16 - Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy Goes to Hollywood: The Treatment of Performance Anxiety in Cinema

Abstract

This chapter describes the basic concepts of short-term dynamic psychotherapy (STDP) and then uses the film characters to illustrate how performance anxiety is treated in STDP. STDP incorporates many effective interventions from behavioral and cognitive therapies. It primarily focuses on the exploration and identification of conflicted, and thus, avoided, feelings, which are considered the fundamental origin of maladaptive behavior. The psychodynamic conflict is labeled in behavioral terms (affect phobia) and treated with desensitization techniques because research-based behavioral interventions offer effective ways to resolve problems, including those arising from psychodynamic conflicts. To understand the affect phobia imbedded in the Triangle of Conflict, the STDP therapist helps the patient develop a hypothesis concerning how the patient avoids feelings (defenses), why the patient is avoidant (anxieties), and what the patient is avoiding (the ‘‘true’’ or ‘‘phobic’’ effect). The STDP therapist constantly offers reassurance in an empathetic and caring manner, provides ongoing teaching so that patients can learn to articulate their experience, and encourages patients to face their fears and continue to practice repeated exposure to fearful and conflicted feelings.