Jason Aronson Transforming the Internal World and Attachment: v. 1: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives

Product Description Transforming the Internal World and Attachment reviews and discusses four theories about what makes psychotherapy effective across forms of treatment, treatment settings, and diagnostic categories: mindfulness, mentalization, psychological mindedness, and the attachment relationship. Geoff Goodman offers some provisional hypotheses about therapeutic effectiveness and suggests some ways of testing these hypotheses empirically, using sophisticated assessment instruments that measure psychotherapy process and outcome. Managed-care companies are withholding reimbursements for treatments not considered "empirically supported." Instead of engaging in horse races with randomized controlled trials (RCTs), Goodman suggests that we need to establish an empirical basis for the therapeutic effectiveness of all forms of treatment, move beyond examining common factors such as the therapeutic alliance, and turn our collective attention to common factors that psychotherapy researchers often erroneously promote as specific factors. Perhaps these so-called specific factors produce therapeutic change regardless of the brand-name treatment packages through which they are typically delivered. These specific factors might also work better for particular groups of patients with specific problem areas such as affect dysregulation and impulsivity. In Volume I, Goodman explores the empirical and clinical bases of these specific factors and outlines their various influences on psychotherapy process and outcome. Review Recommended.--CHOICE Dr. Goodman offers a sensitive and intimate look at attachment research and literature from the consulting room. A work of art that can speak to the hearts and minds of researchers and clinians alike.--Celeste Schneider Ph.D., adjunct professor, Long Island University and Saint Mary's College of California; Psychoanalytic Candidate, San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis; Clinical Psychologist About the Author Geoff Goodman, PhD, is associate professor of psychology at Long Island University. He is also a licensed clinical and school psychologist with a private practice in Manhattan and New City, New York, and is certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). He is the author of more than a dozen articles on the development of psychopathology in high-risk infants, children, and adults, as well as The Internal World and Attachment (2002).