Deepening the Treatment

Almost everyone who crosses the therapist's threshold is looking for a second chance—a shot at living a richer, less restricted life. Understanding how echoes of the past resonate in and shape the present provides opportunities to resolve crippling conflicts and make new choices. Furthermore, such insight produces a sense of mastery. But not everyone is aware that the problems s/he brings into weekly therapy are just the first few bars of his or her song. Jane Hall wrote Deepening the Treatment to help the psycho-dynamically informed therapist help the patient recognize that exploring ideas and feelings is a journey worth taking and that the therapist is a trustworthy guide. Often, people need to wade before they feel comfortable diving into deep waters. Hall introduces a responsible if unconventional application of respectful, nondirective therapy, and she supports her vision with clinical examples and thoughtful attention to issues of basic technique—among them separation, termination, self-disclosure, frequency of sessions, tolerating patient rage, and, of course, interpreting the transference.