Winnicott and Sullivan in the Brief Psychotherapy Clinic,, Part I—Possible Activity and Passivity1

WHEN WE NEED TO DECIDE WHOM TO TAKE into brief dynamic psychotherapy, we do well to start with the advice of Davanloo and Malan. Their first principle is to exclude patients with obvious danger signs. The second is to try the therapy we are going to use, to see if the patient can work with its potential (Davanloo, 1978), (1980); (Malan, 1979). The idea of "trial therapy" then is simple and straightforward.

If we believe there is only one way to interact with a patient in treatment, "trial therapy" is not mysterious. When we anticipate powerful alternatives from the different schools of psychiatry, however, life becomes complicated: in this instance, contemplating the many possible ways of conducting the "trial therapy" in the selection phase of brief psychotherapy. There are two broad and