This comprehensive and highly readable book outlines the main psychological therapies used in contemporary clinical practice. It clearly describes the underlying theoretical principles and techniques and with vivid case examples, demonstrates the central role of these treatments in mental health care. The contribution of psychological and psychodynamic ideas to different psychiatric presentations is outlined, including mood disorders, psychosis, self harm and suicide. Other chapters specifically address recent developments, including neuropsychoanalysis, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and Open Dialogue. As the chapters unfold this book illustrates how a psychologically informed approach to mental disorder can enrich psychiatric practice by providing a holistic and meaningful understanding of the symptoms of psychological distress. Bringing together ideas from psychiatry and psychotherapy, this is the go-to text for trainees, experienced psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals interested in the psychological and psychodynamic aspects of psychiatry. An essential resource for preparation for the MRCPsych examinations.

Seminars in the Psychotherapies presents an overview of the major established psychotherapies for psychiatrists who are developing their therapeutic skills. Clinical examples are used throughout to highlight how theory can be applied to practice and to illustrate how different theoretical concepts are linked.

"Working in mental health puts us in touch with the complexity, depth, creativity and turmoil of the human mind. We are at the emotional coal face, privileged to be encountering the fundamental unknowability and strangeness of the internal world. How much we make of this opportunity depends on how open or closed we are to the experience. Our patients communicate their disturbance powerfully and the working environment can be challenging and exhausting without meaningful understanding. To explore one's own mind, and to be receptive and knowledgeable about the unconscious processes that underlie all mental activity, allows us to learn from this experience. Working in this area then becomes more creative, enjoyable, productive, and of lower personal risk. It feeds rather than depletes"--

First published in 1987. The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc. is a federal non-profit corporation. It was formed to promote and advance the contributions made to the health sciences by the late Milton H. Erickson, M.D., during his long and distinguished career. This volume is a collection of the papers from video-taped sessions at first Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference.

The Performing Art of Therapy explores the myriad ways in which acting techniques can enhance the craft of psychotherapy. The book shows how, by understanding therapy as a performing art, clinicians can supplement their theoretical approach with techniques that fine-tune the ways their bodies, voices, and imaginations engage with and influence their clients. Broken up into accessible chapters focused on specific attributes of performance, and including an appendix of step-by-step exercises for practitioners, this is an essential guidebook for therapists looking to integrate their theoretical training into who they are as individuals, find joy in their work, expand their empathy, increase self-care, and inspire clients to perform their own lives.

Presenting a pragmatic, evidence-based approach to conducting psychodynamic therapy, this engaging guide is firmly grounded in contemporary clinical practice and research. The book reflects an openness to new influences on dynamic technique, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and positive psychology. It offers a fresh understanding of the most common problems for which patients seek help -- depression, obsessionality, low self-esteem, fear of abandonment, panic, and trauma -- and shows how to organize and deliver effective psychodynamic interventions. Extensive case material illustrates each stage of therapy, from engagement to termination. Special topics include ways to integrate individual treatment with psychopharmacology and with couple or family work.

The Handbook of Body Psychotherapy and Somatic Psychology provides a comprehensive overview of body-centered psychotherapies, which stress the centrality of the body to overcoming psychological distress, trauma, and mental illness. Psychologists and therapists are increasingly incorporating these somatic or body-oriented therapies into their practices, making mind-body connections that enable them to provide better care for their clients. Designed as a standard text for somatic psychology courses, The Handbook of Body Psychotherapy and Somatic Psychology contains 100 cutting-edge essays and studies by respected professionals from around the world on such topics as the historical roots of Body Psychotherapy; the role of the body in developmental psychology; the therapeutic relationship in Body Psychotherapy; and much more, as well as helpful case studies and essays on the use of Body Psychotherapy for specific disorders. This anthology will be indispensible for students of clinical and counseling psychology, somatic psychology, and various forms of body-based therapy (including dance and movement therapies), and is also an essential reference work for most practicing psychotherapists, regardless of their therapeutic orientation. Contributors: Gustl Marlock, Halko Weiss, Courtenay Young, Michael Soth, Ulfried Geuter, Judyth O. Weaver, Wolf E. Büntig, Nicholas Bassal, Michael Coster Heller, Heike Langfeld, Dagmar Rellensmann, Don Hanlon Johnson, Christian Gottwald, Andreas Wehowsky, Gregory J. Johanson, David Boadella, Alexander Lowen, Ian J. Grand, Marilyn Morgan, Stanley Keleman, Eugene T. Gendlin, Marion N. Hendricks-Gendlin, Michael Harrer, Ian J. Grand, Marianne Bentzen, Andreas Sartory, George Downing, Andreas Wehowsky, Marti Glenn, Ed Tronick, Bruce Perry, Susan Aposhyan, Mark Ludwig, Ute-Christiane Bräuer, Ron Kurtz, Christine Caldwell, Albert Pesso, Michael Randolph, William F. Cornell, Richard A. Heckler, Gill Westland, Lisbeth Marcher, Erik Jarlnaes, Kirstine Münster, Tilmann Moser, Frank Röhricht, Ulfried Geuter, Norbert Schrauth, Ilse Schmidt-Zimmermann, Peter Geissler, Ebba Boyesen, Peter Freudl, James Kepner, Dawn Bhat, Jacqueline Carleton, Ian Macnaughton, Peter A. Levine, Stanley Keleman, Narelle McKenzie, Jack Lee Rosenberg, Beverly Kitaen Morse, Angela Belz-Knöferl, Lily Anagnostopoulou, William F. Cornell, Guy Tonella, Sasha Dmochowski, Asaf Rolef Ben-Shahar, Jacqueline A. Carleton, Manfred Thielen, Xavier Serrano Hortelano, Pat Ogden, Kekuni Minton, Thomas Harms, Nicole Gäbler, John May, Rob Fisher, Eva R. Reich, Judyth O. Weaver, Barnaby B. Barratt, Sabine Trautmann-Voigt, Wiltrud Krauss-Kogan, Ilana Rubenfeld, Camilla Griggers, Serge K. D. Sulz, Nossrat Peseschkian, Linda H. Krier, Jessica Moore Britt, and Daniel P. Brown.

In Treatment of Severe Personality Disorders: Resolution of Aggression and Recovery of Eroticism, the influential psychoanalyst and psychiatrist Otto Kernberg presents an integrated update of the current knowledge of personality disorders, their neurobiological and psychodynamic determinants, and a specific psychodynamic psychotherapy geared to resolve the psychopathology of these conditions -- namely, the syndrome of identity diffusion and its influence on the capacity for emotional wellbeing and gratifying relationships with significant others. The author updates the findings of the Personality Disorders Institute of the Weill Cornell Medical College Department of Psychiatry, which are derived from the empirical research and clinical investigation of severe personality disorders, and addresses the effectiveness of transference-focused psychotherapy, a specific psychodynamic treatment for these disorders developed at the Institute. The volume focuses particularly on an essential group of techniques common to all psychoanalytically derived treatments and clarifies the corresponding differential features of various psychodynamic treatment approaches. In prose both precise and evocative, the author: Examines the classification of personality disorders, the way competing viewpoints have influenced the evolution of DSM-III and DSM-IV, and the impact of new knowledge on the classification of DSM-5, with emphasis on how conflicts between scientific and political considerations have hindered the classification of personality disorders in the past. Illustrates in detail how present knowledge of neurobiological structures and neurotransmitters intertwines with the psychodynamic determinants of how psychic experience is organized. Explores psychodynamic psychotherapies and contemporary developments and controversies in the field. For example, the role of interpretation in borderline pathology is examined using a clinical case, and a new formulation of supportive psychodynamic psychotherapy is described. Addresses severe narcissistic pathology -- its diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Specifically, the book presents an overview of treatment options for severe narcissistic personality disorder, explores the distortions in verbal communication that may arise during psychotherapy with these patients, and focuses on the differential diagnosis of antisocial behavior. Examines the diagnosis and treatment of sexual pathology, and explores the vicissitudes of the love lives of patients with severe personality disorders. Concludes with a chapter on the essential preconditions in the education of psychodynamic psychotherapists to carry out the challenging and complex psychotherapeutic work in this field. In describing both the limits and the advances in therapeutic effectiveness, the Treatment of Severe Personality Disorders: Resolution of Aggression and Recovery of Eroticism performs a great service, and it will surely become a classic of the psychoanalytic literature.

In Psychotherapy Integration, George Stricker discusses the history, theory, and practice of this approach to therapy. Although no single therapeutic model claims a majority of practitioners, the most frequently endorsed approach is integrative or eclectic therapy. This attests to the reality of modern psychotherapy practice, which is that almost every therapist uses, at least in part, psychotherapy integration. Psychotherapy integration looks beyond the confines of single-school approaches to see what can be learned and incorporated from other perspectives. Integration involves not only taking techniques from other models and applying them in different approaches - something usually categorized as eclecticism - but also attending to the relationship between technique and theory. This brief introduction describes the full range of psychotherapy integration models, including the common factors approach, technical integration, theoretical integration, and assimilative integration, with a particular focus on the last approach. In this book, the author presents and explores psychotherapy integration, its theory, history, the therapy process, primary change mechanisms, empirical basis, and future developments. This essential primer, amply illustrated with case examples featuring diverse clients, is perfect for graduate students studying theories of therapy and counseling as well as for seasoned practitioners interested in understanding this approach. It is part of the ""Theories of Psychotherapy"".