Therapeutic Process - by Mark J Thompson & Candace Cotlove (Hardcover)

About the Book

The Therapeutic Process presents an informative, sequential, well-defined, and clinically rich guide to the process of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Specifically designed to have broad appeal and value for the beginning clinician as well as the more experienced clinician, this ...

Book Synopsis

The Therapeutic Process presents an informative, sequential, well-defined, and clinically rich guide to the process of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Specifically designed to have broad appeal and value for the beginning clinician as well as the more experienced clinician, this book includes many illustrative examples and well-defined terms.

Review Quotes

The Therapeutic Process provides a broad context for an approach to the understanding of the development of character and to the development of the therapeutic process, all presented in a way that engages the reader while simultaneously elucidating complex ideas. Vast amounts of material are presented in a compelling and lucid narrative, and in a language that is available to the sophisticated patient, to trainees, and to educators of psychotherapy or psychoanalysis. The authors present different theoretical models with lucidity and balance, integrating models across many dimensions in the explanation of concepts such as transference, resistance and regression. Clinical vignettes then breathe life and humanity into these theoretical concepts. As with any excellent book, I was sorry when this one ended.

In this uncommon introduction to the psychodynamic therapeutic process, Thompson and Cotlove bring a clarity of thought, an ease of expression, and a richness of clinical illustrations that make the cloudy clear and the difficult accessible. What is most striking is their integration of the breadth of modern pluralism with the depth of psychoanalytic dynamic experience, all in a way that carries the reader along. If there were a Merck Manual of the dynamic therapeutic process, this would be it.

Readers who approach a new introductory textbook of psychodynamic psychotherapy with skepticism about finding freshness will be gratified by this effort by Thompson and Cotlove. The authors have created a multitheoretical and up-to-date textbook that succeeds in reaching their stated intended audiences: beginning and more experienced clinicians and those who teach psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The Therapeutic Process succeeds in many ways. Physically it is a tidy package of good publishing quality. It is a pleasure to read and read again. This book is strongly recommended as a teaching aid, especially for psychiatry resident courses and for analytic institute extension courses.

About the Author

J. Mark Thompson is a training and supervising psychoanalyst and the director of education at the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Institute. He is assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine. He is in the private practice of psychiatry and psychoanalysis. Thompson is the author of The Stories We Tell Ourselves: Mentalizing Tales of Dating and Marriage.

Candace Cotlove is a training and supervising psychoanalyst at the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Institute and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Cotlove is in the private practice of psychiatry and psychoanalysis.