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Communicative Exchange, Psychotherapy and the Resonant Self: Roads to Realization

Author(s) : Anthony Korner

Reviews and Endorsements

"This book is a must read if you are interested in human relationships, what it means to be human and how psychotherapy can help people in distress. The fundamental basis of the book is that humans develop through interactions with others, symbolised by the very earliest form of communication, the human cry.

Modern psychological treatments have tended to regard humans as isolates, separate, contained organisms, who regulate emotions via internal thought processes, without much reference to the outside world. Korner is an advocate of the Conversational Model of Therapy, which views self, as arising from a matrix of mutual relations with key others, starting at birth and continuing throughout life. The therapy, as it name implies, pays close attention to language and how meaningful contact and communication is shared between people.

The main chapters of the book focus on 'living language', 'the feeling body', and 'making meaning '. Korner seamlessly weaves discussions on language, philosophy and human development to explain the human condition, and the central importance of feeling. In the final chapter, 'The Long Conversation' he addresses the impact of trauma on the developing person and draws upon examples from human civilization to argue how this can be addressed both in therapy and in day to day life. He uses the example of 'The Dreaming'- the Indigenous People's of Australia understanding of the world, it's creation and how life should be lived - to offer a model of healing and unity for individuals and society.

This is a deeply thought-provoking book, which mixes theory and clinical material in a stimulating and, at times, entrancing way. It is a wonderful addition to our current understanding of how therapies work and can be read by therapists, clients and anyone who is interested in the human psyche." - Professor Elspeth Guthrie, Professor of Psychological Medicine, University of Leeds.

"Anthony Korner is a doctor who appreciates the life story of each patient who seeks his care. He attends to their unique experiences of illness with pain, with acceptance for the sense of shame that goes with admission to others of being unwell. He knows that speaking about these personal experiences gives them meaning to be shared, and a chance of help with mutual understanding. His book is a story of stories, a telling of how life has been negotiated and what it needs from sympathetic listening of family and other kind friends, including those educated in the science of bodily wellbeing and emotional health." - Colwyn Trevarthen, Professor (Emeritus) of Child Psychology and Psychobiology, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, The University of Edinburgh.