Clinician Technique in Personalized Psychotherapy

Mardi J. Horowitz

• Publisher: American Psychiatric Association Publishing
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9798894551258
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Psychiatry & Mental Health

Drawing from Dr. Mardi Horowitz's decades of experience in psychotherapy research and clinical practice, Clinician Technique in Personalized Psychotherapy melds theory and practice to elucidate the most effective techniques at each stage of therapy. The integrative cognitive-psychodynamic approach described in this comprehensive volume is applicable to patients with diverse backgrounds and various diagnoses.

In clear and practical terms, in-depth chapters reveal how to form and strengthen the therapeutic alliance between clinician and patient. Horowitz emphasizes the importance of moment-by-moment collaboration, asserting that this dynamic partnership is key to achieving the best patient results.

This book offers evidence-based guidance for several key strategies:

• Personalizing a patient's path toward self-evolution by way of continuous formulating and reformulating throughout the therapeutic process• Understanding and addressing defensive avoidances, such as emotional blunting, intellectualization, generalization, and projection• Applying techniques to slow down impulses and show adaptive routes forward• Tailoring responses to the patient's current level of personality functioning• Overcoming obstacles presented by patients with narcissistic traits

Case examples and dialogues offer vivid insights into what patients might say and how therapists might respond, illustrating why certain interventions work better than others at specific therapeutic stages. Throughout, tables and diagrams organize observations made in assessments or therapy sessions into manageable categories that guide interventions, and terms are clearly defined in footnotes and a glossary.

Beyond its benefits for the therapist-patient dyad, the integrative approach outlined in Clinician Technique in Personalized Psychotherapy fosters common ground among clinicians from diverse therapeutic backgrounds.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• About the Author
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Stages of Psychotherapy
• 2 Formulating
• 3 Choosing What to Say in the Present Moment
• 4 Techniques When Obstacles Stall Progress
• 5 Paying Attention to the Patient’s Current Level of Personality Functioning
• 6 Correcting Schemas From Experiences in a Therapeutic Alliance
• 7 Managing Narcissistic Traits
• 8 Confronting Dilemmas by Assertion of a Therapeutic Alliance
• 9 Assessing Change During Treatment
• 10 Endnote
• References
• Glossary of Terms
• Index