Psychotherapeutic work with Families with Life-threatening Maternal Illness

This exploratory research study describes a child and adolescent psychotherapeutic clinical service offered to children/adolescents and their families with mothers with a life-threatening illness. The clinical service itself was also exploratory in nature. The research objectives of the study were (i) to explore whether this form of clinical work could be beneficial for such families in relieving distress and supporting their development; (ii) to discover the factors at play within and between the family members using an adaptation of Grounded Theory research methodology; and (iii) to add to the knowledge base for adults – family members and professionals – relating to, and dealing with, such children and adolescents. Descriptions and discussion of the therapeutic input and research study are given. Symptoms, which included emotional, behavioural, psychological, learning, and interpersonal difficulties, decreased in all the children/adolescents who were offered clinical treatment within an outpatient multidisciplinary Tier 3 Child and Adolescent Service (CAMHS). Six Themes were identified across the cases and these were named: Engagement, Parental Concern, Impact of Mother’s Illness, Defences, Sustaining Factors and Feeling Different. These Themes are discussed in the light of relevant published research. A literature review was undertaken and focuses on: epidemiological context; children’s understanding of death; impact of parental bereavement in childhood; the mourning process; anticipatory grief; psychoanalysis: mourning and trauma; children’s play and drawings as communication; and psychosocial therapeutic services. The thesis has particular relevance for child and adolescent psychotherapists and other mental health professionals who work within hospital and hospice settings.

Psychotherapeutic work with Families with Life-threatening Maternal Illness

This exploratory research study describes a child and adolescent psychotherapeutic clinical service offered to children/adolescents and their families with mothers with a life-threatening illness. The clinical service itself was also exploratory in nature. The research objectives of the study were (i) to explore whether this form of clinical work could be beneficial for such families in relieving distress and supporting their development; (ii) to discover the factors at play within and between the family members using an adaptation of Grounded Theory research methodology; and (iii) to add to the knowledge base for adults – family members and professionals – relating to, and dealing with, such children and adolescents. Descriptions and discussion of the therapeutic input and research study are given. Symptoms, which included emotional, behavioural, psychological, learning, and interpersonal difficulties, decreased in all the children/adolescents who were offered clinical treatment within an outpatient multidisciplinary Tier 3 Child and Adolescent Service (CAMHS). Six Themes were identified across the cases and these were named: Engagement, Parental Concern, Impact of Mother’s Illness, Defences, Sustaining Factors and Feeling Different. These Themes are discussed in the light of relevant published research. A literature review was undertaken and focuses on: epidemiological context; children’s understanding of death; impact of parental bereavement in childhood; the mourning process; anticipatory grief; psychoanalysis: mourning and trauma; children’s play and drawings as communication; and psychosocial therapeutic services. The thesis has particular relevance for child and adolescent psychotherapists and other mental health professionals who work within hospital and hospice settings.

The work of memory: embodiment, materiality and home in Jeanne Bouvier’s autobiographical writings

In this paper I follow trails in the memory of work by reading the books and papers of Jeanne Bouvier, a French seamstress, ardent trade-unionist and passionate writer, who left a rich body of labour literature including four published historical studies, as well as the memoirs of her life, work and struggles. Work, action and creativity are three interrelated planes on which Bouvier situates herself, while memory and imagination are interwoven in the way she seeks to understand herself in the world with others. What emerges as a particularly striking theme from Bouvier’s papers is a material matrix of mnemonic and imaginary practices, wherein bodies, places and objects are entangled in the narrative constitution of the self of the woman worker/writer.

The Artpolitics of May Stevens’ work: disrupting the distribution of the sensible

In this paper I look into the life and art of May Stevens, an American working class artist, feminist and committed political activist. I am particularly interested in how Stevens' artwork is inextricably interwoven with her politics, constituting, as I will argue, an assemblage of artpolitics. The discussion draws on Jacques Rancière's analyses of the politics of aesthetics and particularly his notion of ‘the distribution of the sensible’. What I argue is that although Rancière's approach to the politics of aesthetics illuminates an understanding and appreciation of Stevens' art, his idea about the redistribution of the sensible is problematic. It is here that the notion of artpolitics as an assemblage opens up possibilities for a critical project that goes beyond the limitations of Rancière's proposition.