“The book is well written and timely. It is laced with cogent clinical examples, raises a number of interesting questions and...it is not afraid to question a number of our widely held accepted assumptions and beliefs....The book is an interesting account of the development of the relational interpersonal model within a managed care and manualized treatment environment. It succeeds in rescuing clinical expertise from the ubiquitous manual and readers will find a lot to reflect on, and perhaps to take issue with, not least is the discussion of how a managed care context might affect both clinical process and clinical judgment.”

—Psychodynamic Practice


“A refreshing overview and critique of the broader domain of brief psychodynamic psychotherapy and research....The book is extremely well written, and Binder has the unique ability to provide a bird's-eye view of the central issues facing the field, while demonstrating an accomplished understanding of the critical contemporary research. Binder is one of the few scholars in the field who have the ability to review psychotherapy research in sufficient detail and to do so in a way that is both meaningful and applicable to the practicing clinician.”

—PsycCRITIQUES


“Should be particularly useful to those, like me, who know little about brief dynamic therapy and for whom Binder dispels many misconceptions about how valuable, incisive, and sensible it can be. For those more conversant with this approach, their techniques can be refined and enhanced by this book. For students and, perhaps, for their teachers most of all, this thoughtful and provocative treatise should enrich their perspectives and help reset their priorities.”

—Journal of Clinical Psychiatry


“I recently received a book to review that I want all my therapist friends and colleagues to know about. It is so full of practical gems and so deep in scholarship that I went agog over something on nearly every page.”

—Transactional Analysis Journal


“This is an excellent book for therapists in training, written by a gifted teacher, clinician, and psychotherapy researcher. His focus on helping inexperienced clinicians quickly learn the mental processes and intervention strategies of experienced therapists captures exactly what beginners need to know. While there is an emphasis on brief treatment, his scope is unlimited; he presents ideas that will help therapists read into depths of unconscious mental processes, and to constantly revise and improve formulations made during the opening hours of treatment....far better than a treatment manual...not as foreboding for trainees as a detailed and complex clinical textbook would be. I highly recommend Dr. Binder's book for training institutions.”

—Psychologist-Psychoanalyst APA Division 39 Newsletter


“Offers practical suggestions for going beyond manualized approaches to treating specific disorders to skillful means of engaging patients in a therapeutic process that fosters insight into cyclical maladaptive interpersonal patterns and promotes behavioral change. This volume represents a generous sharing of the wisdom gained by a master therapist and seasoned researcher of psychotherapy.”

—Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic


“Richly illustrated with clinical case vignettes....Valuable for therapists doing brief psychotherapy seeking a practical, descriptive, and authoritative frame....Includes the rarely treated subject of training of psychotherapy supervisors.”

—Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease


“Combin[es] a refreshing recognition of the complexities of therapeutic work in critical practice, with a clear underpinning from psychological theory and recent research into psychotherapy....The competencies that Binder outlines will be of relevance and interest to those working with a wide variety of theoretical frameworks and his flexible and undogmatic approach will appeal to all those who feel discouraged by the certainties of some of those who argue for therapy to always be 'evidence-based' (but who often ignore so much of the complexities and contradictions of that evidence.”

—Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling, and Psychotherapy


“Well written and thought-provoking. It should appeal to all psychotherapists, regardless of their orientation and experience level. It is a good buy at the price.”

—Canadian Journal of Psychiatry


“This is an excellent book. It is very readable and thoroughly describes the five competencies introduced in the first chapter.”

—Doody's Review Service


“Don't let the title fool you—this is a book of great relevance to all psychotherapies regardless of length, theoretical orientation, or practitioner experience. While most books focus on specific theoretical approaches, specific disorders, or both, this is one of the few that highlights core therapeutic skills. Student readership should be extremely high for this book. I could very well see using it in my graduate-level course on brief therapy for both psychology interns and psychiatric residents, and I will recommend it to my colleagues who teach more general psychotherapy courses. The material is written without the use of jargon, demystifying the therapeutic dialogue in an accessible style that will be easily understood by students with minimal clinical experience.”

—Hanna Levenson, PhD, Levenson Institute for Training, San Francisco


“A superb, innovative contribution to the literature on time-limited dynamic psychotherapy, and one that is destined to become a classic. At the core of this volume is the assertion that therapeutic expertise consists of the ability to improvise and respond spontaneously and flexibly to the demands of the specific context, and Binder does a brilliant job of spelling out what he terms 'core competencies,' or the generic performance skills possessed by expert therapists. In the process, he also does the field an important service by updating the time-limited approach he developed with Hans Strupp, drawing on both developments in contemporary psychoanalytic theory and important findings emerging from psychotherapy research. The writing is lucid and masterful and the thinking is seasoned and clinically mature. This book will be of interest to a broad readership, and will make a valuable text for graduate-level courses in brief dynamic therapy or basic clinical skills.”

—Jeremy D. Safran, PhD, Department of Psychology, New School University


“This volume offers an in-depth examination of the components of effective brief dynamic treatment. It is thoughtfully researched and well written. Its scope makes it ideal for either clinicians or researchers, whether they are just coming into the field or have many years of experience. The book will also be useful as a text in graduate programs teaching brief therapy or examining psychoanalytic treatments. A valuable contribution.”

—Simon H. Budman, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School


“Binder’s book makes a substantial contribution to our understanding of expert psychotherapy practice. It is a rare privilege to so closely observe how a master clinician and supervisor works with his clients. Included are detailed and extraordinarily vibrant examples of brief dynamic therapy that both captivate and stimulate the reader. There are many unusual and excellent aspects to this book: it clarifies important psychodynamic concepts, includes supportive findings from cognitive science and therapy research, and provides supervisors and teachers with detailed illustrations on how to teach, learn, and apply higher-order therapeutic competencies across different therapeutic systems.”

—Jacques P. Barber, PhD, Center for Psychotherapy Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine