Boundaries, holding, and containment with Mickey Yudkin

Fundamental pillars of the therapeutic relationship, boundaries, holding, and containment are often seen as the essential foundation from which progress in therapy grows. In this course, we shall explore these concepts both in life and in the therapeutic and clinical context.

Teaching will include clinical case studies, theory, poetry, drawing, visualisation, pair and group work. Experiences from the group will be used to consider the role of boundaries, holding, and containment in our work.

The theories of Winnicott, Bion, and object relations theorists will be examined, as will the existential and humanistic perspectives.

Regardless of one’s theoretical approach as a therapist, boundaries, holding, and containment play a vital role in the relationships we offer our clients.

Mickey Yudkin is a sessional lecturer in the Faculty of Lifelong Learning at the School of Psychological Sciences at Birkbeck College, University of London. She teaches psychoanalytic psychology and covers a range of theorists including Freud and Klein on topics such as narcissism, depression, envy, passion, love, anger, anxiety, and shame.

Mickey has provided professional development courses for many therapists, taking an integrative approach to her workshops, including gestalt, humanistic, and existential perspectives. Her wider interests include philosophy, literature, and music, which she brings to bear in her teaching.