Main description:

This book is an exploration and mapping of the frontiers of research in psychotherapy. The authors make a systematic effort to discover where the science is going; analyzing conceptual problems, trends, and issues; record their interviews with the leaders in the field; and recommend new directions for research. The volume is the result of a three-year study on collaborative research in psychotherapy by the National Institute of Mental Health, and was first published in 1972.

In Changing Frontiers in the Science of Psychotherapy Allen E. Bergin and Hans H. Strupp introduce the reader to therapeutic science as it appeared to them during a three year process of evaluating available literature, conducting interviews with scientists and therapists, and exchanging and formulating viewpoints. Personal reflections and experiences were gleaned from working papers, correspondence, and personal material, all of which gave life to the ongoing processes of science and provide considerable insight into everyday reality behind the scenes.

The prominent therapists interviewed in this book include Arnold A. Lazarus, Lester Luborsky, Arthur H. Auerbach, Lyle D. Schmidt, Stanley R. Strong, Paul E. Meehl, Howard F. Hunt, Bernard F. Riess, Thomas S. Szasz, Arnold P. Goldstein, Gerald C. Davison, Bernard Weitzman, J. B. Chassan, Kenneth M. Colby, Albert Bandura, Robert S. Wallerstein, Harold Sampson, Louis Breger, Howard Levene, Ralph R. Greenson, Milton Wexler, Carl B. Rogers, Charles B. Traux, Joseph D. Matarazzo, Neal E. Miller, Henry B. Linford, Peter H. Knapp, John M. Shlien, David Bakan, Marvin A. Smith, and Peter J. Lang, all of whom remain leading figures in the literature on psychotherapy.

Contents:

Foreword
Acknowledgments
1 Introduction
ORIENTATION AND RATIONALE
The nature of psychology
The nature of personality
The field of inquiry
SOME FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES
The problem of perception
The problem of unconscious mentation
The problem of circularity
The problem of volition and purpose
The problem of temporal focus
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
A hierarchy of languages Levels of communication
PLAN OF THE BOOK
2 Sullivan's Conceptions: Beginnings of a System
THE INTERPERSONAL NATURE OF PERSONALITY
HUMAN INFANCY
Innate tensions
The experience of the infant
Personifications
Anxiety
LATER DEVELOPMENTS AND ACQUISITIONS
Language development
Modes of learning
The self dynamism
Residual aspects of the personality
Integrating tendencies
The theorem of reciprocal emotion
THE DEVELOPMENTAL ERAS
The juvenile era
The preadolescent era
Early adolescence
Late adolescence
DISTORTIONS OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS
Mechanisms of defense
An example of "mild" mental disorder: Jealousy
An example of more serious mental disorder: Hysteria
An example of severe mental disorder: Schizophrenia
CONCLUSION
3 Learning Interpersonal Behavior
BASIC PROCESSES IN HUMAN LEARNING
Action learning
Cognitive learning
PLANS AND STRATEGIES: AN INTEGRATION
The organization of behavior
Tactics and strategy of behavior
Anxiety and conflict
OVERVIEW
Interpersonal behavior and the habits of squirrels
4 Varieties of Interpersonal Behavior
A TAXONOMY OF INTERPERSONAL BEHAVIOR
A technical orientation
Empirical studies: Factorial
Empirical studies: Circumplicial
The Leary framework
Additional features of Leary's system
THE ACHIEVEMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF INTERACTIONAL BALANCE
Balance theory and interpersonal relations
The economics of interaction
5 Negotiating Interpersonal Transactions
REWARDS AND COSTS
Interaction sequences
The interaction-outcome matrix
The evaluation of outcomes
INTERACTION-OUTCOME PROCESSES: TWO EXAMPLES
A handsome lad and a pretty maid Mr. and Mrs. X: A matrix analysis
GENERALIZED INTERPERSONAL STYLES AND THEIR INTERACTIONAL ASPECTS
Interaction of personal styles: A matrix conception
Complementarity as a persistent force in interaction
POWER AND DEPENDENCE IN DYADIC RELATIONSHIPS
Functional characteristics of interpersonal power
Consequences of power
The reduction of power differentials
Power relations and the maintenance of security
6 Contractual Arrangements in Interpersonal Relations
THE DEVELOPMENT OF NORMS
Norms and the use of power
The handsome lad and the pretty maid revisited
Roles
IMPLICIT CONTRACTS IN DYADIC INTERACTION
The problem of stylistic articulation
The ad hoc interpersonal contract
FRAUDULENT INTERPERSONAL CONTRACTS
Simple transactional reversals
Other fraudulent operations
DISORDERED INTERPERSONAL CONTRACTS
Illustrative varieties of coordinated avoidance
Negotiated maladjustment: "Game" examples
Negotiated maladjustment and disturbed family relations
A FINAL WORD
7 "Personality Disorder": Extranormative Efforts at Relationship
THE DEFINITION OF PERSONALITY DISORDER
Personality disorder as "naively" described
The specific "content" of disordered behavior
CAUSAL FACTORS IN PERSONALITY DISORDER
The problem of anxiety
Anxiety (insecurity) as threat to Self
The Self, anxiety, and the Secord-Backman theory
VARIETIES OF RESIDUAL RULE-BREAKING
Disordered cognitive restructuring
Disordered selective evaluation
Disordered selective interaction
Disordered evocation of congruent responses
Disordered social comparison The unity of personality disorder
DISORDERED SOCIAL SYSTEMS
Disturbed families as disordered social systems
Larger disordered social systems
8 Psychotherapy: Disorder-Reducing Interpersonal Relationships
DYADIC RELATIONSHIP THERAPY AS THE FOCUS
The centrality of the relationship in psychotherapy
Power and influence of the therapist
THE PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC TASK
The psychotherapy candidate
Psychotherapeutic strategy
BASIC PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC PROCESSES
Basic ingredients: Trust and confidence
The crucial therapeutic tactic
Changing the Image
THE "TRANSFER" OF THERAPEUTIC LEARNING
Image dedifferentiation
Intervention in other client relationships
Name Index
Subject Index