Monday, 18th October
Desert Island Footprints – Laurence Spurling
The way we develop as counsellors and therapists can have many influences; sometimes a book, lecture, poem or conversation can have a particular impact. Following in the footsteps of a well-known radio programme, we have invited Laurence to be our ‘castaway’ and to choose which of his favourite books, papers or other literary pieces he would take to a desert island.
Laurence Spurling is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist in private practice. He started his career at Birkbeck in 1986, teaching on what was then a 2 year Diploma in Adult Counselling. He became a permanent (part-time) Lecturer at Birkbeck in 1994, and Senior Lecturer in 2003. He was involved with the development of the MSc in Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy, and went on to become Director of Training of the counselling and psychotherapy programmes. He worked for 17 years in the NHS, mainly with borderline patients, and for a time was part of a project combining individual and group psychotherapy. Laurence retired from Birkbeck in October 2020
and is now in full time clinical practice. He is the author of An Introduction to Psychodynamic Counselling and The Psychoanalytic Craft (both published by Palgrave Macmillan) and has written a number of papers on different aspects of clinical work (assessment, working with borderline patients, working psychosocially, comparing psychodynamic work with interpersonal therapy). Maisie Holland will introduce our castaway. During the evening, we will find out more about Laurence’s career in counselling and therapy, and discuss the various authors and writings which have influenced him.
