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Patricia Gianotti's book, Embracing Therapeutic Complexity: A Guidebook to Integrating the Essentials of Psychodynamic Principles Across Therapeutic Disciplines, is not what I had expected. I was initially attracted to this book by the second part of its subtitle, “Across Therapeutic disciplines.” Accordingly, I expected the book to relate directly to a particular interest of mine, psychotherapy integration, or how, using relational psychodynamic theory as a baseline, we can effectively combine therapy approaches (Frank, 2020, for example). My expectation was shaped in part by my “meeting” Dr. Gianotti at an online psychoanalytic seminar I taught on psychotherapy integration.
What I found in her book was quite different from what I expected—yet quite rewarding. The content definitely has applications to integrating different methods, as I will explain, but that is not her major thrust. Rather, Gianotti, applying her penetrating clinical grasp, does a splendid job of reducing relational psychodynamic theory, in all its multiplicity and complexity, to its basics.
Structurally, the book is very well organized and clearly and accessibly written. The reader benefits substantially from the author's ability to convey complex ideas clearly and relatively simply in straightforward language unvarnished by jargon. To help make her points, Gianotti includes many generous quotes from leading relational psychoanalytic authors like Jessica Benjamin, Robert Grossmark, Donnel Stern, and Paul Wachtel. These quotes are carefully selected for their pithiness and accessibility. The work of these well-known authors undoubtedly has shaped Gianotti's own thinking, and she selectively quotes their words within a clearly developed, relevant, and useful context. Her writing is straightforward and concise, yet not spare; for instance, among her many useful metaphors, she likens case formulation to taking a good snapshot: “As a good photographer knows, creating a good snapshot requires knowledge