Psychoanalytic psychotherapy (hereafter also referred to simply as psychotherapy) is the kind of therapy that most closely follows Freud’s own dynamic model of mind, both in theory and in practice. This is so despite its important differences from Freud, which are also detailed in this work.

Psychotherapy and the Everyday Life is intended to help individuals who are seeking some sort of psychological help to determine whether psychoanalytic psychotherapy is appropriate for them, and why. It is also geared to helping those who have already entered such therapy to understand what the process entails so that they will be better able to stick with it, especially in the early weeks when (as we shall see) the “resistance” to therapy is extremely high. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is in every way a perplexing business. Its value to its recipients might well be enhanced through certain sorts of clarification, concerning both its goals and its processes.

Table of Contents:

About the Authors; Introduction; 1) Resisting Therapy; or, Every Reason in the World Not to go into Therapy; 2) The Dynamic Unconscious and the Resistance to Therapy: A Mini-Introduction to Freud’s Theory of Mind; 3) Accepting the Gift of Therapy: Resistance Revisited; 4) The Dynamic Unconscious Speaks; 5) Speaking Your Own Mind; or, Why Words Matter; 6) Transference; or, The Performance of Your Life: Part I--The Clinical Experience of Psychotherapy: What It Feels Like, How It Works; 7). Transference; or The Performance of Your Life, Part II; 8) The Listening Cure; or, The Therapist Speaks At Last; 9) Neurobiology and the “Value” of the Talking Cure; 10) The Psychotherapeutic Couple: Where We Are After Therapy; An Afterword; Selected Readings in Psychotherapy, Neurobiology, and Related Matters; Bibliography; Index.