Psychodynamic Approaches to Behavioral Change

Although an increasing number of psychoanalysts are targeting behavioral change in their patients as part of their therapeutic approach, strategic frameworks remain scarce. Psychodynamic Approaches to Behavioral Change illustrates techniques for achieving behavior modification in a jargon-free style that will enable a broad range of mental health professionals whether psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, or others who use a variety of treatments to be more effective in their approach.

Readers will find in this guide a practical framework not only for identifying and understanding problematic behaviors and conceiving alternative behaviors, but also for anticipating potential pitfalls in efforts to change behaviors and choosing interventions for helping patients sustain new behavior. Throughout, vignettes illustrate how to apply these psychodynamic techniques in the clinical setting as clinician and patient collaborate to make practical changes in the patients life.

Fredric N. Busch, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and Lecturer in Psychiatry at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research in New York, New York.