In recent years, short-term therapies have increasingly gained a following among therapists looking for innovative treatments for patients. At a time in which traditional, open-ended psychotherapy is attacked as costly and inefficient, short-term therapy has naturally found new followers. This collection of essays form an essential reference book for therapists who practice short-term therapy and those considering this form of treatment. The aim of this volume is to provide a way for therapists to consider short-term therapy, evaluate it for individual patients, and plan appropriate courses of treatment.

The book is divided into four sections that highlight the characteristic elements of short-term dynamic therapy: brevity, focus, therapist activity, and patient selection. The book features papers by Franz Alexander; S. H. Budman and A. S. Gurman; James Mann; Mardi J. Horowitz; Gerald L. Klerman, Myrna M. Weissman, Bruce Rounsaville, and Eve S. Chevron; Eric Berne, Claude M. Steiner, and John M. Dusay; Thomas E. Schacht, Jeffrey L. Binder, and Hans H. Strupp; George A. Kelly; Aaron T. Beck and Ruth L. Greenberg; Allen Frances and Samuel Perry; Hans H. Strupp; Leston L. Havens; H. Davanloo; Robert Langs; D. M. Malan; P. E. Sifneos; Miguel A. Leibovich; Allen Frances and John F. Clarkin; David H. Malan, E. Sheldon Heath, Howard A. Bacal, and Frederick H. G. Balfour; Sigmund Freud; and D. W. Winnicott.