Training & Consultation

I have over 45 years of clinical experience. I conduct individual adult psychotherapy and couples therapy for problems including relationship difficulties, problems with depression and anxiety, personality disorders, traumas, grief and loss, milestones such as retirement and divorce, job and career issues, as well as other stress-related problems and life challenges.

While conducting psychotherapy research with my colleague, Hans H. Strupp, we developed a treatment model called Time-Limited Dynamic Psychotherapy (TLDP), Psychotherapy in a New Key: A Guide to Time-Limited Dynamic Psychotherapy (Basic Books, 1984). This text became a classic, and the treatment model it presented has been widely used. Subsequently, I updated the treatment model for use in therapy of any length, Key Competencies in Brief Dynamic Psychotherapy (Guilford, 2004); Core Competencies in Brief Dynamic Psychotherapy with Ephi Betan (Routledge, 2013).

Training

I have trained therapists at the University of Michigan, the University of Virginia, the Georgia School of Professional Psychology, and currently as Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University. I have authored three widely read books on the conduct of dynamic/interpersonal psychotherapy, and have published and presented extensively on the topics of psychotherapy practice, training, and research. My contributions to the profession have been recognized by election to the status of Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Georgia Psychological Association, and the Academy of Clinical Psychology.

I offer training and clinical consultation in dynamic/interpersonal psychotherapy and time-limited dynamic psychotherapy (TLDP) to all mental health professionals. Topics covered include:

• Personality theory.
• Psychopathology.
• Assessment and case formulation.
• Goal Setting.
• Establishing and maintaining a Therapeutic Alliance.
• Therapeutic process: the roles of Transference and Countertransference.
• Therapeutic Process: the mechanisms of change.
• Technical strategies and techniques.
• Termination processes and techniques.
• Methods for tracking treatment progress and outcome.
• Relevant process and outcome research.

Each of these topics will be discussed from the points of view of theory, clinical experience and research. Video recordings will be used to illustrate theoretical and clinical ideas. Training is conducted in small groups.

Consultation

This involves the discussion of individual cases. Consultation goals include enhanced understanding of the patient under discussion in order to facilitate treatment planning, as well as adding to relevant theoretical and research knowledge and improving clinical skills.