Principles of Psychotherapy: By Irving Weiner. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1998. 328 pp (original) (raw)

2002, Clinical Psychology Review

How prescriptive should an author be in explaining the practice of psychodynamic psychotherapy? One extreme is to emphasize a broad range of common practices, presenting several different methods of case formulation, responses to resistance, or guidelines for interpretation. This method can provide clinicians with a well-stocked toolbox that they can select from based on their own penchants and the needs of their clients. But even if the author is careful to include criteria for determining which techniques to use, the lack of clear direction can leave readers paralyzed or without a firm understanding of potential difficulties, especially if they are inexperienced therapists. The opposite extreme, typified by treatment manuals, is to advocate strongly for one coherent style, presenting a relatively prescriptive method. If done well, acknowledging some limitations and subjectivity, this method gives therapists firm rules to cling to while navigating through psychotherapy, rules that reflect established clinical wisdom. However, especially when wandering far from empirically supported recommendations, the author risks being dogmatic and failing to give readers clear ideas on when and how it would be appropriate to break the rules he has handed down. In Principles of Psychotherapy, Irving Weiner leans toward the latter method, providing a valuable step-by-step approach to the general practice of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Yet sometimes in recommending his methods in unequivocal terms, he fails to address how the same goals might be reached by different means. While broadening his approach would have lengthened the book, it might also have made his ideas more compelling to some readers by providing a more comprehensive context in which to understand and evaluate them.