Therapeutic Communication, Second Edition: Knowing What to Say When

About the Book

A uniquely practical guide and widely adopted text, this book shows precisely what therapists can say at key moments to enhance the process of healing and change. Paul Wachtel explains why some communications in therapy are particularly effective, while others that address essentially the same content may actually be countertherapeutic. He offers clear and specific guidelines for how to ask questions and make comments in ways that facilitate collaborative exploration and promote change. Illustrated with vivid case examples, the book is grounded in an integrative theory that draws from features of psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, systemic, and experiential approaches. New to this edition: reflects nearly 20 years of advances in the field and refinements of the author's approach broader audience: in addition to psychodynamic therapists, cognitive-behavioral therapists and others will find specific, user-friendly recommendations chapter on key developments and convergences across different psychotherapeutic approaches chapter on the therapeutic implications of attachment theory and research. This book will be invaluable to clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, counselors, psychotherapy students and trainees. It will also serve as a text in graduate-level psychotherapy courses.

Table of Contents:

Introduction 1. Rethinking the Talking Cure: The Therapist Speaks Too I. Theoretical and Empirical Foundations 2. The Continuing Evolution of Psychotherapy: New and Converging Developments in Psychoanalytic, Cognitive-Behavioral, Systemic, and Experiential Approaches 3. Attending to Attachment: Accelerating Interest in the Therapeutic Implications of Attachment Theory and Research 4. Cyclical Psychodynamics I: Vicious and Virtuous Circles 5. Cyclical Psychodynamics II: Anxiety, Exposure, and Interpretation 6. Cyclical Psychodynamics III: Insight, the Therapeutic Relationship, and the World Outside II. Clinical Applications and Guidelines 7. Accusatory and Facilitative Comments: Criticism and Permission in the Therapeutic Dialogue 8. Exploration, Not Interrogation 9. Building on the Patient’s Strengths 10. Affirmation and Change 11. Attribution and Suggestion 12. Reframing, Relabeling, and Paradox 13. Therapist Self-Disclosure: Prospects and Pitfalls 14. Achieving Resolution of the Patient's Difficulties: Resistance, Working Through, and Following Through III. Postscript 15. Therapeutic Communication with Couples, Ellen F. Wachtel

About the Author :
Paul L. Wachtel, PhD, Distinguished Professor, Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, City College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, USA

Review :
"Therapeutic Communication, Second Edition, builds on the foundation of Wachtel's original book, but it very substantially updates and revises it, reflecting many exciting advances that have occurred in our field. Wachtel presents theoretical and clinical material that will sharpen any psychotherapist's understanding of how to communicate with patients." - Leslie S. Greenberg, Distinguished Research Professor, Department of Psychology, York University, Ontario, Canada "Paul Wachtel is among the very few teachers and theorists of psychotherapy whose writing has an immediate, direct, and powerful impact on my clinical practice. I have long used and recommended this excellent text and am delighted to see the revised second edition, which incorporates recent developments across the range of therapeutic approaches. Wachtel does not speak in generalities or abstractions; rather, he moves easily among theoretical formulations, research findings, and their practical application, illustrating his principles with numerous recognizable examples. He examines in great detail the nuances and subtleties of what you say to patients, how you say it, and the relational context within which you convey your therapeutic messages... This book is essential reading for practicing therapists of all persuasions. I can't wait to start reading it with my students." - Lewis Aron, Director, Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, New York University, USA