Psychodynamic Techniques Working with Emotion in the Therapeutic Relationship

Helping therapists navigate the complexities of emotional interactions with clients, this book provides practical clinical guidelines. Master clinician Karen J. Maroda adds an important dimension to the psychodynamic literature by exploring the role of both clients' and therapists' emotional experiences in the process of therapy. Vivid case examples illustrate specific techniques for becoming more attuned to one's own experience of a client; offering direct feedback and self-disclosure in the service of treatment goals; and managing intense feelings and conflict in the relationship. Maroda clearly distinguishes between therapeutic and nontherapeutic ways to work with emotion in this candid and instructive guide.

Karen J. Maroda, PhD, ABPP, is Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical College of Wisconsin and is in private practice in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is the past ethics chair and a board member of Division 39 (Psychoanalysis) of the American Psychological Association and past president of Division 39's Section III, Women, Gender, and Psychoanalysis. The author of two previous books, The Power of Countertransference and Seduction, Surrender, and Transformation, Dr. Maroda has also published numerous journal articles, book chapters, and book reviews. She lectures nationally and internationally on a variety of aspects of the therapeutic process, including the place of affect, self-disclosure, countertransference, legitimate authority, and the need for clinical guidelines. Dr. Maroda is on the editorial board of two major journals, Psychoanalytic Psychology and the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, and is corresponding editor of Contemporary Psychoanalysis; she actively encourages her colleagues to write and talk about what they actually do as therapists.

Introduction 1. Emotional Engagement and Mutual Influence: Basic Issues as Therapy Begins 2. Mutuality and Collaboration: Influencing Each Other 3. Redefining Regression: Facilitating Therapeutic Vulnerability 4. Evaluating Interventions: Tracking the Client's Response 5. Self-Disclosure and Advice: Understanding How and When the Therapist's Disclosures Are Therapeutic 6. Managing Emotion: Affective Communication and the Role of Interaction 7. The Special Problem of Affect Management in Treating Borderline Personality Disorders 8. Confrontation and Countertransference Anger: Overcoming the Therapist's Aversion to Conflict 9. Erotic Feelings: How They Help or Hinder the Therapeutic Process 10. Empowering the Client: The Road to Independence Conclusion Glossary