Psychoanalytic Process Research Strategies

This book aims, as the title implies, to blaze a new path for researchers of dynamic psychotherapy. It raises fundamental questions about the relationship between psychotherapy and psychopathology which are indicative of the subtle shift that has occurred in the field. No longer just an applied science, dynamic psychotherapy is evolving toward a basic science in its own right. The book is divided into two parts: the first discusses the objective analysis of psychodynamic structures, and the second shows the evolution of single case study methods. The strategies outlined here point the way toward exciting future developments.

Hartvig Dahl This is a book about the future that we hope will arouse the curiosity of clinicians and point a direction for researchers. It marks the surprisingly rapid evolution of psychodynamic psychotherapy research from an applied toward a basic science, and, as its title implies, describes strategies to follow rather than results to live by. It was not always thus. A quarter of a century ago the editors of two volumes of psychotherapy research reports summarized the state of the field then: Although there has been a great accumulation of clinical observations and experimental findings, the field has made relatively little progress. There has been little creative building on the work of others (Parloff and Rubinstein 1962). Psychological research generally has tended to be insuffi ciently additive. Research people often find it hard to keep informed of related work done on the same site and else where, and therefore do not build upon each other's foun dation (Luborsky and Strupp 1962)."

Contents: Towards the Objective Analysis of Psychodynamic Structures.- The Evolution of Single Case Study Methods.- References.- Name Index.- Subject Index.