Psychotherapy as Time Travel - An Introduction to Working with Self States

Psychotherapy as Time Travel - An Introduction to Working with Self States

The concept that the Self is made up of multiple ‘Self-States’, each with its own organisation of cognitions, affect and beliefs, was made popular by the late psychoanalyst Philip Bromberg. In contemporary psychodynamic thinking, engaging with a Client’s different self-states has emerged as an important strategy for working with the fragmenting and dissociating impact of relational trauma. Rather than perceiving a ‘fixed’ personality, a person can experience themselves in different ‘self-states’ or distinct ‘modes of being’ for specific periods of time, in response to different situations and forms of relational contact. Increasing awareness of their different self-states can help a person with self-acceptance, compassion and adaptability. In the clinical process, the Therapist will experience meeting different self-states of the Client, each with a specific phenomenology, and the Client will meet different parts of the Therapist. Holding an awareness of psychotherapy as a form of ‘time travel’ as different self-states are encountered can open creative and integrating avenues in the work.

In this workshop, Dr Tanya Lecchi will draw on thinking from relational psychoanalysis, attachment theory and affective neuroscience research to think about how to work with Self States. Dr Lecchi will also offer case examples from her own clinical work. There will be space for questions and discussion during the session.

About the speaker

Tanya Lecchi, PGCertHE, PGDip, MSc, PsyD, PhD, BPS Chartered Psychologist, Registered Counselling and Clinical Psychologist (HCPC), Relational Psychotherapist, Mindfulness Teacher, Senior Research Fellow.

Tanya has extensive training in a range of approaches to therapeutic work, with a focus on psychoanalytic approaches and relational models, and has more than 15 years of experience in providing psychological assessment and treatment to adults, families, children and young people in different care settings, including the hospital environment and private practice. As well as working privately as a clinician, Tanya is a clinical tutor on the DClinPsych at the University of Oxford and a senior research fellow within the Child Attachment and Psychological Therapies Research Unit (ChAPTRe) at the Anna Freud Centre/UCL. Her main interests include relational mindfulness, brain-to-brain synchrony, developmental trauma, and therapeutic presence. In 2022 she founded the Inner Citadel Institute, a private clinic and training centre in Oxford, offering CPD and qualifying training courses in integrative psychotherapy.

Host or Publisher Strides HCC - Highbury Counselling Centre