Synopsis
In Developmentally Based Psychotherapy, Dr. Greenspan enlarges both our understanding of human development and the therapeutic processes that promote emotional growth. Dr. Greenspan formulates practical therapeutic strategies based on our most recent discoveries of early presymbolic levels of adaptive and disturbed personality functioning, observations of the biological aspects of symptom and character formation, and emerging understanding of the phases of development throughout the course of life. Developmentally Based Psychotherapy formulates therapeutic processes that enable patients to build psychological capacities formerly thought to be beyond the reach of psychotherapy such as altering basic expectations, mood, and temperament; transforming impulses and behaviors into affects and mental representations; and forming new internalized object relationships, organizations of self, and capacities for self observation. In addition, Dr. Greenspan provides a new framework for research by defining developmentally based, clinically relevant categories of behavior and observable intervention strategies.
Lori R. Solaro
With this book, Dr. Stanley Greenspan introduces a new developmental paradigm for psychotherapy, integrating therapeutic techniques applied in psychotherapy today with knowledge of developmental stages and dysfunction. His developmental-structuralist approach to psychotherapy assesses psychiatric patients' stages of development and formulates psychotherapeutic strategies to help patients learn the psychological capacities (i.e., regulation, engagement, symbolization of experiences) to cope with conflict and develop adaptive personalities and emotional health. The author's intent is to provide a guide for assessing and formulating psychotherapy to children's and adults' developmental levels. This book would be beneficial for all students and practitioners of child and adult psychotherapy. Stanley Greenspan is an expert and a theorist in the areas of child and adult development and psychotherapy. This text contains no illustrations. The reference section cites important historical references as well as recent significant resources. An appendix contains tables outlining stages of development, adaptive capacities at each stage, the maladaptive capacities and the self-object relationships at each stage. This book describes an eclectic, developmental-structuralist framework to assess and psychotherapeutically treat children and adults based on their emotional-cognitive development. This approach to psychotherapy is impressive and the text is clearly written with excellent clinical examples. This book is very highly recommended to psychotherapists.