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Clinical Foundations: A Brief History of Relational Practice

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Relationships and Mental Health

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Abstract

This chapter traces a brief history of relational practice in the clinical context of distress and recovery. Starting with psychotherapeutic theory and the centrality of the therapeutic relationship, we explore how relational thinking has, and has not, been taken up by contemporary adult mental health practice and policy. The chapter argues that contemporary conceptions of the person as individual and independent have resulted in services that, on the whole, no longer recognise the essential role of interdependency, nor fully embrace the opportunity that relationships offer for interventions that can make a lasting difference. We look at alternative and innovative examples of relational interventions, including therapeutic communities, Open Dialogue, and peer-led interventions like Hearing Voices groups. We then conclude by considering how well relational thinking has been integrated into mainstream mental health settings and where practice may go from here.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

    Zoë Boden-Stuart

  2. University of Brighton, Brighton, East Sussex, UK

    Charlotte Wilcox

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  1. Zoë Boden-Stuart
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  2. Charlotte Wilcox
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Correspondence to Zoë Boden-Stuart .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

    Zoë Boden-Stuart

  2. College of Health and Life Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, UK

    Michael Larkin

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Boden-Stuart, Z., Wilcox, C. (2023). Clinical Foundations: A Brief History of Relational Practice. In: Boden-Stuart, Z., Larkin, M. (eds) Relationships and Mental Health . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50047-3_3

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