Synopses & Reviews
A clear and readable how-to manual for results-oriented psychoanalysis.By now, the term "practical psychoanalysis" has become an oxymoron. The way psychoanalytic treatment is generally conducted is extremely impractical and doesn't serve the needs of the vast majority of potential patients, who want to achieve maximum relief from emotional distress as quickly as possible. This unfortunate state of affairs is ironic, considering that psychoanalysis became popular on the basis of its therapeutic efficacy.
In this essential new book, Owen Renik describes how clinical psychoanalysis can focus on symptom relief and deliver results efficiently. With a humane, direct, and engaging voice, he takes up how to begin treatment, how to end it, and how to deal with the in-between. He offers chapters on the therapy of panic attacks and depersonalization, on how to get out of an impasse, on the relation between sexual desire and power in the analytic relationship, on patients who seem to want to sabotage their treatments, on flying blind as an analyst, and on a number of other intriguing, important practical topics. Renik's down-to-earth presentation and discussion of clinical anecdotes, combined with useful recommendations for both analyst and patient, amounts to a clear and readable how-to manual. The book is intended for all mental health caregivers, patients and potential patients, and for anyone who is curious about what makes for effective, helpful psychotherapy.
Synopsis
A practical introduction to contemporary psychoanalysis that is accessible to all mental health professionals.
Trained mostly in cognitive-behavioral methods and techniques, many recent graduates from psychology, counseling, family therapy, and other mental health programs have not been exposed to psychoanalysis as a vibrant, practical, and beneficial approach to human problems. In The Symptom is Not the Whole Story, Araoz introduces the functional benefits and applications of psychoanalysis for these practitioners. Focusing sharply on the unconscious and its use in psychotherapy, this no-nonsense book illustrates how psychoanalytical thinking can transform people's lives, thanks to the therapist's active interventions and destabilizing interpretations.
Written in a vivid and clear style, where clinical examples pointedly illustrate the psychological issues at hand, this book reverses the commonly held idea that psychoanalysis requires years of treatment before showing results. Araoz's talent resides in his ability to teach mental health, marriage, and family counselors how to use psychoanalytic techniques without having been trained primarily in the discipline. All will find this book to be of particular benefit, discovering valuable guidance and applicable instructions for the use of psychoanalysis in their own therapeutic practice.
About the Author
Owen Renik, M.D.Owen Renik, M.D., is currently a Training and Supervising Analyst at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Society. He was Editor in Chief of The Psychoanalytic Quarterly for ten years, Program Chair of The American Psychoanalytic Association for two terms, and served as Director of Training and Associate Chief of the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Zion Hospital, San Francisco. He maintains a private practice in San Francisco.