The conference focused on the therapeutic encounter, depicted via the patient's experience, expressed through the creative act, and as counter-weight to the practitioner's 'case study'. A book arising from our 2017 international conference on Narratives of The Therapeutic Encounter has been published by Cambridge Scholars. Edited by Susan Bainbrigge (Senior Lecturer in French and Francophone Studies at the University of Edinburgh) and Maren Scheurer, the collection of essays explores the ways in which talking therapies have been depicted in twentieth century and contemporary narratives in French. As well as co-editing the book, Susan wrote its chapter on ‘Therapeutic Encounters in Francophone Belgian Writings: On Chaos and Creativity’. Katharine Swarbrick (Lecturer in French and Francophone Studies) also contributed a chapter, ‘Encounters with the Therapeutic Narrative’. Published in September 2020, the book is based on papers given at the international conference 'Narratives of The Therapeutic Encounter: Psychoanalysis, Talking Therapies and Creative Practice’ in December 2017. This was the flagship event of our interdisciplinary research project seeking to explore the important role that the creative arts (literature, film, media, art) have played in offering representations and explorations of our minds, our relationships, and our mental health, or more pressingly, ill-health. Find out more about the book on the Cambridge Scholars website Find out more about the conference Publication date 23 Jun, 2016
