The Dyadic Transaction: An Investigation into the Nature of the Psychotherapeutic Process

The Dyadic Transaction presents unique, pioneering research on the nature of the psychoanalytic therapeutic process by three leading practitioners. The volume demonstrates that the process of psychotherapy is a consequence of reciprocal interaction between the psychotherapist and the patient, rather than merely the result of actions of the therapist, shedding an important light on how and why psychotherapy works.

A team of three experienced psychoanalysts discretely and independently recorded their personal observations during a series of therapy sessions. At the same time, the psychoanalyst conducting the therapy also recorded impressions of each session. The results show that the therapist is actually an active participant in verbal and nonverbal interaction. Nonverbal aspects of this exchange are a thoroughly original aspect of this study.

Originated by Franz Alexander, one of the great pioneers in psychoanalysis and psychiatry, this experimental approach offers valuable insight into the nature of the psychotherapeutic process. The basic findings outlined here foreshadow many of the results and new methods of research in subsequent psychoanalytic studies and continue to be highly relevant today. The Dyadic Transaction is a necessary source of material for psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, psychologists, and psychiatrists.

Samuel Eisenstein (1913–1996) was a professor of psychoanalysis and former dean and past president of the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute.Norman A. Levy (1907-2005) was a charter member of the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and co-founder of the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute.Judd Marmor (1910-2003) was a professor of psychiatry and served as director of psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.  He is known for his role in revoming homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association DSM-5.