Practicing Intersubjectively

About the Book

Practicing Intersubjectively describes how the intersubjective systems perspective informs, shapes and guides the psychotherapeutic process. Using extensive clinical case material, Buirski illustrates the way an intersubjective systems sensibility informs and enriches clinical practice. The intersubjective systems perspective views each treatment as exquisitely context sensitive. This means that the person who comes for therapy would present differently to different therapists and the two of them would construct different processes. Therapists themselves are not interchangeable, and the intersubjective field that the two participants create together would be quite different from the field created by any other pair. Practicing Intersubjectively, with the focus on attuning and articulating to the contextual construction of personal worlds of experience enables a different therapy process to unfold than occurs in traditional 1-person, authority based treatment approaches and is uniquely suited to working with people from diverse cultural backgrounds and those suffering from such challenging concerns as trauma and prejudice.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 There's No Such Thing as a Patient
Chapter 2 Innocent Analyst or Implicated Analyst
Chapter 3 Two Approaches to Psychotherapy
Chapter 4 Colliding Worlds of Experience
Chapter 5 An Intersubjective Systems Perspective on Multicultural Treatment
Chapter 6 Prejudice as a Function of Self-Organization
Chapter 7 Bearing Witness to Trauma from an Intersubjective Systems Perspective: A Case Study
Chapter 8 The Wolf Man's Subjective Experience of his Treatment with Freud

About the Author :
Peter Buirski, Ph.D., is dean of the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver, as well as clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He holds the Diplomate in Clinical Psychology and in Psychoanalysis from the American Board of Professional Psychology, and maintains a private practice in Denver. He is the co-author of the book, Making Sense Together: The intersubjective approach to psychotherapy, and has written on the psychotherapy process as well as on primate personality.

Review :
Buirski rightly places Practicing Intersubjectively in the theoretical tradition established by Stolorow et al., with their emphasis on understanding development and treatment in terms of the interaction and mutual influence amongst the involved subjectivities. This book represents a rich application of the intersubjective systems perspective to a wide range of clinical situations, helping to ground clinicians who may find some of the intersubjectivity literature too abstract or philosophical. In Practicing Intersubjectively, Peter Buirski offers a balanced presentation of intersubjective systems theory and practice. This text makes accessible the often complex and subtle theory of the intersubjective approach to psychotherapy to those who may be encountering it for the first time, while rewarding devotees with intriguing, even thrilling clinical vignettes. This brief book sets intersubjective systems theory in motion so its unique perspective and the difference it makes in clinical practice comes alive. The case study approach connects the often abstract and obscure theories of intersubjective systems theory with practical applications. Buirski's commentaries challenge readers to not only acknowledge the utility of intersubjective theory, but to come to a belief in its necessity for the reparative work of depth-oriented psychotherapy. The clinical tales offered in Practicing Intersubjectively substantiate the efficacy of the intersubjective approach. It is a text well worth reading. Practicing Intersubjectively offers an uncommon balance between theoretical insight and clinical inspiration. Particularly well-suited for working with people from diverse cultural backgrounds, intersubjective systems theory recognizes each psychotherapeutic treatment as exquisitely context-sensitive. In this text, Buirski uses extensive clinical case material to illustrate how this approach informs and enriches clincial practice. In Practicing Intersubjectively Peter Buirski continues his successful presentation of the clinical application of the theory of intersubjectivity. Drawing contrasts with earlier therapeutic approaches, Buirski demonstrates the positive interplay that emerges when an empathic intersubjective stance is followed. Especially valuable is the new ground Buirski explores: prejudice, cultural influence, and the effect on less experienced therapists of witnessing the re-experiencing of traumatic events. Acareful reading of this book will provide rich rewards for therapists already knowledgeable about self psychology and intersubjectivity and those not acquainted with its application... In this wonderful and eminently practical book, Peter Buirski extends his finely-tuned intersubjective sensibility to a rich and diverse array of clinical contexts. He exemplifies practical wisdom in the best Aristotelian sense—attentiveness to the particular, the unique, the exquisitely context-sensitive and context-dependent. I highly recommend Practicing Intersubjectively to all who engage in psychological practice, from trainees to seasoned practitioners. Peter Buirski's Practicing Intersubjectively is a clearly-written, well-presented, introductory guide to intersubjective systems theory and its clinical application. Buirski provides every day clinical illustrations with enough detail and verbatim dialogue to help therapists learn how to intervene therapeutically. While eschewing any simple notion of "technique," Buirski is a superb teacher who provides practical guidance in how therapists can collaborate with patients so that they make sense together of the patient's psychological world of experience. Covering such contemporary clinical concerns as multi-cultural treatment, race, prejudice, and trauma, this book will be especially well appreciated by graduate students and their teachers. In Practicing Intersubjectively Peter Buirski continues his successful presentation of the clinical application of the theory of intersubjectivity. Drawing contrasts with earlier therapeutic approaches, Buirski demonstrates the positive interplay that emerges when an empathic intersubjective stance is followed. Especially valuable is the new ground Buirski explores: prejudice, cultural influence, and the effect on less experienced therapists of witnessing the re-experiencing of traumatic events. A careful reading of this book will provide rich rewards for therapists already knowledgeable about self psychology and intersubjectivity and those not acquainted with its application. In Practicing Intersubjectively, Peter Buirski offers a balanced presentation of intersubjective systems theory and practice. This text makes accessible the often complex and subtle theory of the intersubjective approach to psychotherapy to those who may be encountering it for the first time, while rewarding devotees with intriguing, even thrilling clinical vignettes. This brief book sets intersubjective systems theory in motion so its unique perspective and the difference it makes in clinical practice comes alive. The case study approach connects the often abstract and obscure theories of intersubjective systems theory with practical applications. Buirski's commentaries challenge readers to not only acknowledge the utility of intersubjective theory, but to come to a belief in its necessity for the reparative work of depth-oriented psychotherapy. The clinical tales offered in Practicing Intersubjectively substantiate the efficacy of the intersubjective approach. It is a text well worth reading. Practicing Intersubjectively offers an uncommon balance between theoretical insight and clinical inspiration.