"This is the best book on psychotherapy that this former training director has ever read. It is rooted in both 21st-century science and the wisdom of psychiatry over the past two centuries. Students will value its lucidity, positivity, and common sense."

-George E. Vaillant, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School


"At last, we have the definitive book on psychodynamic therapy. The authors weave together traditional psychodynamic strategies and techniques with up-to-date developments in the field. The chapters are extremely well written, containing clinical examples that illustrate the strategies and techniques....I highly recommend this book to clinicians and students who want the latest on psychodynamic therapy."

-Aaron T. Beck, MD, University Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Medical School


"This gem of a book fills an important gap in the dynamic therapy literature, incorporating cutting-edge research and conceptual advances while using jargon-free, experience-near language. The result is a scholarly, nuanced, and innovative work that will be highly useful for beginning clinicians, supervisors, and even experienced clinicians across all major theoretical orientations. Summers and Barber debunk outdated and stereotyped ideas about dynamic psychotherapy by describing in a clear, pragmatic manner the core principles and the unique aspects of a dynamic approach. The clinical examples are vivid and resonant....A 'must read'!"

-Kenneth N. Levy, PhD, Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University


"This important work combines the wisdom of experienced therapists with current empirical research. The book includes thoughtful discussions of alliance, transference, and interpretation, along with newer understandings of narrative and trauma. Summers and Barber share what they know, based on systematic research; what they believe, based on clinical experience; and, especially, what works-the specific clinical strategies they have found to be helpful and effective."

-Robert Michels, MD, Walsh McDermott University Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry, Cornell University


"This timely, up-to-date, and remarkably useful book will be accessible to readers from a broad range of professional backgrounds. It will be of particular interest to therapists-in-training who are relatively unfamiliar with psychoanalytic theory and seek a hands-on guide that incorporates the latest developments in clinical thinking and research. At a time when many psychiatry residencies and clinical psychology graduate programs neglect to provide adequate training in this pivotal approach, the book provides a much-needed corrective. Summers and Barber convey the wisdom, clinical sophistication, and vitality of psychodynamic therapy in a way that speaks to the sensibilities and needs of a new generation of therapists. A wonderful contribution!"

-Jeremy D. Safran, PhD, Professor and Director of Clinical Psychology, New School for Social Research Table of Contents

Introduction

I. Context

1. Why Dynamic Psychotherapy?

2. Pragmatic Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: Conceptual Model and Techniques

3. The Other Psychotherapies

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. Moments in Psychotherapy

12. Therapist Strengths, or Managing Your Countertransference

IV. Combining Treatments

13. Psychopharmacology and Psychotherapy

14. The Patient Is Part of a Family, with Ellen Berman

V. Ending

15. Goals and Termination

About the Author

Richard F. Summers, MD, is Clinical Associate Professor and Co-Director of Residency Training in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and a faculty member of the Philadelphia Center for Psychoanalysis. Dr. Summers's clinical interests focus on combined psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, and adult life cycle development. His research interests include the contemporary revision of the theory and technique of psychodynamic psychotherapy, new approaches to psychotherapy training and education, comprehensive psychodynamic formulation, and positive psychology. Dr. Summers is the recipient of numerous teaching awards, including awards from the University of Pennsylvania, the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society. He has been named a "Top Doc" by Philadelphia magazine and is President-Elect of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training.

Jacques P. Barber, PhD, ABPP, is Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Associate Director of the Center for Psychotherapy Research at the University of Pennsylvania, and Foreign Adjunct Professor in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. He was recently president of the Society for Psychotherapy Research. Dr. Barber conducts research on the outcome and process of dynamic and cognitive therapies for depression, panic disorder, substance dependence, and personality disorders. He is currently conducting a National Institute of Mental Health–funded randomized clinical trial of dynamic therapy versus cognitive-behavioral therapy for panic disorder. Dr. Barber has written extensively on the impact of the therapeutic alliance and of therapists' use of theoretically relevant interventions on the outcome of therapy. Audience

Practitioners and students across the full range of mental health fields, including clinical psychology, psychiatry, counseling, and social work. Classroom Use

May serve as a text in graduate-level courses such as Introduction to Psychotherapy, Direct Practice in Mental Health, and Mental Health Counseling.