A Primer For Beginning Psychotherapy (Brunner/Mazel Basic Principles into Practice Series)

Do some therapists work better with specific types of patients? How important is the office setting? What is the five-minute warning? The answers to these questions and more are found in this brief and concise guide designed especially for students and beginning therapists, as they start their careers. In addition, this primer can be used by more advanced professionals as a teaching guide. The author successfully presents all of this information with a special emphasis on technique and clinical example.
In the first two chapters, the reader is forced to take a good look at the patients and then at themselves. First, the author asks therapists to find out more about their patients and classify them into one of four groups: normal-neurotic, the narcissistic, the borderline, and the psychotic. (The author will provide comparisons and contrasts of these patient groups throughout the book). Once a patient is associated with one of these groups, the therapist can choose from a variety of approaches to treat him. Second, the author asks the therapist to evaluate himself for a moment. What kinds of personal qualities and training will help them to be a good therapist? How long does it take to become an effective therapist? These questions and others are discussed at length in this chapter.

The next few chapters give the therapist an overview of psychotherapy and discuss five different types: psychoanalysis, analytically oriented psychotherapy, modified analytically oriented psychotherapy, dynamically oriented psychotherapy, and supportive psychotherapy. At this point in the book, the reader will have a clear picture of which patient type goes with what kind of psychotherapy. In the latterchapters, the author describes different issues that may arise including: whether or not patients should be charged for missed appointments, should smoking and food be permitted during sessions, and what interaction should be like outside of sessions.

Finally, the author provides clinical vignettes regarding techniques and interventions with patients. These chapters focus on transference and the therapeutic alliance and basic strategies for different types of patients. In addition, there are chapters which discuss anxiety and defense techniques, special issues and problems, and trends in psychotheraphy.

"This concise and clearly written book is, as its title suggests, an excellent primer for students and mental health professionals at the early stages of their careers. . This book would make a fine addition to the library of the neophyte psychotherapist. It gives the larger picture of what psychotherapy is about, yet, at the same time, presents highly practical advice on many concrete and interpersonal issues." - Ilisse R. Perlmutter, M.D., St. Barnabas Hospital in Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 63:4, April 2002

"This is a useful book which will provide a viable teaching aid for established therapists and is full of helpful advice for beginners." - European Eating Disorders Review