Transference in Institutional Work with Psychosis and Autism

Book excerpt: Transference in Institutional Work with Psychosis and Autism presents Pierre Delion’s extensive experience in psychiatric institutions, focusing on the concept of the transferential constellation. Delion first discusses the pioneering work of François Tosquelles at the Saint Alban psychiatric hospital, which enabled psychoanalytic treatment to be applied in cases of severe psychopathologies. The book then explains how the transferential constellation can provide a deeper and more effective understanding of a patient’s needs by engaging all caregivers within an organisation over the course of the patient’s treatment history. Delion describes how regular meetings of all the team participants allow them to express different and even divergent views of the patient and to appreciate their complementary contributions to the institution. The transferential constellation is presented as an important development in the history of patient-centered psychiatric care and a touchstone for its ongoing humanistic development. Transference in Institutional Work with Psychosis and Autism will be of great interest to psychiatrists and psychotherapists in practice and in training. It will also be key reading for other practitioners and caregivers working in mental health institutions.