Object Relations Brief Therapy: The Therapeutic Relationship in Short-Term Work

By Michael Stadter

Book Overview

Object Relations Brief Therapy combines practical techniques with the depth of object relations theory, the wisdom of previous brief therapy writers, and, most notably, an emphasis on the unique therapeutic relationship. Often, therapists despair of doing any meaningful work in brief therapy. To this, Michael Stadter suggests the following pragmatic approach, "think dynamically, address some underlying issue(s) and do what you can." Specifically, the book emphasizes the depth of understanding of human experience that comes from an object relations perspective; the insight and experiential vitality of attention to the therapeutic relationship including its real, transferential, and countertransferential elements; the impact of the psychodynamic techniques that have been carefully studied and delineated by brief therapy writers such as Davanloo, Horowitz, Malan, Strupp, and Binder; and the flexibility of an eclectic approach that thoughtfully and selectively incorporates non-psychodynamic interventions. Therapists do not have to "escape" managed care, according to Stadter. Rather, they need to learn how to deal with it in a way that preserves their integrity and enables them to practice the kind of healing psychotherapy they know how to do. In today's health care climate, Object Relations Brief Therapy is a much-needed guide for committed therapists.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1568216602
• ISBN13: 9781568216607
• Release Date: July 1996
• Publisher: Jason Aronson
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Alternative to Long-Term Therapy

An excellent book that describes Dr. Stadter's approach to object relations therapy. He demonstrates ways to deal with the difficult problem of establishing the therapeutic relationship and doing intervention in a short-term situation. In the past long term therapy was undertaken for this process, but current conditions: lack of time, money and commitment make it necessary to try to accomplish lifetime goals in a very short time span. Although Dr. Stadter's approach does not replace long-term therapy, in my opinion, it is an excellent approach to solving the therapist problem. My husband uses this book in his classroom and when he is teaching and supervising new and experienced therapist in the discipline of the object relations therapeutic process.

One of the better books on brief dynamic therapy

Stadter's book is wonderful, especially in comparison to some of the other books available on brief therapy from psychodynamic perspectives (e.g., Strupp and Binder's "Psychotherapy in a New Key" or Levenson's more recent exposition on TLDP). This book has a good, clear synopsis of object relations theory, compares the approach to other dynamic brief treatments, and provides a very thorough guide for employing object relations theory in time-limited work. The reader is taken step-by-step through the initial, middle, and end phases of the work, and is also given suggestions for conducting very brief (one or two session) therapy. Finally, a discussion of using brief object relations therapy with clients presenting various types of character pathology is included. Overall, this is perhaps the best book available on conducting short-term therapy using a depth-oriented approach.