As individuals engaged with children and those around them, educational psychologists enter a multitude of systems and relationships with the intention of helping. This often involves working in a context of confusion, conflict and creativity, a dynamic tension which is reflected in the chapters of this book. Designed to give both students and practitioners access to the experience of engaging with a dynamic unconscious, this volume investigates some of the key tenets and principles of psychoanalytic theory and demonstrates ways in which educational psychologists have used both theory and practice in their roles. Each chapter approaches a recognisable activity from educational psychology practice and provides an account of how psychoanalytic theories about our unique inner worlds and our unconscious processes can inform and enrich these interactions.

Dr Christopher Arnold worked as a local authority educational psychologist for nearly thirty years and is now principal psychologist with psychologicalservices.gb ltd. Dr Xavier Eloquin is an Educational Psychologist with over fifteen years of experience working in the public and private sector. He is a visiting lecturer to the Tavistock Educational Psychology training program, with a focus on Group and Organizational Dynamics. Dr Dale Bartle is co-director of the educational psychology training programme at Cardiff University and tutor at the Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust.