Thursday, September 14, 2006

Theories and Methods - Brief Psychotherapies

Brief psychotherapy has its roots in psychoanalytic therapy but shares some characteristics with crisis interventions. However, brief psychotherapies are more apt to use catharsis, transference and interpretation as part of the therapeutic milieu.

Rather than seeing the client’s anxiety as situational, these therapies see them as pathological. The therapist takes on a participant observer role rather than being an active participant and focuses on the past rather than the current crisis.

For further review: Brief Dynamic Therapy

1 comment:

Julia said...

Hmm, I might call this "brief psychodynamic therapies" rather than just "brief psychotherapies", which to my mind includes cognitive and behavioral therapies that aren't psychodynamic.