Chapter 12 Using Self Psychology in Brief Psychotherapy

Brief or time-limited psychotherapy is not usually thought of as the province of self psychology. Yet, as described previously (Gardner, 1991), I believe that brief psychotherapy is an eminently appropriate and fertile domain for the application of self psychology and that self psychology, in turn, can greatly enhance the effectiveness of brief treatment.

In this form of treatment, the therapist attends centrally to the state of the patient's self and the establishment of a selfobject bond with the therapist as a matrix for change. The core mutative process occurs through empathic interpretations, which articulate and legitimize the patient's subjective experience, particularly his or her frustrated selfobject needs and longings. This process strengthens the self, leading to a reorganization of experience and reinstating a process of development, repair, and structure building. All of these events can and do occur even in the context of very time-limited therapeutic encounters.

The goal of this chapter is to elaborate on some of the practical steps involved in the application of this theoretical perspective. I address this goal primarily by providing a set of questions and organizing frameworks intended to help clinicians conceptualize brief treatment from a self psychological point of view. Before turning to