Psychodynamic Therapy: A Guide to Evidence-Based Practice

by Richard F. Summers MD, FACPsych, DLFAPA, Jacques P. Barber PhD, ABPP, Sigal Zilcha-Mano PhD

Overview

"This book's purpose is to promote a personalized psychodynamic therapy built on general psychodynamic knowledge and technique, free of jargon, and tailored to the needs of specific individuals. Personalized psychotherapy requires a deeper look under the hood of psychodynamic therapy; we discuss customizing techniques based on a therapeutic strategy for each individual patient that relies on an assessment of their core psychodynamic problem and strengths and weaknesses. We use over forty clinical examples of individuals in treatment in the book, with a wide variety of age, gender, race, culture and sexual preferences"--

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781462554072
Publisher:	Guilford Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	03/26/2024
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	410
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Richard F. Summers, MD, is Senior Residency Advisor and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. He served as Co-Director of Residency Training at Penn from 1998 to 2017. Dr. Summers is a nationally recognized educator, author, and clinician. He is treasurer of the American Psychiatric Association and past president of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatry Residency Training. He has published widely on psychodynamic therapy, the therapeutic alliance, focus in psychotherapy, physician well-being, positive psychology, and psychiatry residency training.
 
Jacques P. Barber, PhD, ABPP, is Professor Emeritus and Dean Emeritus of the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology at Adelphi University. He is also Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at New York University and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and in the Graduate Psychology Group at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Barber is past president of the International Society for Psychotherapy Research and a recipient of its Outstanding Early Career Award and Distinguished Research Career Award. He has published more than 300 articles, book chapters, and books on topics including psychodynamic therapy, psychotherapy research, and the therapeutic alliance.
 
Sigal Zilcha-Mano, PhD, is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Haifa, Israel, where she heads the Psychotherapy Research Lab in the Department of Psychology, She is Associate Editor of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology and serves on the editorial boards of eight other journals. Dr. Zilcha-Mano is a recipient of the Outstanding Early Career Achievement Award from the Society for Psychotherapy Research, the American Psychological Foundation/Division 29 Early Career Award, and the New Researcher Award from the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration. She has published over 160 peer-reviewed research articles on psychodynamic psychotherapy and mechanisms of change.
 

Table of Contents

Introduction
I. Context
1. Why Dynamic Psychotherapy?
2. Pragmatic Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: Conceptual Model and Techniques
3. Psychodynamic Therapy and Other Therapies
II. Opening Phase
4. The Therapeutic Alliance: Goal, Task, and Bond
5. Core Psychodynamic Problems, Part I
6. Core Psychodynamic Problems, Part II
7. Psychodynamic Formulation
8. Defining a Focus and Setting Goals
III. Middle Phase
9. The Narrative: Building a Personal Story
10. Change
11. Therapeutic Moments: Emotions in Psychotherapy
12. Therapist Strengths, or Managing Your Countertransference
IV. Telepsychotherapy and Combining Treatments
13. Telepsychotherapy
14. Psychopharmacology and Psychotherapy
15. The Patient Is Part of a Family, with Ellen Berman
V. Ending
16. Goals and Termination
References
Index
 

Interviews

Practitioners and students across the full range of mental health fields, including clinical psychology, psychiatry, counseling, and social work. May serve as a text in graduate-level courses such as Introduction to Psychotherapy, Direct Practice in Mental Health, and Mental Health Counseling.

Editorial Reviews

"This book amply demonstrates the relevance of psychodynamic therapy in mental health practice today. The underlying concepts are fully explained and firmly rooted in the context of contemporary psychology. Look no further for a readable and well-informed account of current practice! The authors take readers by the hand, leading them chapter by chapter through the phases of contemporary psychodynamic treatment. Newcomers will learn about the distinctive features of the clinical relationship, the personalized nature of the approach, and how to implement treatment in their current practice, even if using telepsychotherapy; seasoned clinicians will be brought up to date on the core elements of contemporary psychodynamic therapy."—Anthony W. Bateman, FRCPsych, Visiting Professor, University College London, United Kingdom, and Copenhagen University, Denmark

"Psychodynamic psychotherapy is a powerful clinical tool. This approach—and the evidence for its effectiveness—needs to be clearly introduced and articulated to new therapists and those who wish to broaden their skills. Summers, Barber, and Zilcha-Mano illuminate crucial therapeutic ideas and applications in this book. Like the first edition, the second edition of this guide is certain to become a mainstay in psychotherapy curricula."—Barbara Milrod, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

"Trainees often ask for a book to help them organize their thinking and structure the treatment in psychodynamic psychotherapy. This book will gratify their wishes, with an approach that is both general and personalized. The book has the voice of a supervisor—kind, clear, honest, direct, and human. Varied, realistic case examples are accompanied by reflection questions that model how an experienced practitioner might think. The authors speak to the questions, fears, and decisions therapists face, making psychodynamic practice accessible and appealing without glossing over its complexity."—Jordan Bate, PhD, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University

"This is among the very best books on practicing psychotherapy. The authors beautifully illustrate how to apply evidence-based principles to particular patients’ problems—the chapters on psychodynamic formulation, therapeutic focus, and building a personal story provide rich material for individualizing treatment. Therapists at all levels of training and from diverse theoretical perspectives will benefit from reading this excellent second edition."—George Silberschatz, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco; President, San Francisco Psychotherapy Research Group

"The second edition retains the superb descriptions of the major psychoanalytic models and psychodynamic approaches, along with illustrative clinical vignettes, that made the first edition so compelling. The book highlights modifications of traditional approaches that make psychodynamic psychotherapy applicable to a broader range of patients and increase its effectiveness. The second edition incorporates the expanding evidence base for psychodynamic therapy and includes cases with more diversity in age, race, gender, sexual orientation, and nationality. The new chapter on telepsychotherapy brings therapists up to date on the opportunities and challenges of this growing form of therapy and contains valuable clinical recommendations. This volume is essential reading for trainees and experienced mental health professionals."—Fredric N. Busch, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, and faculty, Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research

From the Publisher

"An important book that is practical, evidence-based, and useful for the general psychiatrist."

Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

"The authors' combined wealth of practical experience with clients, students, and research has led to the development of a useful model for practitioners, trainers, and students....The concepts and techniques of 'pragmatic psychodynamic psychotherapy' (PPP) are introduced by means of a case study. PPP involves clear diagnosis and case formulation, which is shared with the client and used to agree a focus for the work. Rather than the traditional 'black screen,' an active, warm, and engaged way of working is advocated....A very useful book for practitioners, students, and trainers alike."

Therapy Today

Throughout the book, detailed case studies are presented which help explain the ideas of psychodynamic theory and practice. Each individual's tale of therapy is encapsulating and serves to contextualize the points made by the authors….This book is extremely well written and remarkably easy to pick up and read….It is very down to earth and provides a thorough, yet easy-to-digest knowledge of the development, and current developments of this highly useful technique….A brilliant and very informative book. Between the superbly detailed case studies and the respect for the core beliefs of psychodynamic theory, this book encompasses all there is to know about dynamic psychotherapy, in an accessible manner, and is an essential read for those wanting to know everything about psychodynamic theory in the present day.

Clinical Psychology Forum

"Summers and Barber focus the light of empirical evidence on this treatment and on its competitors in a clear, concise, and well organized format. This allows them to debunk prevalent myths about psychodynamic theory and practice....The authors organize the presentation of PPP to reflect the three phases of psychotherapy, opening, middle, and ending. They use jargon-free language and they weave clinical vignettes into the chapters in a way that makes difficult concepts readily accessible to learners. One reviewer, a psychiatry resident, found this work to be a very useful synthesis of disparate sources of information regarding psychodynamic theory and practice. The very concrete examples in the clinical vignettes and the tables of key principles made it effortless to assimilate the concepts outlined in the text. Reading this work helped him shape his practice and encouraged him to use psychodynamic psychotherapy with a variety of patients....It is a guide to a mysterious and sometimes difficult area of mental health care. It presents a model of psychodynamic therapy to which a novice can relate and which he or she can safely implement, while leaving ample room for the development of an individuated personal technique....We recommend this book to supervisors and their students."

Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry

"The book's value lies in its ability to function as a tool for engendering the growth and development of psychodynamic therapeutic competency....This book has enormous value to both students and advanced practitioners. We hope that this book is adopted by institutes, graduate programs, and medical schools as a promising text to teach psychodynamic psychotherapy as well as a means of enhancing its effectiveness and preserving its credibility."

Clinical Social Work Journal

"Will serve as a resource for practicing, teaching, and investigating psychotherapy. For the newcomer [the authors] offer a comprehensive framework for approaching the patient in actual clinical practice. For seasoned practitioners it offers a refocused perspective on ongoing therapeutic work. For the teacher the text provides an excellent outline for focusing on the clinical situation. For the researcher it offers a framework that lends itself to use as a research manual."

Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association