Lives Transformed: A Revolutionary Method of Dynamic Psychotherapy » (Revised Edition)

Patricia Coughlin Della Selva maintains a private practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In addition to treating patients, writes professionally, and conducts training workshops for mental health professionals around the world.

David Malan is a Former Consultant Psychotherapist at the Tavistock Clinic, and a well-known author whose comparative studies of group and individual therapies and whose studies of short-term therapies have changed the shape of British psychodynamic therapies.

In addition to a review of the literature on psychotherapy process and outcome, this book contains detailed clinical accounts of seven patients treated by an immensely powerful method of dynamic psychotherapy (intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy). This treatment is capable of producing major improvements, and even cure, in a wide range of patients. The authors believe that the scientific study of psychotherapy must include highly subjective judgments, provided the evidence upon which they are based is provided in great detail. In the present volume, verbatim transcripts from therapy sessions and follow-up interviews provide this kind of data, which can be evaluated by all who read them. Relying solely on paper and pencil tests, which evaluate only conscious material, is extremely limited and needs to be fortified by the kind of data provided here.

This volume gives an account of what dynamic psychotherapy can achieve at its best. It combines detailed clinical case studies with the scientific research and also gives an overview of the literature available. It is based on the authors’ extensive experience of researching and using psychodynamic psychotherapy.