Dr. Herbert Strean shares the thoughtful insights of an experienced and sensitive clinician about how we inadvertently push our patients out of treatment at each stage of the process from the first phone call on. Even the most seasoned of us will learn more about what we are doing—to the benefit of our case loads to be sure, but, more ... Read moreimportant, to the benefit of our patients.
Betram P. Karon, Michigan State University Dr. Strean's heartfelt, clinically expert conviction that preventing premature termination is essential in promoting healing stands in refreshing contrast to the prevailing managed care view that no psychotherapeutic process can be too brief.
Gerald Schames, Smith College School of Social Work Herbert Strean has a knack for tackling the most significant problems in the practice of psychotherapy and coming up with clear, pragmatic solutions. We know that the patient dropout rate is very high, and in this volume Dr. Strean analyzes the many reasons therapists lose clients, often before treatment has really begun. Using copious clinical vignettes and drawing on up-to-date psychodynamic concepts, he steers clinicians through the shoals of patients' ambivalence, resistance, and negative transference, as well as their own counterresistance and countertransference. The book's unadorned, jargon-free writing and abundant clinical wisdom make it a pleasure to read and an invaluable aid to both helping and keeping our patients.
Stanley B. Messer, Rutgers University Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology Show Less