Patricia Coughlin - Maximizing Effectiveness in Dynamic Psychotherapy

The best therapists embody the changes they attempt to facilitate in their patients. In other words, they practice what they preach and are an authentic and engaged, as well as highly skilled, presence. Maximizing Effectiveness in Dynamic Psychotherapy demonstrates how and why therapists can and must develop the specific skills and personal qualities required to produce consistently effective results. The six factors now associated with brain change and positive outcome in psychotherapy are front and center in this volume. Each factor is elucidated and illustrated with detailed, verbatim case transcripts. In addition, intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy, a method of treatment that incorporates all these key factors, is introduced to the reader.

Therapists of every stripe will learn to develop and integrate the clinical skills presented in this book to improve their interventions, enhance effectiveness and, ultimately, help more patients in a deeper and more lasting fashion.

Patricia Coughlin (Della Selva), PhD, is a clinical psychologist with more than thirty years of experience as a psychodynamic therapist, international teacher/trainer, and author. She has been a clinical professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University School of Medicine, Albany Medical College, and Jefferson Medical College. Currently, she conducts a private psychotherapy practice in Albany, New York, and she is a visiting scholar at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Her book Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy is considered a classic in the field.

First published 2017
by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2017 Patricia Coughlin

The right of Patricia Coughlin to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Della Selva, Patricia Coughlin, 1954 author.
Title: Maximizing effectiveness in dynamic psychotherapy / Patricia

Coughlin.

Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2016. | Includes bibliographical

references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015050555 | ISBN 9781138824966 (hardback :

alk. paper) | ISBN 9781138824973 (pbk. : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781315740249 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Psychodynamic psychotherapy.
Classification: LCC RC489.P72 D45 2016 | DDC 616.89/14dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015050555

ISBN: 978-1-138-82496-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-82497-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-74024-9 (ebk)

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To my patients and trainees, who have contributed more to my life than theyll ever know.

It is a genuine privilege to be a partner in the transformation of patients lives, from suffering and constriction, to aliveness and authenticity. The remarkable courage and generosity of those who have allowed their treatments to be videotaped, shared, and studied in an effort to help others is both touching and inspiring. I am a far better person and therapist for having known you all.

I am profoundly grateful to Drs. Habib Davanloo and David Malan for their courageous and steadfast determination to discover new and effective means for reaching ambitious therapeutic results in a rapid and consistent fashion. Their contributions to the field have been immense. It is my hope that this book will aid in the dissemination of this vital information to a broad audience of therapists who are eager to learn more productive and efficient ways to help their patients.

My trainees have taught me much, and I learn from each and every one of them. Special thanks to Torben Palmer Hansen and Mark Vail, who spent countless hours editing and subtitling my videotapes for training purposes, and to Angela Cooper for reading several of these chapters along the way, and Lucas Jones, who edited the volume with great care. To Tor Wennerberg, enormous thanks for the countless invigorating and illuminating discussions about every aspect of theory and techniquenot to mention life itself!

My colleagues have been remarkable resources and, in many cases, have become valued friends. My work and my life have been deeply affected by you all. In particular, Allan Abbass, Bjorn Elwin, Jon Frederickson, Diana Fosha, Allen Kalpin, Jeff Katzman, Laura Mott, Kristin Osborn, and David Wolff have been models of compassion, devotion, and dedication to excellence in our field. Their inspiration and support have been invaluable.

To all my dear friends and comrades in arms, especially Elaine Appellof, Diane Byster, Susan Fisher, Karen Hastings, Bonnie Miller, Sandy Rainbow, Diana Shulman, Lise Suino, Andrew Ursino, Kathy Thiel, and Jody Whitehouse. I cant imagine my life without you.

Finally, I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Bruce Ecker, who introduced me to Anna Moore at Routledge. And, last but not least, to Zoey Peresman, for her kind, constructive, and incisive feedback on this manuscript. The book is far better for her contribution to it.