In this useful and timely book, Gustafson shows how the therapist can borrow from the entire tradition of psychotherapy for productive short-term treatment. He explains how to conserve the virtues of earlier stances; describes how to handle the opening, middle, and ending phases in brief therapy; and clarifies the difficulties in short-term work, particularly the tendency of therapist to leave themselves out of the equation. Gustafson's 'method of methods' described here provides psychotherapist with an effective way of engaging patients in brief, successful work.

Kurztherapiemethoden zielen darauf ab, dem Patienten zu helfen, unmittelbare Probleme zu überwinden und gleichzeitig die Fähigkeit zu entwickeln, ähnliche Probleme in Zukunft zu vermeiden. Dieses äußerst aktuelle Buch, geschrieben von einem der geistigen Väter der Kurztherapie, stellt alle Methoden vor, die bisher erfolgreich waren, und zwar ohne einen bestimmten Ansatz in den Vordergrund zu stellen. Der Therapeut wird durch den gesamten Prozeß vom ersten Interview bis zur Nachbereitung geleitet. (8/98)

The last two decades have seen unprecedented increases in health care costs and, at the same time, encouraging progress in psychotherapy research. On the one hand, accountability, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency have now become commonplace terms for providers of mental health services whereas, on the other hand, an increasingly voluminous literature has emerged supporting the effectiveness of a number of types of psychotherapies. There now exists the possibility for the design and delivery of mental health services that-drawing upon this literature-more closely approximate empirically established data concerning the appropriateness and effectiveness of psychotherapy. The Handbook of the Brief Psychotherapies is intended to capture one major thrust of this movement: the development of a group of empirically grounded, time-limited therapies all sharing a common interest in the clinical utilization of a structured focus and an emphasis on time and action. For many years, professional self-interest, competing theoretical para digms, and the vagaries of practice, wisdom, and clinical myth have influenced the practice of psychotherapy. A critical questioning of the resulting, predomi nantly nondirective, open-ended, and global therapies has led to a growing emphasis on action-oriented, problem-focused, time-limited therapies. Yet, ironically, this interest in the brief psychotherapies has not so much involved a radical departure from traditional therapeutic modalities as it has emphasized a new pragmatism about how time, action, and structure operate in life as well as in therapy.

In this well-illustrated text, the author explores the potential of brief psychotherapy through four paradigmatic modes of the patient's relationship to others: subservience, indecisiveness, control, and fundamental fault. Dr. Gustafson utilizes cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, psychoanalytic, and systems approaches to show clinical psychology practitioners and students how to decipher and respond to the narratives of patients' lives.

As the fields of psychiatry and clinical psychology are increasingly driven by the economics of the HMO or Mental Health Center, practitioners in any setting, whether it be private practice or university clinic, are now forced to develop more concrete procedures and models in order to practice more efficiently. This book presents a set of procedures for brief therapy that are based entirely on the four common dynamics of psychiatry. By following the model set forth in this book, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, and mental health workers will be able to build an entire brief therapy program based upon the initial conditions for each patient. In Very Brief Psychotherapy, Dr. James Gustafson provides the reader with the tools and techniques to make a discernable difference in a patient's life in only a few moments. The majority of people seeking help from mental health professionals are not pathological, but are most often stuck in self-imposed cyclical patterns of behavior from which they cannot escape. It is the first step in any situation that leads to the iteration of the familiar circle, and it is in this single step that the clinician can effect decisive change. Given a window of only five or ten minutes, the practitioner armed with this approach can help a patient break out of the repeating pattern, move around the impasse, and take the first step onto a new trajectory. Very Brief Psychotherapy can help the practitioner make meaningful interventions in real world time, and in less than ideal circumstances, will radically change the reader's concepts of what can be accomplished in a day, in a clinical hour, or even in a single moment.

The groundbreaking text The Art and Science of Brief Psychotherapies, addressing a treatment modality in increasing demand, has now been released in a new edition, thoroughly updated, revised, and expanded to include rich material for learning and teaching the "how to" of brief psychotherapy. This new edition is grounded in research and meticulously referenced; at the same time, its style is hands-on and its focus utterly pragmatic. * This is the only book presenting expert video demonstrations of the major brief psychotherapy models. The DVD depictions vividly illustrate characteristics that distinguish the various forms, so that viewers can see how the different therapies look and sound in practice -- a terrific teaching and learning tool.* The DVD presents master clinicians' insights and experience for five brief therapies -- cognitive (Judith Beck, Ph.D.), behavioral (Edna Foa, Ph.D.), solution-focused (Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D.), interpersonal (Scott Stuart, M.D.), and dynamic (Hanna Levenson, Ph.D.) -- illustrating the essential techniques of these modalities in a concrete, compelling way.* Because the contributors were selected for their extensive experience in teaching and training in brief therapy, they are uniquely qualified to provide highly practical and effective information about their chosen approaches. The case vignettes and clinical strategies are plentiful.* A chapter on motivational interviewing, a technique used to heighten patient engagement in the brief psychotherapeutic process, has been added.* The new opening chapter presents a concise review of factors common to all successful psychotherapies.* The book addresses the six most common forms of brief psychotherapy in depth, examines combined therapy, cross-cultural issues, and evaluation of trainee competence, and ends with a chapter in which the editors provide a highly readable, astute overview and synthesis of this complex material. Teachers who strive to provide their students and trainees with a working sense of brief therapy beyond theory, and students who long for that down-to-earth knowledge, will be grateful for The Art and Science of Brief Psychotherapies.