Psychological Therapy Case Study (Fourth Edition)

Author: (USA) Widig, (USA) Corsini, translated by Wang Xumei et al.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-19
Features: This book raises some questions that go far beyond what psychotherapy can explain. Certain concerns and personality traits in the case studies suggest issues related to humanistic anthropology, social psychology, the Bible, educational psychology, developmental psychology, and cognitive science. For example, Ellis's description of the guilt pressure experienced by children of devout parents raises profound epistemological questions. Readers can easily observe the "yin" and "yang" dynamics between the client and therapist, serving as the shuttle on the therapeutic "loom" that facilitates mutual transference, enabling them to engage in treatment to change one another. We can see young Ellis's "yang" rationalization invading the core dysfunction of the client, while the client responds creatively to his interventions with her "yin." Ellis seems never to fear being anchored and boldly acknowledges his mistakes in the history of psychotherapy. Psychotherapy has borrowed "system processing" and "unit processing" from humanistic anthropology. The former is characterized by well-formed regulations, shaping the development of personality theories through well-known methods, while the latter tends to focus on group sensitivity and culturally bound rules. The approach of "unit processing" limits the generalization of principles proven effective in groups to restricted cases, treating each person as an individual with their own culture. Case Studies in Psychotherapy is composed of classic case studies written by representatives of contemporary psychotherapy schools. The great therapists like Beck, Rogers, Ellis, Sullivan, Lazarus, Yalom, and Pierls are no longer distant figures. We can truly observe how they begin the first session, how they handle challenges in therapy, and how they successfully conclude the therapeutic process. In each case, there is no rigid didacticism or obscure theory—vivid dialogues and descriptions immerse us in a real therapeutic world.