Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy: Evaluation and Technique

xii the evaluations, techniques, and outcome have helped to document the efficacy of their therapeutic modalities. In addition, many good books and articles have been published introducing new concepts, such as the importance of systematic case studies and personality styles by Horowitz, a variety of brief therapies by Budman, and an integrating model of time-limited psychotherapy by Strupp, to men- tion only a few. The investigation of the efficacy of short-term anxiety-provoking psychotherapy (STAPP), which is the subject of this book, has con- tinued during the last eight years, particularly in reference to pa- tients with unresolved Oedipal conflicts. The chapter on outcome has therefore been expanded to include some of our findings. Cautious attempts have also been made to utilize focal and in- novating techniques for the treatment of individuals with borderline as well as compulsive personalities. In this second edition an effort has been made to present the specific technical factors which seem to have a therapeutic effect, such as problem solving, self-understanding, and new learning, and which are utilized by the patients to solve new emotional conflicts long after the end of their treatment. Chapters on the treatment of elderly patients and the handling of individuals with physical symptomatology have been added; a history of the extensive treatment of a male patient has been pre- sented to complement the discussion of the therapy of my female patient which appears in Appendix I.