James Alexander Naylor

I have a wide interest in counselling and psychotherapy. Some of my trainings have led to my explorations of particular theoretical modalities, such as Psychoanalysis – from Freud to Klein, Winnicott to Lacan, Laplanche, Miller, Foucault and Kristeva, to name a few. Also, I have an avid interest in Analytical Psychology, the originating work of C.G. Jung. I am in a long-term Jungian analysis which is an enormous contributor to my professional practise and development, as well as my personal.

I am also interested in more recently developed forms of therapy or therapies aimed to improve access for those suffering with particular mental illness, disorder or problems, for instance; Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Analytical Therapy (CAT) and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) – used to treat anxiety and depression, bipolar affective disorder, schizophrenia or psychoses and personality or eating disorder/s.

Most recently though my attention has been drawn toward emotional regulation and dysregulation, evidenced from a neurobiological and attachment theory approach, and what neuroscience can teach or show us about affect, the importance of early emotional learning and brain growth/development, and areas or hemispheres of the brain localised for particular emotional responses. This is particularly important to understanding behaviour in children and adults whom have experienced emotional trauma, physical abuse and/or neglect; whereby areas of the brain (neurons/transmitters) not used or responding due to say lack of touch, sense of feeling and love, and safety or security by the primary caregiver makes them redundant at early infancy a stage of greatest plasticity, essentially depriving the capacity for developing a full personality.

Interestingly, there are links between early therapeutic work of psychoanalytic theory and more contemporary psychotherapy modalities and sciences.

Some interesting and contemporary clinicians I have had the pleasure to explore only thus far are Morton Chethik, Sue Kegerreis, Bruce Fink, Graham Music, Anne Alvarez, Ariel Nathanson, Donald Campbell, Janine Sternberg and Allan Schore, Gabor Matè and Alex Howard, to name a few.