Customer Reviews

The Transforming Power Of Affect: A Model For Accelerated Change

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In this most important work Dr Fosha describes in clear prose and with engaging case material an emerging trend in the practice of effective short term psychotherapy. Her understanding and honoring of the internal landscape of the patients subjective experience and affect regulation will be an inspiration to new clinicians and a source of wisdom to seasoned veterans. Theory is presented in a clear accessible manner free of fluff and is enhanced by her lyrical narrative style.

Peter A. Levine Ph.D. Author of "Waking the Tiger, Healing Trauma"

Dr. Fosha has given us the gift of an important book, which combines easy access (fine writing), leading edge concepts in relational psychology and Intensive Psychotherapy, and the most helpful texts of clinical psychotherapy examples I have ever encountered. In fact, her running commentary (pithy and informal) on video transcripts from her own treatment is the perfect voice to accompany her chapter-long (and very helpful) illustrations of how the theoretical material on attachment and emotion-affect apply in real-life psychotherapy consultions and treatment. There are also some marvelous literary quotations sprinkled around, and solid recognition of the pathfinders ahead of her, from Darwin to Davenloo.

In this book Diana Fosha describes her method of dynamic psychotherapy which she has named Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy: AEDP. The method focuses on the experience and processing of affects in the therapy session in the context of a securely attached therapeutic relationship.

AEDP evolved from her training with Habib Davanloo who pioneered Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy. But Fosha turns his confrontational approach on its head, replacing it with a powerfully engaging and empathic therapeutic approach.

Fosha also draws on Emotion Focused Therapy [Les Greenberg] , Michael Alpert's Accelerated Empathic Therapy, and David Malan's Brief Psychotherapy.

Bowlby's Attachment Theory forms the infrastructure for an essential dyadic framework. Above all she seems to me, closest to the legendary Donald Winnicott in the poetic humanity of her treatment method.

Fosha introduces many powerful innovations to the therapeutic process. Among the most striking is the use of empathy rather than confrontation to bypass defenses. Perhaps the most original technique is meta-therapeutic processing, in which therapist and patient reflect on the impact of what has transpired between them, after each round of emotional processing.

Fosha has brilliantly pulled together and integrated some of the best therapeutic interventions to derive a most powerful new generation dynamic psychotherapy.

Essential reading for all who wish to remain at the forefront of dynamic psychotherapy.

Alan Eppel MB, FRCPC
Associate Clinical Professor Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University.

This one is one of the best books I have read about doing psychotherapy. It also covers an area that is not addressed very often, at least in my experience. Fosha describes why tracking people's moment-to-moment emotional experience in therapy is important, and gives a number of ideas about how to track this emotional experience. The book has changed the way I do therapy and I am very glad I read it.

Diana Fosha has her own notion of healing with the power of full engagement, while the terapist "industry" has revelled in its aloofness and detatchment. To borrow a phrase 'You go girl'!