Discussion on The Anatomy of Psychotherapy

Larry Friedman's book, The Anatomy of Psychotherapy, is brilliant. It sparkles with insight into what psychotherapy is about, what makes it different from other human relationships, and, particularly, the role that theory plays in making psychotherapy unique. He outlines his argument early in his presentation. Therapists, he tells us, are always uncomfortable while doing therapy. They “function in a sea of trouble” (p. 6) and sit “in a broth of interpersonal pressures” (p. 6). They need help, and the treatment for their distress is provided by their theories. Psychoanalysis is described as the prototype theory of psychotherapists, and Friedman examines psychoanalysis, as well as a number of competing theories and dissenting psychoanalytic schools, in order to explore how theories work, how therapists use them, and, particularly, the specific ways in which different theories come to the assistance of the ever uncomfortable therapist, facilitating or inhibiting the therapy in the process.

This is by no means a textbook of psychotherapy, and a beginning student of psychotherapy would best avoid it. However, it is similar to such a text in that it is about people with problems (in this case therapists rather than patients) and the strategies that are employed in solving those problems (in this case theories rather than psychotherapy). Therefore, it is interesting to compare it to such a textbook. Textbooks of psychotherapy are about patients and their problems,