Interpersonal Psychotherapy Techniques
The second part of the “Psychoanalytic Therapy Over Time” (American Psychological Association, 2019) series features an insight into interpersonal therapy techniques demonstrated and discussed by J. D. Safran. It features several essential details necessary for a productive session, including the ones that create a good rapport in the alliance. The relationship between the therapist and client is built on mutual respect and logical collaboration, creating a healthy leadership balance.
Mutual respect is presented by the way the therapist always takes the client’s side in emotional questions and builds logic from her point of view. This creates a sense of support and effort to help the person without giving unattached advice. All the examples must be analyzed and linked to problematic behavior or responses that create discomfort in the client’s life. Thus, finding similarities and comparable templates in different stories will help diagnose the cause of the issue and present it to the patient in an understandable form. This approach is beneficial for increasing the quality of relationships and future sessions.
The session features an exciting method of letting the client explore the problems independently. It is shown in the cases where the therapist lets the patient choose the next topic to discuss, which is met with confusion and a long pause. During the next attempt to give the person a chance to take the lead, the therapist is confronted with a strong response that creates tension. However, resolving this conflict was a productive conclusion as it provided insight into the behavioral patterns that were a part of the analyzed problem. It also led to a more open discussion in further dialogue and helped establish rapport. Therefore, this technique of shifting the leading role to the client proved successful even when the patient could not suggest a topic to discuss.
Initial Stages Principles and Techniques
The initial stage’s goal is to create a sense of good and trusting relationships between the therapist and the client. It is achieved through practicing a collaborative approach to finding solutions (E. Teyber & F. Teyber, 2017). The technique of questioning for details or emotional response is vital in accenting the critical part of the monologues. It also shows how helpful analyzing daily behavior and responses through examples is for making progress in solving issues. Thus, these techniques should be implemented during the first sessions and encouraged in all later meetings, as high morale will help develop communication between the therapist and the client.
Example analysis can be conducted differently, including asking consequent “why?” questions, finding patterns, and highlighting the necessary details so the client sees what requires further attention. Introducing these methods during the initial stages should be helpful while discussing other background descriptions and emotional states that bother the patient. After some time, the client should be able to utilize these methods in daily activities and dialogues with the therapist. Successful implementations of the techniques indicate that the person can continue the analysis and practice these skills in the future.
The collaborative approach can be improved by establishing a harmonious leadership balance. Not infantilizing the client is crucial for mutual respect as it increases engagement. As Safran (1993) suggests, the paradigm regarding the client as an infant alienates the therapist from the patient. It decreases the quality of further communication due to the creation of unequal roles. Treating the client as an established adult will adjust the emotional relationships and make the client trust the therapist more as sessions continue.
References
American Psychological Association (2019). Psychoanalytic Therapy Over Time (Session 2). In Series VIII – Psychotherapy in Six Sessions. [Streaming Video]. Web.
Safran, J. D. (1993). Breaches in the therapeutic alliance: An arena for negotiating authentic relatedness. Psychotherapy, 30(1), 11–24.
Teyber, E., & Teyber, F. H. (2017). Interpersonal process in therapy: An integrative model (7th ed.). Brooks/Cole.