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A university in the United States Mountain West utilized grant resources to track counseling services for students who were currently experiencing or who had historically experienced relationship v...

I describe a short-term dynamic therapy of 12–14 fortnightly sessions developed whilst working in a specialist mental health service for older people. Vignettes are given of this therapy with two women suffering from long histories of depression who experienced considerable benefit. They both showed an impressive capacity to reflect on and hold the therapy in mind during the fortnightly intervals and the longer breaks. To their surprise and relief, they did not become depressed during the period of therapy. They were especially pleased to discover an unexpected resilience. Less intensive frequency of sessions with fortnightly intervals offers the advantage of not encouraging a regression in the transference and, whilst recognising the importance of difficulties in early life, can galvanise adult capacities and resources developed over a long life. Particular influences in this work are discussed in the use of play from Winnicott, as described by Smith, and the importance of reaching hopeful and positive a...

The Leuven Systematic Case-study Protocol was used to analyze the therapeutic trajectory of a young woman suffering from anxiety problems. The LSCS protocol is a broad-spectrum monitoring tool that...

This paper was given as the Annual Ellen Noonan Counselling Lecture on July 2012 and retains some of the spoken style of the lecture. It uses examples of Ellen Noonan’s work to examine aspects of the process of teaching and learning psychodynamic practice. The difficulties of how to embed theoretical knowledge with its clinical application are discussed and the question of what are the key skills of the self-reflective practitioner is raised with reference to whether, and how, they can be taught or learnt. It is suggested that part of this process consists in helping students, and their teachers, to be more comfortable with not knowing, a concept that is both counter intuitive and counter cultural. From this aspects of contemporary therapeutic practice, with specific reference to psychodynamic short-term therapy, are addressed. The paper looks at the ambivalence felt by many psychodynamic clinicians towards working within a short-term paradigm in current workplace settings and how this might be addressed....

Aim: To determine whether or not clients' perceptions of microaggressions varied based on their own and the therapist's race/ethnicity and whether or not they would be negatively related to the effectiveness of therapy and if the working alliance would mediate this effect. Method: The study utilised a cross-sectional, retrospective, methodology. Clients were recruited from a large university counselling centre in the United States (N=232 clients and 29 therapists). Results: Neither clients' race/ethnicity, therapists’ race/ethnicity, nor client-therapist ethnic matching predicted perceptions of microaggressions. Clients' ratings of microaggressions were negatively associated with their psychological wellbeing; however, this effect was mediated by clients' ratings of the working alliance. Implications: Therapists should take into account the cultural messages they may be conveying to both white and racial/ethnic minority clients. Therapists should develop strategies that are consistent with a gene...

Children with cerebral palsy (CP) experience not only motor disabilities but other, emotional, communicative, and social impairments. The relationship between caregivers (usually mothers) and CPs as well as their communication patterns might also be impaired. Music therapy was found to be effective with CPs and dyadic treatment has been found to be effective in facilitating mother–child relationships. However, music therapy and dyadic treatment were never combined to address CPs and their mothers. We present the dyadic music therapy treatment (DUET) and report of a preliminary study that examined if it was effective. The DUET of one dyad was videotaped and subsequently analyzed according to the mixed methods approach. Qualitative analysis resulted in 10 types of communication patterns, seven being non-verbal, two musical, and one verbal. Twenty-two types of relationship were found, 17 being coordinated relationships and five uncoordinated ones. Analyzing the frequencies of these types across the DUET sess...

The systems-centered short-term therapy protocol was adapted and applied in three single case studies with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) patients in a ten-session individual treatment over a two week period. All three subjects showed substantial improvement and no longer met diagnostic criteria post-treatment. Changes were maintained at follow up both six months and one year later. These results are promising and suggest the importance of further research on SCT as a viable, alternative treatment for generalized anxiety disorder.

This article describes a dynamic, short-term art therapy approach that has been developed for the treatment of trauma related disorders. Using a modified Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) protocol with alternating tactile and auditory bilateral stimulation, associations are rapidly brought to conscious awareness and expressed in a series of drawings. As new information is accessed, affective material is metabolized and integrated, leading to transformation of traumatic memory and an adaptive resolution of the trauma. Readers are cautioned that clinicians using this approach should be experienced in working with trauma.

This article explores the need for university counseling centers (UCCs) to implement brief therapies and describes one such treatment, intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP), as a particularly viable therapeutic approach in this setting. Because ISTDP is not appropriate for all students seeking therapy, a careful assessment of the client is conducted prior to deciding which treatment approach is best suited for the client. The different restructuring techniques that comprise ISTDP are discussed. The article ends with a brief vignette from a therapy session with a student involving ISTDP techniques.

This brief report examines the use of writing in short-term therapy. A case study of a 45-year-old male coping with schizophrenia is presented with respect to the expressive/creative mode of poetry therapy (Mazza, 1999). Based on clinical observation, it appears the client's writing served in both therapeutic and assessment capacities within the boundaries of Wolberg's (1965) stages of development in brief therapy.

This article places representative formulations of brief dynamic psychotherapy in the larger context of psychoanalytic thought, reviews relational perspectives that inform contemporary approaches to time-limited treatment, and identifies tasks in continued development of theory, research, and practice. In doing so, it emphasizes the need to consider a broader range of psychopathology, dysfunction, and need in formulations of brief intervention and to develop more flexible and realistic approaches in treatment of vulnerable and underserved populations. The growing emphasis on theoretical pluralism and pragmatism in therapeutic practice generally should facilitate efforts to broaden the base of brief dynamic treatment.

There is much theoretical and clinical literature on the role of interpretation in psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and brief dynamic psychotherapy, but little supporting research data. Using 112 audiotaped sessions from 38 patients in supportive-expressive time-limited treatment, the present study hypothesized that therapists would modify the object and temporal content and frequency of their interpretations in relation to the level of patient functioning. The results did not support this hypothesis. Therapists were not less active with more interpretations for higher functioning patients, nor were they more active with fewer interpretations for lower functioning patients. Therapists were more active and made more genetic interpretations with married patients, regardless of level of patient functioning. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for supportive-expressive psychodynamic therapy.

Chapter 10: “Working Through and Working On” takes an extended look at two clinical moments to talk about the actual practice of integrative psychotherapy. Recognition of patterns and continuity of experience are discussed. In this chapter, readers have an opportunity to see how the different elements in the preceding chapters can be brought into a practice on a regular and smoothly integrated basis. Based on research and clinical examples, the chapter shows clinicians how they might integrate their own work. The concepts of detailed inquiry and small moments of change are re-visited and considered extensively in the context of clinical material.

In the current study, the development and initial validation of the Suitability for Short-Term Cognitive Therapy (SSCT) interview procedure is reported. The SSCT is an interview and rating procedure designed to evaluate the potential appropriateness of patients for short-term cognitive therapy with an interpersonal focus. It consists of a 1-hour, semistructured interview, focused on eliciting information from the patient relevant to nine selection criteria. The procedures involved in the development of this scale are described in detail, and preliminary evidence suggesting that the selection criteria can be rated reliably is presented. In addition, data indicating that scores on the SSCT scale predict the outcome of short-term cognitive therapy on multiple dependent measures, including both therapist and patient perspectives, are reported. It is concluded that the SSCT is a potentially useful scale for identifying patients who may be suitable, or unsuitable, for the type of short-term cognitive therapy administered in the present study.

In the 1970s, Helen Bonny developed the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music for use as a primary process of receptive music psychotherapy in long-term therapy. Training programs in the method traditionally taught it for use in this manner. Over the last two decades, however, modifications of the Bonny Method for use in short term therapy have inspired innovations in training. As a part of this movement, the Anna Maria College training program is innovative in three main areas: a) the music and imagery methods used to train students, b) the processes of personal development in which students are engaged, and c) the processes used for distance supervision and peer interaction.

Two groups of 35 patients each, one treated with brief therapy, averaging 14.2 sessions on a once per week basis, and the other group, treated with a short-term type of therapy, averaging 47 sessions on a once per week basis, were administered the Rorschach and the Katz Adjustment Scales-Form S three times. The first administration took place before entering therapy. The brief therapy group was tested a second time at termination of treatment and again 8 to 12 months following termination. The short-term therapy group was tested the second time at therapy termination and the third time 10 to 12 months after termination. Each group reported substantially fewer symptoms at termination and continued to report about the same level of symptom reduction at the second retest. The Rorschach data seem to provide an ample basis from which to argue that considerable improvement occurred in the psychological organization and/or operations of both groups, and this appears to have some confirmation in the self-report data.

Schizophrenia is a mental condition characterized by a disorder in thinking. Thought content frequently is disturbed and leads to psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations (hearing voices or seeing things that are not there) and delusions (beliefs that are not supported by reality). The thought process also is affected, leading to looseness in associating one idea to another. Because of the disturbances in thinking, schizophrenics often are unable to relate meaningfully with other people, resulting in a social isolation or inappropriate behavior. As a consequence of these problems, many schizophrenics have difficulties maintaining employment and generally are found at the lower ends of the socioeconomic spectrum, further compounding their difficulties. Although many of these patients have exacerbations of their symptoms that cause them to be hospitalized, the previously mentioned difficulties usually persist even between such acute episodes. For this reason, schizophrenia is seen as a chronic disorder, and it is very difficult for these patients to maintain a normal existence even when functioning optimally.

In treating a physician or a member of his family the psychiatrist should decide the basis for extending professional courtesy (no fee or reduced charge) upon the specific circumstances of the individual case. Generally psychiatrists do not charge for the diagnostic workup or for short term therapy. If long term therapy is indicated the matter should be discussed and a mutual agreement reached before undertaking treatment. In many cases prolonged treatment without charge may be conducive to poor therapeutic results owing to negative feelings in both the patient and therapist. Professional courtesy may be a barrier to good medical treatment, in many cases causing delay in seeking medical help and producing negative feelings on the part of the patient and the treating physician. Insurance coverage for medical care would permit an adequate recompense being given without embarrassment to either party. The present philosophy of the AMA that physicians are unethical if they charge other physicians or their fami...

A time-limited method of intervention is used effectively in a university health center to alleviate problems in relationships and communication

• In recent years, numerous forms of short-term psychotherapy have been developed, without clear guidelines for choosing among them. There are three major approaches in terms of both their techniques and their criteria for patient selection. The "interpretive" method stresses the use of insight produced by a therapist's interpretations, the "existential," the maturational effect of a brief empathic encounter with the therapist, and the "corrective," the behavioral changes resulting from patient management by the therapist. The question facing a short-term therapist is how to choose a particular method for a particular patient. A framework is proposed based on developmental phases of adult life to help therapists match patient and method.

Using the model of "person plus stress yields reaction," the authors discuss the differences between crisis intervention and short-term treatment, including psychiatric emergencies. In emergency treatment the central focus is on the reaction, or symptoms, while in crisis intervention the emphasis is on the stress and its quick resolution. In short-term treatment the focus is on the person and exploration of behavior patterns and feelings. The authors believe that the number of crisis cases handled by a therapist must be limited because of their exhausting nature.

Summary This paper adds to De Courcy's (1971) contention that it is hazardous to undertake short term therapy without assessment and makes the point that the use of assessment with clinical diagnosis enables the clinician to minimize classificatory errors and helps him to be aware of the nature of his evaluations.

Nowadays psychotherapies which last for months or weeks, rather than for years, have become a realistic part of the mental health scene. It is not so much a question of whether or not one should do short term psychotherapy, but when to do it, how to do it, and what factors are significant for its outcome.