Psychodynamic psychotherapy is one of the basic treatments of psychiatry. Often formulated as directed to character or personality, Fred Busch here expands our understanding to consider therapy directed to the problems defined by the patient.Busch, an expert on psychoanalytic theory and a master in constructing manuals for therapists, has created a book that is richly supplied with detailed clinical vignettes and belongs in the collection of anyone who studies, practices, or teaches these treatments.—Robert Michels, M.D., Walsh McDermott University Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine; Former Joint Editor-in-Chief, The International Journal of Psychoanalysis

Into the plethora of books on psychotherapy, with their manualized prescriptive approach, so difficult to apply in a real life clinical settings where each patient is unique and often comes with a mixture of illnesses and problems, now comes
Fred N Bush, MD with his book on how clinicians actually do the work with real patients! He concentrates on the psychodynamic approach because all approaches to psychotherapy that engage the emotions are ipso facto doing psychodynamic work. This book is a must read for beginners and a pleasure for us more experienced. I learned from it. I recommend it most highly!—Eric R. Marcus, M.D., Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; Supervising and Training Analyst, Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research

Fred Busch has done an incredible thing! He has shortened psychodynamic therapy by focusing on symptoms. (He will also improve outcome studies, because most outcome studies are symptom-based.) Busch offers a succinct way of making a symptom list and doing a psychodynamic formulation, including past and present history and issues related to trauma ( an undertheorized subject in our field, in my view). He offers a primer on how to use psychoanalytic techniques, including how to work with transference, free association, and interpretation, to mention only a few. He has a whole chapter on the concept of working through. He covers personality disorders. He explains how to work with concepts from general psychiatry, including the therapeutic alliance and termination. Busch does this all (and illustrates these concepts with case examples) in less than 170 pages. This book should be part of the education of every psychiatrist, young and old!—Elizabeth L. Auchincloss, M.D., Aaron Stern, M.D., Ph.D. Professor of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Vice Chair for Education, Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine

This concise, clearly written guide to psychodynamic psychotherapy is all about accessibility and practicality.Busch writes with the experience of a senior clinician who has worked with so many people and seen so many problems that he gets to the point quickly and knows how to help people change what they can.The book organizes the theory and practice of dynamic therapy around the daily interventions of the psychodynamic therapist – addressing denial and resistance, conveying the value of insight and understanding, focusing on transforming understanding into change.It's a must for those who want to enhance the effectiveness of their work with patients as well as those new to the field.—Richard F. Summers, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Senior Residency Advisor, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Fred Busch is providing us with the right book at the right time. Like any scientific field, psychoanalytic/psychodynamic thinking can benefit from research and development. Busch's experience with a team that produced impressive research has prepared him for this excellent book that provides a distillation of what is effective in psychodynamic therapy. This book shows how targeted use of psychoanalytic concepts and techniques moves that model of therapy beyond a stereotyped vagueness to an approach to psychiatric conditions that is focused in its application and broad in its impact. This highly readable book brings the person, in contrast to the symptom, to the center of the therapist's work; it enhances the therapist's ability to bring about life change. As a writer, Busch combines conciseness, clarity, and precision, skillfully illustrating each point he makes with a relevant clinical example. This book will help therapists provide their patients with the kind of comprehensive approach to their problems that is essential if we are to maintain psychiatry's commitment to attend to the needs of the whole person.—Frank Yeomans, M.D., Ph.D., Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Training, Personality Disorders Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College; Adjunct Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons; President, International Society for Transference-Focused Psychotherapy