Lessons from the Therapy Room

“Beware of thinking that you fullyunderstand your client.” – Duncan KitchinNo training course can teach you what thirtyyears in the therapy room can. In this collection of 91 candid, hard-wonreflections, veteran psychotherapist and clinical supervisor Duncan Kitchinshares the wrinkles, wisdom, and unspoken truths that shaped his three-decadecareer – the things his supervisees kept telling him they wished someone hadtaught them. From the first “What shall I call you?” tothe final, unpredictable goodbye, Kitchin walks through the real texture ofpractice: the addictions clients never mention in the initial meeting, thequestions therapists don’t ask about sex, and the silent signals of a room’sdécor, a client’s coat, or the things a therapist notices without ever beingtold. He writes with equal honesty about breakthroughs and about the momentsthat stopped him in his tracks – a question that unravelled a client’s sense ofhome, the client who told him he’d never make a therapist if he let clientsupset him, and thirty years of learning why she was wrong. This is not a textbook of theory, but a bookof practical, DIY craft – the kind of insight usually passed on quietly, onesupervision session at a time. Warm, wry, and unflinchingly honest, it’sessential reading for trainee and practising therapists alike, and a rare,humane window for anyone curious about what really happens on the other side ofthe therapy room door.