Handbook of Integrated Short-Term Psychotherapy

This guide for conducting short-term psychotherapy details the tools and techniques of brief psychotherapy, addressing four main areas: understanding, conceptualizing, and formulating the patient's problems; setting realistic treatment goals; knowing what to say to patients (i.e., technique); and maintaining a positive therapeutic alliance. With numerous clinical examples, the authors define a unified treatment model that emphasizes the differential use of therapeutic interventions, such as cognitive-behavioural and interpersonal techniques, encompassing the continuum of interprative to supportive approaches. Concluding with a summary of the past 20 years' research on integrated treatment, this volume is more than a valuable clinical guide for integrated evaluation and treatment; it is also a practical blueprint for promoting and maintaining a flexible, positive patient/therapist relationship. As such, it will prove indispensable not only to practitioners, but also to educators and students.