Therapeutic Communication: Principles and Effective Practice [Hardcover]

Paul L. Wachtel PhD (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 19, 1993 | ISBN-10: 0898622603 | ISBN-13: 978-0898622607 | Edition: 1st

the book shows why some communications in therapy may be particularly effective, while others addressing essentially the same content may actually be countertherapeutic. Wachtel's integrative approach also illuminates how psychological disorder evolves, how it is maintained, and just what it is that psychotherapy accomplishes.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Wachtel, whose contributions have been at the cutting edge of contemporary approaches to psychotherapy, masterfully deals with the clinically delicate task of verbally presenting reality to patients. Wachtel astutely observes that in saying the unsaid, therapists often walk the fine line between clarification and accusation. Richly illustrated with clinical examples, Therapeutic Communication provides therapists with invaluable guiding principles that can enhance their clinical effectiveness." --Marvin R. Goldfried, PhD, State University of New York at Stony Brook

"Forget that speed reading course you took--this is a book that will absorb you so deeply you'll want to savor every paragraph, every sentence. Paul Wachtel has already given us some of the most creative books on psychotherapy, but Therapeutic Communication stands apart as a genuine masterpiece of clinical and scholarly wisdom. This is undoubtedly one of the most important books on psychotherapy in the last two decades. For the novice, it will orient and clarify therapeutic essentials, and for the seasoned clinician, it will reinvigorate and expand horizons. There is nothing else like it." --Alan Gurman, PhD, University of Wisconsin Medical School

"Paul Wachtel has been one of the most thoughtful and provocative writers on psychodynamic psychotherapy in recent years. He has made major contributions in the application of complex psychoanalytic ideas to the broader range of psychotherapies, and conversely has made important contributions to the rethinking and modernization of traditional psychoanalytic concepts. In this volume, he extends his model of cyclical psychodynamics to the important and largely unexplored area of the metacommunicational dimensions of the therapist's participation." --Stephen Mitchell, PhD, Editor, Psychoanalytic Dialogues

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Paul L. Wachtel, PhD, is CUNY Distinguished Professor at City College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His publications include Family Dynamics in Individual Psychotherapy (with Ellen F. Wachtel).

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 308 pages
• Publisher: The Guilford Press; 1st edition (March 19, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898622603
• ISBN-13: 978-0898622607
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #916,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rare find-tells therapists *how* to talk to their clients!, July 30, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Therapeutic Communication: Principles and Effective Practice (Hardcover)

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of books review various therapeutic procedures and treatment strategies, encompassing everything from Freudian analysis to primal scream therapy. Dr. Wachtel, however, shuns this traditional theoretical approach. Instead, he focuses on how what therapists actually *say* to their clients affects the therapy process. Dr. Wachtel clearly and succinctly describes the use of subtle word changes in the therapist's comments (both statements and questions) in order to facilitate further exploration and increase the likelihood of positive outcomes. In addition, he provides specific examples and excerpts from actual therapy sessions to highlight the application of his methods. These simple techniques are applicable to various theoretical orientations, therapist educational backgrounds, and client problems. Thus, this book would be useful to any clinician seeking to enrich his or her therapeutic skills, and I highly recommend it for beginning and seasoned practitioners alike

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exposure and the Art of Interpretation in Therapy, May 8, 2007

By 

S. Greenhouse - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Therapeutic Communication: Principles and Effective Practice (Hardcover)

Paul Wachtel is one of the first psychologists to devise an integrative theory of therapy. This book is well written and will be useful to the therapeutic practice of a great many therapists of differing theoretical orientations. In the early chapters he introduces key notions of his approach called "cyclical psychodynamics", which integrates behavioral, cognitive, and systems approaches within a contextually oriented psychodynamic theory and therapy. According to Wachtel anxiety is frequently the result of inner conflicts and experiences that the person has made attempts to avoid and are now surfacing into consciousness, further reinforcing defensive avoidance strategies. He further conceptualizes interpretation in therapy as a means to expose the person to the material of the anxiety as well as the anxiety itself. The bulk of the book explicates the finesse and tact involved in the communicative aspects of such exposure oriented interpretations in therapy, i.e., the art of knowing what to say and when to say it. I look forward to a book by Wachtel that introduces the reader to "all" aspects of his integrative approach.