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.
It is well known, especially to experienced practitioners, that there are patients who are non-responders who remain severely symptomatic with residual conflicts, and anxiety, depression, suicidality, and the like. From a diagnostic standpoint they may fall into many overlapping comorbid diagnoses, with Axis I, II, and III assignments. In an attempt to treat these individuals we employ a variety of therapies including: psychodynamic; interpersonal; cognitive-behavioral psychotherapies, as well as, pharmacotherapy. On occasion, the intensity and velocity of the interpersonal and behavioral symptoms overshadow all etiological frameworks by which our treatments are informed. Sometimes it can feel to the therapist that their diagnostic, listening, and treating perspectives are being stampeded.
In Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy, Benjamin has masterfully provided an intelligent, highly organized, stepwise approach to treating such patients. First she persuasively argues that all the various symptoms can be traced back to a well structured “formulation” that uniquely describes the particular patient's history. Beginning from attachment