Knowing Through Changing: The Evolution of Brief Strategic Therapy

This book is the result of fifteen years of clinical-research work carried out at the Brief Strategic Centre of Arezzo, Italy, for the development of a continuously improving, efficient and effective treatment of various human problems. The authors put forward a simple yet comprehensive description of the epistemology and genealogy of Brief Strategic Therapy, while emphasizing the most evolved therapeutic interventions for each of the various disorders studied, acquired from the experimental-empirical research carried out in everyday clinical practice. All the phases of the advanced model of Brief Strategic Therapy are covered, revealing the corresponding objectives, strategies and language used in the treatment of various psychological problems. Importance is given to the first treatment session and the use of the Strategic Dialogue. For a better understanding of the model and its application, the book contains specific case examples of the treatment of phobic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, eating disorders, depression, child problems, presumed psychosis and others. In this section, the authors put forward the underlying logic of each specific disorder and its variants, the attempted solutions that maintain and worsen the problem and a step-by-step description of effective therapy. The final part of the book discusses a very controversial issue: the bridging of research and practice. The authors put forward a critical report of the different research approaches used in the study of psychotherapy, followed by a detailed account of the action intervention-research used at the various centres and institutes around the globe that apply the Advanced Brief Strategic Model, together with a description of the future prospects for Brief Strategic Therapy.

Psychologist and psychotherapist, Giorgio Nardone is Director of Centro di Terapia Strategica in Arezzo, Italy and Director of the School of Specialization in Brief Strategic Psychotherapy. He runs numerous conferences, seminars and workshops for professionals.

Claudette Portelli is a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, therapist, researcher and trainer at the Centro di Terapia Strategica in Arezzo, Italy.