Maximizing Effectiveness In Dynamic Psychotherapy

Maximizing Effectiveness in Dynamic Psychotherapy shows therapists how and why to develop the specific skills and personal qualities they need to be as effective as possible.

The best therapists embody the changes they attempt to facilitate in their patients. In other words, they practice what they preach and are an authentic and engaged, as well as highly skilled, presence. Maximizing Effectiveness in Dynamic Psychotherapy demonstrates how and why therapists can and must develop the specific skills and personal qualities required to produce consistently effective results. The six factors now associated with brain change and positive outcome in psychotherapy are front and center in this volume. Each factor is elucidated and illustrated with detailed, verbatim case transcripts. In addition, intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy, a method of treatment that incorporates all these key factors, is introduced to the reader. Therapists of every stripe will learn to develop and integrate the clinical skills presented in this book to improve their interventions, enhance effectiveness and, ultimately, help more patients in a deeper and more lasting fashion.

This book evolved from the First International Meeting of the Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy Association on intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy. It will help readers to make use of the conscious working alliance with the patient to increase the unconscious part of the working alliance.

The world has long awaited compelling and unmistakable evidence for the validity of dynamic psychotherapy. A review in the present book shows that such evidence has been accumulating over the past ten years. It comes from clinical trials, process research, case studies, and objective physiological measurements concerned with the importance of expressing emotions. This book extends the evidence. It provides an in-depth examination of therapy in action, based on verbatim accounts of the treatment of seven patients by the author, using the technique of Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy (at times extending to medium-term). This technique has been shown to be both effective and cost-effective with a wide range of patients, including some who are notoriously resistant to psychotherapeutic intervention. The raw data of psychotherapeutic sessions enables the reader to trace the origin of therapeutic effects, which occur immediately in response to the direct experience of hitherto buried feelings and impulses.

Traditionally, psychoanalytic treatment has been a lengthy endeavour, requiring a long-term commitment from patient and analyst, as well as vast financial resources. More recently, short-term approaches to psychoanalytic treatment have proliferated. One of the most well-known and thoroughly studied is the groundbreaking method of Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy, developed by Dr. Habib Davanloo. Having trained directly with Dr. Davenloo, the author has written a clear, concise outline of the method that has come to be regarded as a classic in the field. The book is organised in a systematic fashion, analogous to the process of therapy itself, from initial contact through to termination and follow-up. Detailed clinical examples are presented throughout the text to illustrate how theory is translated into techniques of unparalleled power and effectiveness.

Individual Psychotherapy and the Science of Psychodynamics present an extensive examination of the basic principles of dynamic psychotherapy. It discusses the concept of constructive aggression. It addresses the analysis of expressive and defensive mechanisms. Some of the topics covered in the book are the therapeutic effects from history taking; common syndromes of sexual problems in women; qualities needed by a therapists; characteristics of unconscious communication; common syndromes of problems of masculinity in men; evolution and analysis of Oedipus complex; and Koch’s postulates in psychodynamics. The passive defenses against aggression and the link with depression are fully covered. An in-depth account of the meaning of paranoid feelings is provided. The evaluation of the oedipal depression in men and women are completely presented. A chapter is devoted to the identification of transference neurosis. Another section focuses on the origin of human aggression. The analysis of phobic anxiety, anorexia nervosa, and hypochondriasis are briefly covered. The book can provide useful information to psychologists, therapists, students, and researchers.

Facilitating the Process of Working Through in Psychotherapy provides a detailed understanding and de-mystification of the concept of "working through" in dynamic psychotherapy, the most vital but neglected aspect of the therapeutic process. Just as there are multiple factors responsible for the creation and perpetuation of symptoms and suffering, multiple interventions are frequently required to work through and resolve them. This volume spans topics such as multiple causation, repetition compulsion, and the polarities of experience, while emphasizing the importance of providing a corrective emotional experience, recognising and repairing ruptures to the alliance and facilitating a positive ending to treatment. Verbatim transcripts of the author’s therapy sessions illustrate the factors responsible for working through toward enduring change, and readers are taken through theory, research, and practice. This book is essential reading for all psychotherapists who are committed to increasing therapeutic effectiveness while enhancing their own personal and professional development.

How to use limited therapeutic time most efficiently Research shows that many clients seeking therapeutic help attendfor one session only--no matter what their therapist's orientationor approach. Moshe Talmon demonstrates how therapists can turn thissingle encounter into a positive therapeutic experience. Based on a study of hundreds of single-session cases, this bookoffers a realistic, practical approach to using a single session toprompt substantial changes in patients' lives. The author describeshow to make the most of patients' innate ability to healthemselves--presenting insights into bolstering the patient'sexisting strengths, restoring autonomy and confidence, and offeringsolutions that the patient can implement immediately.

Many students enter graduate programs with little or no experience of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Efforts to impart clinical skills have often been less than systematic and beginning psychotherapists have not always been encouraged to think about what they are doing and why they are doing it from a scientific standpoint. Thoughtfully building on current debates over efficacy and effectiveness, this book outlines a promising approach to training in which the work of therapy is divided into tasks patterned after Luborsky's influential delineation of "curative factors"--significant developments in the course of the therapy that are crucial for effective change. Each task step for the therapist-cognitive, behavioral, affective, or a combination--is analyzed, taught separately, and then put in sequence with the other task steps. Curative factors have been extensively studied in recent years and the approach rests on a solid empirical base. In a climate of increased accountability, clinicians must demonstrate that they are responding to providers' requests to conduct evidence-based practices. Core Processes in Brief Psychodynamic Psychotherapy will be an invaluable resource not only for students and trainees, but for established therapists who find themselves asked to justify their work.