Working with the Core Relationship Problem in Psychotherapy

A clinician's Rosetta Stone for understanding and treating presenting problems "I highly recommend this book to therapists of all persuasions."--Allan N. Schore, department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences, University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine In this important book, noted author, teacher, and psychologist Althea J. Horner shows how to reveal, understand, and use the powerful core relationship problem -- which is formed from earliest childhood and creates an image of the self in relation to others -- so it can act as a Rosetta stone for understanding the underlying conflict that repeatedly plays out in a client's behavior. Once this essential element is uncovered, clinicians learn how to work with their clients to successfully resolve common presenting problems.

Foreword ix Samuel Slipp Preface xi Introduction: The Unconscious and the Archaeology of Human Relationships xvii Part One: The Core Relationship Problem 1 1 Construction of the Developmental Hypothesis: The Hypothesis 2 Construction of the Developmental Hypothesis: Method of Data Gathering 11 3 The Place of the Signifier in Psychoanalytic Object Relations Theory 23 4 The Contribution of Family System Pathology to Core Relationship Problems 35 5 Belief Systems and the Analytic Work 45 Part Two: some Common Clinical Problems and Issues 51 6 Deciphering the Compromise Formation: A Psychological Rosetta Stone 53 7 OCD: The Medicalization of Psychopathology and the Importance of Preserving a Psychology of the Mind 59 8 Working with Dissociated Self-States 69 9 Cherchez la Mere: Disturbances of Object-Seeking Behavior in the Wake of Early Abandonment Experiences 77 10 Money Issues and Analytic Neutrality 83 11 Religion, Values, and Clinical Issues 93 12 The Therapist’s Core Relationship Problem: Countertransference Resistance 99 13 Moments of Decision: What Do I Say? What Do I do? 107 Part Three: Difficult Patients and Clinical Problems 115 14 Interminable Therapy and Transference Resistance 117 15 When Helping doesn’t Help: The Negative Therapeutic Reaction 123 16 The Masochistic Personality Disorder – A Diagnosis worth Keeping: Working with the Good Girl and the Good Boy 129 17 “Those Wrecked by Success” Revisited: Envy and the Fear of Being Envied 143 18 Managed Care as a Clinical Issue 149 Part Four: For Supervisors Only 155 19 Core Relationship Problems and the Supervision Process 157 References 165 About the Author 173 About the Foreword Author 175 Index 177