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Psychodynamic psychotherapy is a controversial and misunderstood topic in psychological and psychiatric training programs worldwide. Summers and Barber focus the light of empirical evidence on this treatment and on its competitors in a clear, concise and well organized
format. This allows them to debunk prevalent myths about psychodynamic theory and practice.
This book is intended for novice learners. It begins with an overview of the development and transformation of this treatment modality through the years, now more than a century, of its existence. This historical perspective gives the learner a better understanding of the value of psychodynamic therapy in clinical practice and how it continues to evolve today.
The authors then present their new model Pragmatic Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (PPP) as an alternative to traditional psychodynamic psychotherapies. They outline three central psychoanalytic theories that inform current models of psychotherapy: ego psychology, object relations and self psychology and provide a concise table to help the reader quickly see differences among the theories. The text provides evidence, sometimes very selective evidence, to support the conclusion that PPP is a more efficient treatment modality than traditional psychodynamic psychotherapy, and one that may be used synergistically with other treatment modalities. People who pay attention to research evidence may find the emphasis on the work of the authors’ group and the omission of work by some investigators disconcerting; but one must keep in mind that the target reader of this book is an individual who is just beginning to work in the field and who will find the tight focus on one technique useful as he or she confronts a real patient.
The authors organize the presentation of PPP to reflect the three phases of psychotherapy, opening, middle and ending. They use jargon-free language and they weave clinical vignettes into the chapters in a way that makes difficult concepts readily