The Power of Specificity in Psychotherapy: When Therapy Works-And When It Doesn't

by Howard A. Bacal, Lucyann Carlton

Overview

In The Power of Specificity in Psychotherapy: When Therapy Works—And When It Doesn't Howard Bacal presents specificity theory, a contemporary process theory of psychotherapy that holds that therapy happens at the fit between the patient's particular therapeutic needs and the therapist's capacity to respond to them, both of which will emerge and change within the unique process of each particular dyad. Specificity theory challenges the traditional method and epistemology of psychoanalysis, wherein the understanding of the patient and the therapeutic response are apprehended through rules and prescriptions that are generated through the application of structure theories. The therapeutic engagement must necessarily and continually be monitored and adjusted to fit the specific and changing needs, capacities, and limitations of both participants, regardless of the therapist's formal working theories. Grounded in the innovative thinking of Sandor Ferenczi and drawing as well from the creative work of Michael Balint, Wilfred Bion, Donald Winnicott, Marion Milner, and Heinz Kohut, the perspectives of specificity theory are corroborated by cutting-edge findings in contemporary neurobiology and infant research. The Power of Specificity in Psychotherapy challenges psychotherapists to reconsider how treatment is optimally practiced.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765707697
Publisher:	Aronson, Jason Inc.
Publication date:	12/28/2010
Pages:	180
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Howard A. Bacal, MD, is a training and supervising analyst at the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis and at the New Center for Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles, and supervising analyst at the Institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity and the National Training Program in Contemporary Psychoanalysis in New York. He has a private practice in Los Angeles, California. He is co-author of Theories of Object Relations: Bridges to Self Psychology, and editor of Optimal Responsiveness: How Therapists Heal Their Patients. Lucyann Carlton, PsyD, JD, is a training and supervising analyst at the Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles, and she has a private practice in Irvine, California.

Table of Contents

1 Preface
2 Acknowledgments
Chapter 3 1. The Need for a New Theory of Therapy
Chapter 4 2. The Use of Theory in Psychoanalytic Practice
Chapter 5 3. How Specificity Theory Changes Clinical Practice
Chapter 6 4. The Neurobiological Substrate of Specificity Theory
Chapter 7 5. The Evolution Of Specificity Theory: A Professional and Personal Odyssey
Chapter 8 6. The Foundational Perspectives of Specificity Theory
Chapter 9 7. Clinical Consequences of the Shift from the Universality of Structure To the Specificity of Process
Chapter 10 8. How Specificity Theory Alters Our View of Psychoanalytic Concepts And Principles and How This Affects Therapeutic Action
Chapter 11 9. Correlates of Specificity Theory within Infant Research
Chapter 12 10. The Power of Specificity in the Process of Supervision
13 References
14 Index
15 About the Authors

Editorial Reviews

The Power of Specificity In Psychotherapy expands and deepens our understanding of therapeutic action and the change process. Specificity theory is as groundbreaking as it is orienting for the therapist or analyst who wonders why accepted doctrine and standardized technique so frequently do not work. Presented in a well-written, articulate, and accessible manner, Bacal's cutting-edge approach to reconceptualizing therapeutic interaction and to appreciating the uniqueness of relational engagement frees us from our reliance upon linear, codified, and objectivist methodologies aimed at therapeutic change. In true contextualist, process-based fashion, Bacal conveys a deep respect for the individual and the uniqueness of the dyadic engagement—without which patients, and therapists, are otherwise so often rendered less than human. Grounded in personal lived experience as well as current research, this must-read book is as immediately clinically useful as it is scholarly and expansive of theory.

William J. Coburn Ph.D

Building on and synthesizing a half century of practice and personal analytic experiences with the likes of Balint, Winnicott, Bion, Milner, and Kohut, Howard Bacal offers us a broadly relational, process theory that addresses the heart of all psychotherapy and its supervision: the specifics of fittedness between patient and therapist as well as the unique match between therapist and supervisor. It is just this that was neglected for so long in psychoanalytic theory and practice that is now presented so clearly, and richly integrated with contemporary neuroscience and infancy research.

Lewis Aron

Bacal's lucidly written and richly illustrated book is a pleasure to read. Both seasoned clinicians and beginners will find a freshness in his approach. Thinking about the specificity that emerges in the process of the dyad of patient and therapist or the triad of supervisor, supervisee, and patient makes each clinical exchange a unique opportunity for emotional growth and learning.

Judy L. Kantrowitz

The Power of Specificity In Psychotherapy expands and deepens our understanding of therapeutic action and the change process. Specificity theory is as groundbreaking as it is orienting for the therapist or analyst who wonders why accepted doctrine and standardized technique so frequently do not work. Presented in a well-written, articulate, and accessible manner, Bacal's cutting-edge approach to reconceptualizing therapeutic interaction and to appreciating the uniqueness of relational engagement frees us from our reliance upon linear, codified, and objectivist methodologies aimed at therapeutic change. In true contextualist, process-based fashion, Bacal conveys a deep respect for the individual and the uniqueness of the dyadic engagement—without which patients, and therapists, are otherwise so often rendered less than human. Grounded in personal lived experience as well as current research, this must-read book is as immediately clinically useful as it is scholarly and expansive of theory.

William J. Coburn