Routledge The Dyadic Transaction: An Investigation into the Nature of the Psychotherapeutic Process

The Dyadic Transaction presents unique, pioneering research on the nature of the psychoanalytic therapeutic process by three leading practitioners. The volume demonstrates that the process of psychotherapy is a consequence of reciprocal interaction between the psychotherapist and the patient, rather than merely the result of actions of the therapist, shedding an important light on how and why psychotherapy works. A team of three experienced psychoanalysts discretely and independently recorded their personal observations during a series of therapy sessions. At the same time, the psychoanalyst conducting the therapy also recorded impressions of each session. The results show that the therapist is actually an active participant in verbal and nonverbal interaction. Nonverbal aspects of this exchange are a thoroughly original aspect of this study. Originated by Franz Alexander, one of the great pioneers in psychoanalysis and psychiatry, this experimental approach offers valuable insight into the nature of the psychotherapeutic process. The basic findings outlined here foreshadow many of the results and new methods of research in subsequent psychoanalytic studies and continue to be highly relevant today. The Dyadic Transaction is a necessary source of material for psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Review -[The Dyadic Transaction] transcend[s] . . . sheer historical value and [is] pertinent to any psychotherapist's timeless need to better understand the phenomenology of psychotherapy at the interfaces of patient, therapist, outcome, and process.- --Edward F. Sanford, American Journal of Psychotherapy -[A] must read for all clinicians and those interested in the research and development of psychotherapeutic technique.- --Peter Loewenberg, UCLA "[The Dyadic Transaction] transcend[s] . . . sheer historical value and [is] pertinent to any psychotherapist's timeless need to better understand the phenomenology of psychotherapy at the interfaces of patient, therapist, outcome, and process." --Edward F. Sanford, American Journal of Psychotherapy "[A] must read for all clinicians and those interested in the research and development of psychotherapeutic technique." --Peter Loewenberg, UCLA "The Dyadic Transaction shares belatedly with its reader a wealth of observations about the nature of the psychotherapeutic process. However, its findings transcend their sheer historical value and are pertinent to any psychotherapist's timeless need to better understand the phenomenology of psychotherapy at the interfaces of patient, therapist, outcome, and process." --Edward F. Sanford, American Journal of Psychotherapy "I read The Dyadic Transaction with profit and fascination. The reader has an unparalled chance to view the day by day clincial technique of the brilliant Franz Alexander. . . . Here is a unique opportunity not to be missed. This book is a must read for all clinicians and those interested in the research and development of psychotherapeutic technique." --Peter Loewenberg, UCLA "This important and fascinating book shows how the mutative psychotherapeutic process arises from the interaction of the psychological world of the patient and the values, hopes, prejudices--as well as the formal interpretations--of the therapist. . . . An ingenious method of detailed examination of a psychotherapy in progress yields a rich harvest of relevant findings for the reader. This intersubjectively sophisticated work should be read by every therapist who years for more complete understanding of the nature of psychotherapy." --Joseph N. Natterson, M.D. "The authors . . . are to be congratulated for publishing the findings of a project carried on between 1956 and 1960 . . . of much more than historical importance. The reading of this honest volume will enhance clincians' critical self-examination of their attitudes and of their interventions. It will stimulate researchers to follow up with curren