Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Art therapy, as a means of self-expression and healing, is used in a variety of clinical and rehabilitation settings. Here, it is tested with a population judged to be involved in terrorism-related activities. This paper presents an extensive review of the art therapy program at Mohammed Bin Nayef Center for Counseling and Care, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The objective of this study is to showcase the use of art therapy in the care and rehabilitation of ex-jihadists, with suggestions for best practices. This paper is the first description in the literature of the efforts of the Saudi government to explore the use of art therapy in counterterrorism. Art therapy outcomes on a population incarcerated for terrorist activities are presented alongside treatment and reconstruction of extreme ideology through art production. We conclude that a successful art therapy program is required within the overall approach to counterterrorism. Further, a strong understanding of the cultural backgrounds of the subjects, along with recommendations for relying upon specific artistic components of the therapeutic process are clearly indicated. According to government sources, together with the other programs offered to ex-jihadists, the art therapy program discussed here, which has been in operation since 2007, has achieved an 86.17% success rate, with (as of January 2015) a 13.83% recidivism rate. This is a strong indication that art therapy is an efficacious approach in counterterrorism.

Excerpts of therapist-patient dialogue are presented to demonstrate three important elements of a successful session of psychodynamic therapy. These are the provision of insight through the use of transference, a focus on patient affect, and the therapist's attention to aspects of the therapeutic alliance. The article, in addition to explicating the clinical process in psychodynamic therapy, gives a theoretical explanation for the emphasis on each of these three elements and provides research support for their application.

The article highlights the theoretical and practical aspects of art therapy from the viewpoint of Jung's analytical psychology. According to the author, artistic creative process in the psychotherapy becomes a way to create order from the chaos of inner feelings and impulses, to work through difficult experiences symbolically, it helps also to establish a connection between oneself and the world. The author illustrates her statements with clinical cases of her own analytical practice.
Keywords: art therapy, sandplay therapy, analytical psychology, creativity

In order to better cope with the pressures and stresses of the current day, modern psychology is anxiously seeking to find new therapies to address the increasing disorders within the human psyche. In the process new fields of research, such as humanistic and transpersonal psychology, curiously appear to borrow more and more from the wisdom of the ages. This volume, containing eighteen articles by noteworthy expositors of the perennial philosophy such as Huston Smith, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and Frithjof Schuon, presents the spiritual psychology of the wisdom traditions as a much-needed antidote to the current impasse in modern psychology.

Some Endorsements for Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy:

“[Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy] is more than an anthology. It is a wisely crafted collection of classic and contemporary scholarship noting that what many are seeking is what has always been, a perennial philosophy, that remains foundational. As one of the authors, Tage Lindbom, properly notes, ‘Secularization is a fish in troubled waters.’ This book claims the waters and is essential reading for all those who may have forgotten or are simply ignorant of the rich foundation provided by the perennial philosophy.”
—Ralph W. Hood, Professor of Psychology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, past president of the Psychology of Religion division of the American Psychological Association, co-founder of The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion and co-author of The Psychology of Religion

“A necessary and bracing critique of the assumptions and limitations of contemporary Western psychology, this generous volume is also a passionate call and learned guide towards a truer perspective that embraces man's spiritual nature.”
—Gabor Maté, M.D., and author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

“Knowing the nature of the mind is perhaps the most difficult undertaking, especially in today’s world. To comprehend the nature of mind one needs to turn to the domain of religion and spirituality. Yet the truth of the mind and its complexity cannot explicitly be defined in words. Inner or transcendent wisdom sees the mind’s own nature without the duality of the seer. Suchness (tathatā) of mind is only experiential and not expressible. The words used to describe thought are themselves a product of thought, which is conditioned and limited. Thus, differences and contradictions are unavoidable. Therefore, a comparative study of different viewpoints and commentaries is immensely important to awaken the inner intelligence to see the mind as it is. Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy: Studies in Comparative Religion edited by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos is an outstanding effort in this direction.”
—Samdhong Rinpoche, former Prime Minister (Kalon Tripa) of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, author of Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World: Tibetan Buddhism and Today’s World

“The rise of psychology has impacted the study and practice of spirituality, the experiences and attitudes relevant to ultimate human values that transcend ordinary behavior. Each chapter of this remarkable book demonstrates this interaction in a unique and provocative way. But rather than using psychology to reduce and ‘psychologize’ spiritual topics, its authors demonstrate how directives from the spiritual traditions can enhance and even illuminate the enduring importance of psychology in the 21st century.”
—Stanley Krippner, Saybrook University, co-author of Spiritual Dimensions of Healing

“The work at hand is a thinking and debating man’s delight. If you have any interest at all in attempting to include an educated and enlightened view of man’s higher functions in your purview of the world, you will learn from and enjoy this collection of essays. If you already have some knowledge in this area, brace yourself: you may see some of your favorites sharply criticized. A thought-provoking work.”
—Bruce W. Scotton, University of California, San Francisco, co-editor of Textbook of Transpersonal Psychiatry and Psychology

“This book, superbly edited by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos, is a masterful critique of the field of psychology and its loss of the sacred ground in which it once was rooted. It offers depth psychologists an opportunity to contemplate timeless truths echoed through the centuries by perennial philosophers who have always claimed psyche is subordinate to Spirit. Although ignored in depth psychology’s early years due to prejudice and lack of understanding, this is a message today’s psychotherapists must take seriously. Human beings need a deeper and wider transpersonal vision of who and what we are, which the saints and sages of the world’s spiritual traditions have always pointed to. In psychotherapy with a therapist committed to such a vision, patients penetrate into their unconscious depths and not infrequently awaken to the Ground of all Being. Their suffering itself occurred because they had turned away from Spirit. Above all, this volume passionately calls upon depth psychology to remember its origin in the perennial wisdom at the core of the great religions. There is something of a polemic in these pages. It deserves to be considered by depth psychologists of all persuasions.”
—Bryan Wittine, Transpersonal psychologist and Jungian psychoanalyst

“This anthology from Samuel Bendeck Sotillos is a must reference for anyone who is interested in psychology and its relationship to spirituality, and in developing an inclusive dialogue between disciplines that favor an integral outlook on the person and his or her potential. Selections in this anthology will inspire us to reexamine the metaphysical underpinnings of psychology, and remind us how important it is to rise above science’s attempt to reduce the human being to an epistemic object.”
—Sangeetha Menon, National Institute of Advanced Studies (Bangalore, India), Board Member of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA), author of The Beyond Experience: Consciousness in Bhagavad Gita

“This anthology has some of the most discerning essays and reviews on spirituality and psychology, which provide much-needed care and caution to all those engaged in bringing them together or who wish to do so in future. Therefore, it is a must-read for all those who teach, research, consult, or study in such frontier areas as transpersonal psychology, states of consciousness, mind-body relation, holistic health, Indian psychology, and so on. It will be an invaluable textbook for courses in these and other related areas. I congratulate the editor of the book.”
—Kiran Kumar K. Salagame, University of Mysore (India), Board Member of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA), author of The Psychology of Meditation: A Contextual Approach

“One of the finest collections of essays on the Perennial Philosophy—a must-read for all psychologists who are engaged with spirituality and transpersonal psychology. The essays which critique modern psychology (including transpersonal psychology, and the framework of Carl Jung), in the light of the Perennial Philosophy are a revelation and make compelling reading. The book serves as a corrective to the excesses of modern psychology, and to this end Sotillos has done a commendable job. I for one will include the book in some of the graduate courses that I teach.”
—Suneet Varma, University of Delhi, co-editor of Foundations of Indian Psychology

“To its credit modern science by-and-large is becoming more cognizant of the essential connection between spirituality and psychological health and well-being and most of all its positive implications within the field of psychology. While there is ample data to document this in a plethora of academic journals and books, this new book Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy adds a novel contribution to the dialogue between psychology and spirituality, which captures many nuances that for the most part go unnoticed within these discussions, and last but not least, it provides a keen eye of discernment to understand this intricate relationship on a deeper level that is crucially needed. This work will be a valuable asset to students and long term mental health practitioners and professors alike who seek to better understand the relationship between psychology and spirituality.”
—Harold G. Koenig, Duke University, Director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, co-author of The Handbook of Religion and Health

Amazon Purchasing Link:

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DOI Link:
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Book Description:

This book is unique in several basic ways.  It presents a theoretical discussion of the essence of the psychotherapeutic process, which goes beyond just the remediation of pathological symptoms, and also acquaints the reader with the essence of the growth process, which enables one to continue one's personal growth beyond the removal of pathological symptoms to personal maturity, fulfillment, and self-realization.

This book is also unique in that its format approaches the understanding of the therapeutic process through the understanding of the treatment of patients with specific psychopathologies discussed by consistently successful professional psychotherapists.

This book is unique as well in that in addition to the various major neurotic and psychotic disorders, it also covers areas rarely, if ever, found discussed in other psychotherapy books, such as psychodynamics and psychotherapy of suicidal patients, psychotherapy of patients with psychosomatic disorders, psychotherapy of patients with acting-out disorders, psychotherapy of patients with sexual disorders, psychotherapy with the aged, and an entire chapter devoted to establishig some basic criteria for an effective psychotherapy process.

Essentially, this book is designed to serve as a source book or reference book for professional psychotherapists, and students studying to be psychotherapists in such fields as psychology, psychiatry and social work, and it could also be useful as a textbook for advanced courses in psychotherapy, as well as a supplemental text for basic introductory courses in psychotherapy.  Each of the contributors has deliberately taken the pains to try to communicate in a way that will be intelligible to the student, as well as offer material that will be new, informative, and challenging to the more sophisticated clinician. This book goes beyond being what may be called a how-to-do-it type primer. It is not meant to be a structured "cookbook" or set of formulas blueprinting the course of psychotherapy.

Each contributor to this book is a renowned authority  in the area of the treatment of the specific disorder  about which he is writing, and he shares with the reader his understanding of the basic nature of the disorder, along with the therapeutic  considerations and insights that he has found to be most valuable in dealing effectively and successfully with persons with this particular kind of pathology. Case illustrations are appropriately supplied in order to help clarify  for the reader how this contributing therapist deals with the particular kinds of patients under discussion.  However, the suggestions made by each contributor should in no way be interpreted as the only way such problems can be approached and resolved. Rather, it only represents the way that one outstanding clinician tends to deal with the special problems involved in the treatment of persons with the particular disorder under discussion, and it is meant to serve only as a helpful guide for the reader.

As the reader may have already gathered,  the emphasis in this book is primarily focused on the professional and practical aspects rather than on the academic aspects of psychotherapy.  It is meant to fill a void and be consistent with a growing trend today in which professional clinicians and students studying to be psychotherapists want material to study that will provide them with the necessary skills most relevant to exactly what they will be doing in their professional career, rather than the strongly academic emphasis to which they have been exposed at most educational institutions.

This book recognizes that effective psychotherapy is not something that can be learned by being exposed only to theories, techniques, or research findings. Psychotherapy is not just a doing, or a predetermined set of techniques, as such, and, therefore, there is no formula, or systematic defined procedure, that has to be mastered. Rather, it involves an empathically sensitive, genuinely caring, engaged, being-with or intimate experiential communion, and the understanding of patients that naturally arises from that, from which then flows the therapist's appropriate responses. One has to truly, and deeply, here before one can act appropriately and meaningfully. Thus, the best way for one to really come to learn anything significant about effective psychotherapy is to have those clinicians who are truly masters of the art and science of psychotherapy share with others their sensitive and profound understanding of the nature of psychotherapy with patients with particular pathological symptoms.

This milestone text provides a comprehensive and state-of-the art overview of perfectionism theory, research, and treatment from the past 25 years, with contributions from the leading researchers in the field. The book examines new theories and perspectives including the social disconnection model of perfectionism and the 2 × 2 model of perfectionism. It also reviews empirical findings, with a special focus on stress, vulnerability, and resilience, and examines perfectionism in specific populations. Finally, it considers how perfectionism relates to physical health and psychophysiological processes and introduces new approaches to effective prevention and treatment. By increasing our understanding of perfectionism as a complex personality disposition and providing a framework for future explorations, this landmark publication aims to promote further research in this field. It will be invaluable reading for academics, students, and professionals in personality psychology, clinical and counselling psychology, applied psychology and related disciplines.

It has often been observed that, in general, different psychotherapies do equally well. Some have taken this as good evidence that therapeutic action in psychotherapy rests not on the factors specific to individual therapies, but on common factors. I argue against this view in favor of a theory of therapeutic action deriving from psychodynamic psychotherapy. This identifies the therapeutic relationship (and with it, many so-called common factors) and ‘psychodynamic insight’ as therapeutic factors. I review the evidence from outcome studies and from studies into two concepts related to insight, viz. reflection function and psychological defense. I argue that the best interpretation of the evidence supports the claim that insight, in interrelation with the therapeutic relationship, contributes to therapeutic action.

Erikson's ideas on basic trust are reviewed, along with a briefer review of Winnicott's thoughts on the importance of trust for the psychoanalytic process.  I seek to answer the following questions about mistrust by patients in their analysts.  (1) What is mistrust?  Is it a developmental arrest or deficit?  Or is it more accurately understood as a defense against intimacy and vulnerability.  (2) Is there a special relationship between mistrust and trauma? (3) When and to what degree is mistrust normal or healthy? (4) What personality types or clinical syndromes are prone to mistrust? (5) How problematic is mistrust for a psychoanalytic process?  Is trust a prerequisite for psychoanalytic treatment.  Can mistrust be analyzed, or can trust be earned?

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, remains also one of its most controversial. Far from being an outmoded icon of modern psychology’s early historical development, Freud’s doctrines (the “talking cure” in particular) have irrevocably shaped the way human behavior is understood today. Psychoanalysis has waged an assault on traditional conceptions of human nature by eclipsing everything of a transcendent order—even branding religion itself a kind of psychopathology. The corrosion of religion and spirituality in our human collectivity has left an epistemological and ontological vacuum that has been largely been filled by psychoanalysis and its off-shoots, as also the welter of psycho-babel we encounter at every turn. Psychoanalysis, like behavioristic psychology, has not died or disappeared, as is too often assumed—on the contrary, it forms the very substratum upon which all contemporary therapies are formulated. The consequences for Western civilization have been destructive and far-reaching, as this masterful study—nay, dissection and diagnosis—of the disease makes blisteringly clear.

This paper has been published in a somewhat different form in Meg Harris Williams' "Aesthetic Conflict  and its Clinical Relevance." - Karnac, 2018.

It outlines the various "knife-edge" defenses the infant mind must struggle with in the face of the emotional impact of the mother's beauty, particularly when there is no absolute guarantee of this being reciprocated.
An attempt is made to disambiguate this vulnerability from those which call into play defenses against (Kleinian) unconscious envy.
Both serve to protect the internal good/beautiful mother from destruction, in the infant mind.
One aspect of Narcissism, not usually emphasized, is the lack of conscious awareness of one's rejection of love and beauty when offered by another.
Instead, the narcissist remains almost totally merely conscious of his or her own feelings of being rejected, especially aesthetically.

The discipline of psychology and its sub-disciplines of social, cognitive, and industrial psychology undertake to identify taxonomies that help to identify, understand, and explain human behavior. In consideration of the traumatic effects of narcissistic parenting, this paper will discuss a single case analysis of patient A. In light of this patient's upbringing, I will discuss two main personality theorists, Freud and Jung, to describe patient A's self-reported personal identity, as he understands himself. I will describe the milestones that helped to formulate his beliefs, values and behaviors, familial and interpersonal relationships. The goal I will accomplish is to formulate a developmental assessment to support my theoretical perspectives of patient A.

The author examines the concept of ideology from a psychoanalytic point of view, and addresses the presence and the role it plays in the minds of patients arriving in the analysis room, emphasizing the relationship between ideology, as a conscious phenomenon, and dynamic deep meanings it has for every person, and reaffirm - from clinical evidence of these links - how ideologies need to be investigated and understood more broadly in the lives of those in demand for treatment.
Finally the author differentiates ideology, while universally present system of ideas, from what he called “ideological states of mind”, and proposes that these resemble that psychoanalysis known as a pathological personality organization, a mental state that serves the survival of a self threatened by disintegration, or represents a desperate attempt to repair a self already very fragmented.

We all know one. Those armoured cockroach narcissists that can survive anything. It is said that cockroaches are some of the most adaptable creatures on earth. They are in-vulnerable survivors. But at what, and who’s cost? The costs and burdens of being ‘used up’ by narcissists, in their entitled need for never ending supply, are carried by the common or garden everyday creatures called Human Beings. It’s the humanness in us that makes us vulnerable. We feel, we have compassion, we can empathise and we have a natural instinct to support and protect others. We see this mechanism of care operational throughout the animal kingdom. Gabor Mate says it is a disservice to call someone a rat as rats are very empathic creatures and will support their kin. Paradoxically the narcissist will “rat out” their fellow man and expose them to undeserved punishment. All with the aim of their own embellishment and fuelling of omnipotence.

This paper uses the concept of apophasis as a lens to investigate certain features of analytical psychology. It makes six assertions: The role of negation is a neglected aspect of the disagreement between Freud and Jung; Freud and Jung are equally, but differently, negative; negation is the way forward for analytical psychology; where transference was, imagination shall be; ignorance is a key learning outcome in psychotherapy training; the aim of analysis is ecstacy.

g Psykiatrian erikoislääkärit, Turku , Finland ences between the treatments. Of those 40 subjects who completed the follow-up, 57% in the psychotherapy group and 68% in the fluoxetine group showed full remission (HDRS ^ 7) after 4 months. Conclusions: Both STPP and pharmacological treatment with fluoxetine are effective in reducing symptoms and in improving functional ability of primary care patients with mild or moderate depression. This study suggests no marked differences in the therapeutic effects of these two treatment forms in a primary care setting.

Most contemporary text books of neurology and of psychology pay little attention to the function of the cerebellum beyond noting it to be an organ of motor control. A historical overview of research on cerebellar function is presented, from pre-Sherrinton suggestions of sensory and motor function, through the post-Sherrinton and dominant 20 th . Century view of "motor" function, to the 21 st . century perspective of "sensorimotor" function. The intrinsic capability of the cerebellum is briefly considered in terms of: its size/complexity/capacity; its information representation/processing characteristics (with "a particular computational function"); its sensory information processing capability; and, its role in sensorimotor regulatory control. It is suggested that the cerebellum can process sensorimotor stimulus information in a statistical (connectionist type) manner and respond to in on the basis of its own learning based sensorimotor representations, albeit at a "level" that does not necessarily involve cerebral "awareness".

To examine the effectiveness of a treatment model of psychodynamic group therapy (PGT) for combat Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A total of 158 male Veterans with PTSD (mean age = 30.09 years) were assigned to 15 treatment groups of 7-13 patients each. PGT was a 1-year therapy, 1.5 hour, once-a-week sessions administered in the following stages: group building activities, differentiation of group members, intimacy building, and termination. Levels of PTSD and depression symptoms, functioning, and hope were assessed at pretreatment baseline, posttreatment, and 12-month follow-up. Multilevel modeling analyses indicate that our group therapy is associated with reductions in PTSD and depressive symptoms at posttreatment, and that these effects were maintained at 12-month follow-up. The results also showed significantly improved patients' functioning by the end of therapy and at the 12-month follow-up point, and that the patients' hope level had increased. Th...

Selbsterfahrung gilt als unverzichtbare Saule der Psychotherapieausbildung (vgl. Burns 2005) und ist als Ausbildungselement in einigen europaischen Landern in (Psychotherapie-)Gesetzestexten verankert. Doch ist ihre Wirkung bis heute unzureichend erforscht und auch von der Ausbildungsforschung weitgehend ubergangen worden (vgl. u. a. Straus & Kohl 2009). Die Kritik an den selbsterfahrungsorientierten Anteilen der Psychotherapieausbildung, insbesondere wegen der zentralen Bedeutung der therapeutischen Arbeitsbeziehung (vgl. Lieb 1998), ist jedoch weitgehend verstummt. Vorliegender Beitrag skizziert die Hauptergebnisse aus dem Forschungsprojekt „Qualitatsmerkmal oder Mythos? Die Rolle der Selbsterfahrung in der Psychotherapieausbildung“ des Departments fur Psychotherapie und Biopsychosoziale Gesundheit (Leitner et al. 2014) der Donau-Universitat Krems entlang der Forschungslinie des Departments.

Most of the published literature on disability determination focuses on prevalence, applying for benefits, or socio-demographics. There is a paucity of literature that addresses the impact on treatment when a clinician is asked to contribute to a disability determination in the midst of an ongoing psychotherapy. In addition, the clinical literature is primarily writ- ten by and for psychiatrists. Yet a disability determination during psychotherapy is at the heart of clinical social work practice when it attends to the patient’s environment by offering help with material needs, while simultaneously providing relationally based treatment.

It is probably fair to say that most people want to be happy. Indeed, the 1776 US Declaration of Independence refers to happiness as an ‘unalienable right’. However, given the rising prevalence of mental illness, and given the amount of general unrest, conflict, and suffering in society, it’s also fair to say that, on the whole, human beings aren’t very good at cultivating happiness. In today’s post, we draw upon insights from the classical and research literature, and from our own practice and study of wellbeing, to examine the subject of how to nurture lasting happiness.

Objective: The search for empirically based treatments for pathological gambling is in its infancy, with relatively few clinical trials and an absence of naturalistic studies. Treatment retention of gamblers has been a problem; cognitive-behavioral treatment and pharmacotherapy studies report especially high dropout rates. Psychodynamic approaches, with their emphasis on the therapeutic relationship, and the meaning of the patient's self-destructive and seemingly irrational behaviors, and on obstacles to self-forgiveness, might improve outcome. Method: After a description of psychodynamic psychotherapy, the literature on both short-term and longer therapies is reviewed regarding their efficacy for a variety of disorders. With regard to pathological gambling, the author summarizes the early (1914-1970) psychoanalytic literature then reviews the more recent psychodynamic psychotherapy literature on pathological gambling. Results: A review of the recent psychodynamic psychotherapy literature on pathological gambling failed to disclose a single randomized controlled study of treatment efficacy or effectiveness. However, there are eight positive outcome studies described as multi-modal eclectic; half of those seem to utilize psychodynamic approaches. Two of the more successful programs are described. Conclusions: A review of the outcomes literature for psychodynamic psychotherapy demonstrates efficacy for a variety of disorders sufficient to justify a clinical trial for pathological gambling. Short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy, with its focus on core issues, may be particularly applicable to the pathological gambler's need to avoid or escape intolerable affects and problems. Longer therapies may be needed to modify an avoidant coping style and defenses.

This forthcoming (rewritten) paper argues for the significance of swearing as a different type of language (a "proto-language") - one that serves to project and express unbearable, pre-verbal frustration, fear and feelings about Life's struggle, as well as truly awesome beauty. It is pitched somewhere in the psyche as an intermediary between feeling and action, before thinking makes its mark as a modifying agent.

A detailed exploration of the various unconscious meanings of different types of swearing modes is undertaken, and swearing is revealed as a complex and important form of emotional communication, notwithstanding its basis in the "primitive" origins of infantile anxiety.
The paper - originally a conference presentation with audio and video excerpts - is currently being updated (from its pre HBO-Netflix original form) because times have changed significantly in the past decade re Swearing no longer being quite the taboo that it once was.
During "renovations" this draft for the conference presentation is being made available, temporarily, and comments are welcomed - although the audio-visual elements are absent, and some paragraphs are still in shorthand form.

This forthcoming paper (July 2016) will explore the many psychological “uses” of film by a society – including by psychotherapists.

Wilfred Bion's concept of alpha function - which he sometimes called "Narrative Alpha" (see, for example, his Cogitations) plays an important role in the development of cognitive-emotional imagination.

The paper concludes that, these days, cinema is the closest we have to large group dreaming – where we, as a society, make some vital contact with our unconscious life of mind.

The article describes a new assessment instrument for measuring the activities of an integrative psychotherapist. The first part of the instrument is concerned with establishing and maintaining a therapeutic alliance, and includes the competencies of forming an effective empathic bond, contracting and dealing with ruptures in the alliance. The second part focuses on the methods of integrative psychotherapy, and includes competencies of effective Inquiry, Attunement, Involvement and the use of therapeutic interventions. The scale also includes scales which inform about the philosophy of the therapist and his dealing with transference / countertransference. The scale is currently in the preliminary phase of development and further research is needed to examine the usefulness, validity and reliability of the scale.

[AMAZON LINK BELOW TO BOOK ITSELF -- TOC and book intro in downloadable .pdf] 

"It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it." --John Steinbeck Scientific research confirms what people have always known: answers, ideas, and inspiration do come to us in dreams. Harvard psychologist and world-renowned dream specialist Deirdre Barrett, Ph.D., offers this rich collection of examples of how the world's most creative practitioners in art, music, film, science, literature and other fields have used the revelations of their dream life to inform their work. Dr. Barrett offers insights showing us how to encourage lucid, meaningful dreaming, and how to apply the meanings of our dreams to solving problems--from the everyday to the extraordinary. This is the stuff dreams are made of. In the visual arts, Jasper Johns couldn't find his unique artistic vision until he dreamed it in the form of a large American flag. Salvador Dali and his colleagues built the startling new genre of surrealism out of dreams. Kubla Kahn dreamed the design for his stately pleasure dome; thousands of years later, Lucy Davis, chief architect at a major firm, continues the tradition of dreaming designs into life in her extraordinary buildings. Film is a fertile avenue for dreams: "Twice I have transferred dreams to film exactly as I had dreamed them," confides director Ingmar Bergman, as have Federico Fellini, Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, Robert Altman, and John Sayles. From Mary Shelley's terrible nightmare, which became Frankenstein, to Stephen King's haunting dream as a little boy, which led to his first bestseller, countless writers have consulted the Committee. Musicians from Beethoven to Billy Joel and Paul McCartney have whistled the Committee's tunes. In science, physiologist Otto Loewi dreamed the medical experiment that earned him the Nobel Prize. In sports, Marion Jones dreamed she'd broken a world record, then brought the dream to life. Gandhi translated his dream of resistance into a movement that changed the world. Since Freud, we take it for granted that our dreams reflect our past. In The Committee of Sleep, Barrett reveals how dreams can also tell us about our future potential--and how to reach it.

Psychodynamic psychotherapy for people in the second half of their lives. The article discusses the basic notions of psychodynamic psychotherapy for people in the second half of their lives, that is for people in their mid- and late adulthood. The topic is of current interest due to the rapid ageing of the society, but even so it remains neglected. The article presents the developmental perspective and discusses the reasons for which persons in the second half of their lives undergo treatment. It puts forward the conditions necessary for patients to qualify for therapy and analyses the issue of prognosis. It discusses the meaning of early childhood experiences for the psychopathology of middle and late adulthood and the related technical problems. It reflects on the problematic experience for the middle and, in particular, late adulthood. This experience is essential for the psychopathology of these periods of life and includes: death, loneliness and dependence. Finally, the article discusses the characteristics of several factors necessary for the process of psychotherapy which are also typical for people in the second half of their lives: specific regression and countertransference.

Vprašanje zlorabe v psihoterapiji spodbudi predvsem razmišljanje o dejavnikih tveganja in načinih zlorabe na mikroravni. Sprašujemo se, kakšne in kje so nevarnosti, da bi psihoterapevt zlorabil pacienta, pri čemer se domislimo različnih hipotetičnih primerov, katerih potrditve komaj kje najdemo v literaturi. Veliko več avtorjev se problematike loteva na makroravni ter pod vprašaj postavlja etiko psihoterapije kot družbenega pojava. Več virov iz različnih vidikov argumentira trditev, da psihoterapija ni v službi pomoči potrebnega, ampak v službi sistema in tistih na položaju moči.  V eseju tako zagovarjam predpostavke, da je zloraba v psihoterapiji težje pogojena s tehnično neusposobljenostjo, osebnostno ali etično nezrelostjo psihoterapevta in sistemsko  neurejenostjo področja, ker ne znamo empirično argumentirano opredeliti, kaj tehnična usposobljenost, osebnostna in etična zrelost psihoterapevta so. Na osnovi nekonsistentnosti in fundamentalnih nasprotij v različnih psihoterapevtskih pristopih zagovarjam stališče, da temeljna zloraba psihoterapije poteka na makroravni, s tem ko psihoterapevti ponujamo storitev, ki je z vidika učinkovin in učinkov ne znamo soglasno opredeliti in/ali doseči konsenzov glede ustreznih in neustreznih metod. Če kot učinkovino opredeljujemo vse, za kar ugotovimo, da je v nekaterih primerih povezano z nekimi učinki, in zlasti če je poleg tega eden temeljnih faktorjev psihoterapije vera v učinek, povzročamo in prodajamo placebo učinek.

Das Buch ist eine kompakte Darstellung der Salutogenen Kommunikation und der zugrunde liegenden systemischen Psychologie und salutogenen Psychodynamik.
Der Arzt Theodor Dierk Petzold, Therapeut, Ausbilder und Entwickler der Salutogenen Kommunikation, führt aus, wie für unser gutes Leben letztlich Fragen in drei Richtungen entscheidend sind, die unsere gesunde Selbstregulation immer wieder anregen. Bei ungelösten Problemen im Leben können wir mit Fragen in diese Richtungen bewusst die Stimmigkeitsregulation wieder anregen und neue Lösungen finden.
Die erste Frage: „Was ist dir bedeutsam?“ zielt auf positive attraktive Ziele, auf die Motivation ab. Die zweite entscheidende Fragen: „Was willst und kannst du tun?“ gilt dem Umsetzen der eigenen Ziele, der konkreten Mitgestaltung des Lebens. Die dritte „Was willst und kannst du lernen?“ zielt auf die Reflexion und den Wertmaßstab unter dem jemand sein Handeln reflektieren will.
Leben bedeutet Kommunizieren. In diesem Buch wird die Kommunikation reflektiert. Es geht um eine gesunde Entwicklung des Menschen durch die bewusste Mitgestaltung seines eigenen Lebens und der Umwelten.
Petzold beschreibt eine Psychodynamik gesunder Entwicklung in mehrdimensionalen Lebenswelten und vertieft damit das salutogenetische Verstehen bis in unsere neuropsychischen Funktionen. Mit dem systemischen Blick auf Kommunikation sehen wir unser inneres, physisches, emotionales und mentales Geschehen in Beziehung mit unseren Umwelten.
Viele anregende und vertiefende Fragen, die wir uns und unseren Mitmenschen immer wieder stellen können, geben eine Orientierung zur Mitgestaltung der Komplexität des Lebens. Somit gibt das Buch einem Leserkreis weit über das Fachpublikum zur Therapie, Beratung und Pädagogik hinaus einen hilfreichen Leitfaden in die Hand.
Ausführlich werden Lösungen für verletzende Macht-Opfer-Beziehungen beschrieben – wie wir sie im Privaten wie auch im Öffentlichen zur gesunden Entwicklung dringend brauchen.
Der Autor hat diese Gesprächsführungsmethode Salutogene Kommunikation SalKom® vor 15 Jahren ins Leben gerufen und immer weiterentwickelt. In dieser Methode vereinen sich interdisziplinäres Wissen und seine reichhaltigen Erfahrungen als Gemeinschaftsprojektinitiator, Allgemeinarzt und Therapeut, Ausbilder, Supervisor sowie im privaten Leben.
„Mir selbst diese anregenden Fragen zu stellen und zu lesen, dass diese wichtig für meine gesunde Entwicklung sind, war eine tiefe heilsame Erfahrung für mich, die mein Leben verändert hat.“ Mona Siegel

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