjoyable and stimulating read. I hope it will embolden therapists who are daunted by the prospect of starting a group for adolescents. It will certainly lend aid and comfort to those already doing battle in the field and will also, incidentally, intrigue therapists who work with adult groups. None of us, is after all, too far away from those chaotic years.' - Group Analysis, The Journal of Group-Analytic Psychotherapy Group therapy for disturbed adolescents is increasingly used with those who are difficult to treat individually. Drawing on thirty years' experience, John Evans offers a detailed framework for the establishment of therapy groups for adolescents, and explains how best to develop the subsequent sessions. The principles of group therapy have been developed mainly in work with motivated adults who see themselves in need of help. When applying these principles to a group of youngsters who are less motivated and less articulate, more active guidance and limit-setting has to be introduced. Evans discusses in detail the considerations peculiar to group work with adolescents, showing how the techniques for work with an adult group can be extended and modified for successful work with young teenagers. He shows how the group may develop over time and, through the use of numerous case examples, demonstrates how the sensitive therapist can build on progress within the group. He also examines the balance required to manage a group as a set of individuals and as-a-whole, with all the implications for group dynamics, the management of limit setting, the relevance of insights and corrective emotional experiences, and the dilemma of play versus work groups.
Full Product Details
Author: John Evans
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Imprint: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Volume: v. 554
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.40cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.384kg
ISBN: 9781853026164
ISBN 10: 1853026166
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 01 February 1998
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Out of Print
Availability: Awaiting stock
Reviews
`This book provides an approachable and rich account of John Evans' theoretical frame of reference and of his personal understanding of working with adolescents in groups, drawn from 30 years experience. The book's overly modest claim is to help two types of professionals: those already working in the field who wish to improve their skills, and those starting out. In fact, it is a marvellously rich resource of restated theory and practical suggestion... Active Analytic Group Therapy for Adolescents is a readable and informative addition to the existing literature on the subject. It provides valuable insight into the problematical issues which concern professionals working with adolescents and demonstrates the specialist skills required in order to monitor successfully adolescent therapy groups.' -- British Journal of Psychiatry `Clinicians can be sorely challenged by the way in which troubled adolescents may strive for autonomy by becoming oppositional while simultaneously acting in a way which forces adults to take charge. This book offers a way forward. The author is a senior consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist, as well as a psychoanalyst and group analyst, who draws on all his extensive experience of working with adolescents in many different contexts. The author aims to provide sufficient guidance to the reader so that even novice therapists do not lose the group. The most striking aspect of the book is that it is clearly written with a minimum of jargon, and despite the obvious sophistication of the underlying ideas, even the inexperienced reader can understand why, when and how to use the various techniques described. The literature, which is mostly descriptive and anecdotal, is reviewed and the paucity of research studies revealed. Here is a good opportunity for the researchers to explore what is happens in a form of therapy that is suitable for this most difficult group of patients. This book will be valued by all those who are concerned with helping troubled adolescents. All psychiatrists who work with adolescents should read this book, even if they are not involved with group therapy themselves. Members of the team might already be using group techniques, and all disciplines including psychiatrists, might be encouraged to try.' -- European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry `Active Analytic Group Therapy for Adolescents is, I think, clearly written, full of good advice, rooted in a wealth of experience, authentic, confident and interesting. And it is written in a way which allows the warmth of the writer and his affection for the teenagers he has worked with to come through clearly. Evans manages to avoid much of the obscurity that abounds in this field and presents theory in a way which is simplified but has not lost too much in the course of the simplification. He is particularly good on lists and tables, and uses them to help in differentiating between different conditions, and also to give advice on what we do. In fact, it is in this latter area that his greatest strength lies; the book is full of valuable advice. The author is quite unafraid to say `do this' or `try this intervention' or `here's something that has often worked for me in this situation'. In a field where so much emphasis is placed on finding one's own words to use in the employ of the therapeutic intervention, this is quite rare. I found it rather refreshing... If this book had been available after about six months to a year of daily involvement in large and small groups, I would have loved it, and it would have helped me make sense of my experiences (the second part of the target audience for this book)... This book - any book - cannot substitute for a proper apprenticeship, but it could be an excellent tool in the course of such learning. I applaud it and welcome it; I hope it is used in the right way. -- Young Minds `Adolescents present a very different challenge, and how group methods can be adapted to this group has been given scant attention to date. Evans seeks to set that right by drawing on his three decades of personal experience to produce a very readable account of adolescent group therapy. This is a significant contribution to the literature in this field, offering a concise theoretical framework and clear illustrations of the theory applied to practice useful to the beginner and the experienced practitioner alike.' -- Mental Health Care `I think this book could provide a source of support for those working with adolescents in group therapy. It calls for robust and active intervention in holding boundaries and guiding proceedings to help facilitate the cohesion and purpose of the therapeutic group. John Evans recognises the sources of stress both for the group therapist and the group members and provides a realistic approach which incorporates success and failure. I feel that both inexperienced and experienced practitioners will find this a significant contribution to adolescent therapy.' -- Oxford Psychotherapy Society
Author Information
John Evans trained as a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Maudesley Hospital and the Tavistock Clinic in London. He started a service for disturbed adolescents at the Cassel Hospital and completed his training as a psychoanalyst before starting the Young People's Unit at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. He has published a number of papers on adolescent disturbances and on group therapy, as well as Adolescent and Pre-adolescent Psychiatry (1982), and was creator and first editor of the Journal of Adolescence.
