1st Edition

How Does Psychotherapy Work?

By Jane Ryan Copyright 2005
    288 Pages
    by Routledge

    288 Pages
    by Routledge

    It is said that the question "how does psychotherapy work?" cannot be answered conclusively - that we cannot reach into the depths of a deeply private relationship and pluck out a precise truth about what occurs within it. This book defies that notion. Here, the question is both beautifully explored and answered by leading psychotherapists from different schools to create a fascinating volume of ground-breaking ideas and theory. Each contributor unravels the procedures of the work, discussing the qualities of good psychotherapy from their own personal and theoretical perspectives. They explore the reasons why people seek help, how they can be helped and the goals of the therapeutic journey, each of them writing with precision, clarity and passion for the work they do. Despite the wide range of variations in their theory and technique the eleven contributors to this book are united in finding certain common denominators in successful psychotherapy.

    Introduction , The fifteen key ingredients of good psychotherapy , Relational perspectives on the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis , The questions we have to ask (ourselves) before we answer the question: How does psychotherapy work? , The psychotherapy relationship , Rhythm, reorientation, reversal: deep reorganization of the self in psychotherapy , When thought is not enough , Primal psychotherapy , Containment: the technical and the tacit in successful psychotherapy , The value of attachment theory in understanding how psychotherapy works , The big picture , Is the psychotherapist's authenticity a crucial key to therapeutic change?*

    Biography

    Jane Ryan