You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
This book is an attempt to apply the theory and method of classical psychoanalysis to the wider field of psychotherapy. It is the result of the joint effort of Drs. Alexander and French and their associates at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. Alexander scrutinized cases which showed marked improvement after a few interviews and found that such improvements were sometimes of lasting nature, if the therapy was conducted on the basis of clear knowledge of the dynamics of the case. He concludes that prolonged analyses are not necessarily intensive and profound and that brief analyses are not necessarily superficial. The authors assume that if one is able to ascertain early in treatment what the “nuclear conflict” is, it is possible to shorten the therapy by focusing on the resolution of this conflict. They further believe that all therapy is psychoanalytic if it makes use of transference and if it aims at the goal of promoting the integrative capacity of the ego.
The book is the outcome of coordinated effort covering a period of eight years. It is based on the study of several hundred cases. About twenty cases are presented in some detail and many others are discussed briefly for purposes of illustration. Approximately half of the book is devoted to a discussion of the methods and the other half contains the case presentations. The authors believe that adherence to the classical procedure is seldom if at all indicated and that its fixed routine and its passive approach lead to an unnecessary prolongation of treatment. They have experimented with a number of changes. They have largely abandoned the use of the couch and the insistence on daily interviews. The frequency of the interviews should be modified according to the needs of the patient and his needs will change in the course of the treatment. The therapeutic process is speeded up by a certain optimum emotional intensity which the patient should experience in order to develop insight into the irrational forc