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.
Psychotherapy is one of the most private and unobservable professional activities in existence. Engineers' bridges and buildings are on display. Attorneys win or lose cases in public courtrooms. Physicians, although bound by confidentiality rules, frequently conduct their practice in the presence of other medical personnel (e.g., nurses) and, in many cases, their performance and outcomes are readily observable (e.g., in the operating room). Access to what transpires in the therapy room is relatively restricted.
How do we know what transpires in therapy? The luminaries throughout our history have written tomes explaining the theory and practice of psychotherapy—Freud, Rogers, Beck, Wolpe, and many others of course. Their work contains descriptions of therapy, case material, transcripts selected to illustrate, and instructions for conducting therapy. On the other hand, access to complete sessions may be available in recorded format, such as in the American Psychological Association (APA) Video Series (apa.org). Although these videos display therapy, they are theoretically impoverished—we learn a bit about the approach from the master therapist but are left, or at least I am, wondering about therapist intentionality. Why did the therapist say X at moment Y and how is it related to the therapy being delivered? So, one might ask, “What really happens in psychotherapy?.” Interestingly enough, this is the subtitle (stated as a declarative rather than an interrogative sentence) of Paul L. Wachtel's book Inside the Session. Interestingly, as well, is that Inside the Session is the explanation of two sessions conducted by Wachtel that are available through the APA video series.
Logically enough, the book is divided into three parts. Part 1, “Grounding Assumptions and Principles,” lays out the theory from which Wachtel works. Part 2, “The Sessions,” presents transcripts and commentary about three sessions, two with one patient. Part 3, “R