Psychodynamic Therapy: A Guide to Evidence-Based Practice, Second Edition, by Richard F. Summers, Jacques P. Barber, and Sigal Zilcha-Mano.  The Guilford Press, New York, 2024,  410 pp.

Psychodynamic psychotherapy is the natural heir to psychoanalysis but can also claim to be the most accessible and generalizable psychotherapy practice that both is evidence-based and incorporates a comprehensive theory of mind. Despite these highly desirable attributes, it has been difficult to obtain consensus on a practicable set of principles that can define what constitutes theory-adherent practice, is readily teachable, and would serve to meet the needs of most psychiatrists and other mental health professionals in their typical practice settings.

There are many well-regarded texts that discuss theory and also approach questions of practice, often through case studies or examples, but these typically lean heavily on psychoanalytic theory and practice. There are manualized guides to psychodynamic psychiatry, though these are directed at specific patient populations or disorders.

In the second edition of Psychodynamic Therapy: A Guide to Evidence-Based Practice, Richard Summers, Jacques Barber, and Sigal Zilcha-Mano offer an approach to a kind of psychodynamic practice that they believe—and for which contention they provide evidence—will especially strengthen the treatment alliance and provide clinical flexibility in a changing health care environment. They review, with admirable concision, the evidence-base for psychodynamic psychotherapy, and summarize important, “common factor” variables across different approaches to psychotherapeutic practice. They conclude, appropriately, that a focus on patient–therapist interactions is critical to the success of any treatment and that this is best viewed through a psychodynamic lens.