Premium
INTEGRATION IN PSYCHOTHERAPY: AN EVOLVING REALITY IN PERSONALITY DISORDER
Author(s) -
Bateman Anthony W
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
british journal of psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.442
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1752-0118
pISSN - 0265-9883
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-0118.2000.tb00571.x
Subject(s) - psychotherapist , psychology , psychoanalytic theory , psychological intervention , alliance , interpersonal communication , therapeutic relationship , personality , cognition , social psychology , psychiatry , political science , law
Psychotherapy continues to be bedevilled by ideological schisms with practitioners apparently ignoring alternative conceptualizations and potentially superior interventions. However, I argue here that there is evidence of a rapprochement , both in theory and in practice, between cognitive therapy and psychoanalytic therapy, especially within the domain of personality disorder, which may lead to the development of integrative psychotherapy. Cognitive therapy has begun to encompass an interpersonal approach within its theoretical base. Similarly, psychoanalytic therapy increasingly uses an interpersonal formulation of the process of therapy. The therapeutic alliance is emphasized equally and process research suggests that interventions, when given by experienced practitioners, are not as dissimilar as‘brand‐named’ therapies imply. Continued refinement of process psychotherapy research could lead to true integration of efficacious therapeutic interventions. But translating research findings into practice will necessitate psychotherapists opening themselves up to each others’ ideas.