Concise Guide to Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: Principles and Techniques of Brief, Intermittent, and Long-Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

by Robert J. Ursano MD, Stephen M. Sonnenberg MD, Susan G. Lazar MD

Overview

Developing skills in psychodynamic psychotherapy and its techniques is a lifetime endeavor. The third edition of this volume from American Psychiatric Publishing's enduringly popular Concise Guides series serves as an excellent starting point for mastering these vital skills -- skills that can be applied to many other psychiatric treatment modalities, including other psychotherapies, medication management, consultation-liaison psychiatry, outpatient and emergency room assessment and evaluation, and inpatient treatment.

In a compact guide -- complete with glossary, indexes, tables, charts, and relevant references -- designed to fit into a lab coat pocket, the authors • Provide the clinician with an updated introduction to the concepts and techniques of psychodynamic psychotherapy, describing their usefulness in other treatments. For example, psychodynamic listening and psychodynamic evaluation are best learned in the context of psychodynamic psychotherapy training but are applicable in many other psychiatric diagnostic and treatment methods.

• Convey the excitement and usefulness -- as well as the difficulties -- of psychodynamic psychotherapy and its techniques, including case examples.

• Show the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of psychotherapy in general, and of psychodynamic psychotherapy in particular -- issues of special importance in the evidence-based practice of medicine and mental health care.

• Explain the advantages -- and limitations -- of each form of psychodynamic psychotherapy: brief, long-term, and intermittent. For example, psychotherapists must be able to recognize patterns of interpersonal interaction without engaging in the "drama." Thus, they must learn to recognize and understand their own reactions as early indicators of events transpiring in the treatment and as potential roadblocks to a successful treatment.

Complementing more detailed, lengthier psychiatry texts, this volume's 15 densely informative chapters cover everything from basic principles to patient evaluation, resistance and defense, transference and countertransference, dreams, beginning and termination of treatment, management of practical problems, brief and supportive psychotherapy, and psychotherapy of borderline personality disorder and other severe character pathologies.

Mental health care professionals everywhere will turn to this practical guide again and again as an invaluable resource in creating and implementing effective treatment plans for their patients.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781585627295
Publisher:	American Psychiatric Publishing, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/20/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	264
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robert J. Ursano, M.D., is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, in Bethesda, Maryland. He is also on the teaching faculty of the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute in Washington, D.C.

Stephen M. Sonnenberg, M.D., is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, in Bethesda, Maryland, and Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. He is also a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Houston-Galveston Psychoanalytic Institute, based in Austin, Texas.

Susan G. Lazar, M.D., is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, in Bethesda, Maryland, and at the George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C. She is also a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute in Washington, D.C.

Table of Contents

About the AuthorsIntroduction to the Concise Guides SeriesPreface to the Third EditionChapter 1. Why Psychotherapy?Chapter 2. Basic PrinciplesChapter 3. Patient Evaluation, I: Assessment, Diagnosis, and the Prescription of PsychotherapyChapter 4. Patient Evaluation, II: Psychodynamic ListeningChapter 5. Patient Evaluation, III: Psychodynamic EvaluationChapter 6. Beginning TreatmentChapter 7. Resistance and DefenseChapter 8. TransferenceChapter 9. CountertransferenceChapter 10. DreamsChapter 11. TerminationChapter 12. Practical Problems and Their ManagementChapter 13. Brief PsychotherapyChapter 14. Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder and Other Severe Character PathologyChapter 15. Supportive PsychotherapyAppendix: A Brief History of Psychodynamic PsychotherapyGlossaryAuthor IndexSubject Index

What People are Saying About This

Robert Michels

This brief, clear outline of psychodynamic psychotherapy provides everything a beginner wants to know...It provides an excellent basis for acquiring one of the core skills of psychiatry.
— (Robert Michels, M.D., Walt McDermott University Professor of Medicine, University Professor of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College, New York, New York)

William H. Sledge

The authors are to be congratulated for explicating the basic tenants and subtleties of psychodynamic psychotherapy in this very readable and accessible second edition.
— (William H Sledge, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut)

Editorial Reviews

This softcover, paperback-sized book contains 15 pithy chapters on the basics of psychodynamic psychotherapy. It was designed to fit easily into a lab coat pocket and is clearly meant to serve as a ready reference to the topic. It was written by three psychiatrists, all faculty at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. The stated purpose is to provide practical, accessible information for psychiatrists and psychiatric residents that can be used in varied settings. It is meant to complement more detailed information found in lengthier psychiatric texts. The targeted audience is psychiatrists and psychiatric residents, but this volume would also be useful to any mental health practitioner. The book covers such topics as basic principles, the prescription of psychotherapy, psychodynamic listening, beginning treatment, resistance, transference, countertransference, dreams, and termination. Each chapter is informed by the authors' knowledge of the resource limitations and time constraints faced by a psychotherapist in a managed-care environment. Each chapter is followed by a brief, up-to-date bibliography. The book also contains numerous tables, an appendix, a glossary, and a useful index. The entire handbook is organized for rapid reference. This little book admirably succeeds in its purpose and should find wide acceptance among practicing psychiatrists, psychiatric residents, and other mental health professionals.

John K. Larson

This little book admirably succeeds in its purpose and should find wide acceptance among practicing psychiatrists, psychiatric residents, and other mental health professionals.

Doodys Health Sciences Book Review Journal

A Concise Guide to Psychodynamic Psychotherapy sounds like an impossible dream. However, the authors have managed to construct a volume of less than 250 small pages that is well written, easy to translate into useful and important clinical activity, and well referenced.

Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

Reviewer: Brett C. Plyler, M.D.(Northwestern Memorial Hospital)
Description: This book is part of the Concise Guides series and focuses on the principles and ideas of psychodynamic psychotherapy.
Purpose: This is an updated introduction to the concepts and techniques of psychodynamic psychotherapy.
Audience: The book is intended to educate the beginning therapist.
Features: It briefly reviews a wide variety of psychodynamic topics including patient evaluation, resistance, defenses, transference, countertransference, dreams, and termination issues. It also examines brief, intermittent, and long-term psychotherapy. It is pocket-sized for easy carrying.
Assessment: This book is limited in its usefulness. It provides too much detail to be particularly useful to medical students unless they have a specific interest in psychodynamic psychotherapy. Though it is well written and has informative clinical examples, it is too brief for residents or clinicians starting psychotherapy training. It may be helpful initially, but I believe most would find that they will quickly need more information and discussion of difficult topics. The references provide titles for further reading but I feel it would be better to purchase a more thorough text to start.

Doody's Review Service