Brief Psychodynamic Psychotherapy With Young Children

Abstract

Specific techniques for brief dynamic psychotherapy are now well established for adults ( Davanloo, 1978 Davanloo H Evaluation and criteria for selection of patients for short-term dynamic psychotherapy. Psychother Psychosom. 1978; 29: 307-308 Crossref PubMed Scopus (5) Google Scholar , Mann, 1973 Mann J Time-Limited Psychotherapy. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA1973 Google Scholar , Piper et al., 1990 Piper WE Azim HF McCallum M Joyce AS Patient suitability and outcome in short-term individual psychotherapy. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1990; 58: 475-481 Crossref PubMed Scopus (0) Google Scholar , Sifneos, 1987 Sifneos PE Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy. Plenum Medical Book Company, New York1987 Crossref Google Scholar ). These approaches are typically characterized by a single dynamic focus, selection of highly motivated, nonpsychotic patients with high-quality object relations and a limited number of sessions established at the outset of treatment. Brief psychodynamic therapy models that use a fixed number of sessions have also been adapted for use with selected child patients ( Dulcan, 1984 Dulcan MK Brief psychotherapy with children and their families: the state of the art. J Am Acad Child Psychiatry. 1984; 23: 544-551 Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (14) Google Scholar ). Based on work with adults, some approaches have included the idea of a “focal issue” and the use of a contemporary understanding of a “corrective emotional experience” ( Proskauer, 1969 Proskauer S Some technical issues in time-limited psychotherapy with children. J Am Acad Child Psychiatry. 1969; 8: 154-169 Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (17) Google Scholar , Proskauer, 1971 Proskauer S Focused time-limited therapy with children. J Am Acad Child Psychiatry. 1971; 10: 619-639 Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (16) Google Scholar ), while others have emphasized concomitant work with the family by a single therapist ( Lester, 1968 Lester EP Brief psychotherapies in child psychiatry. Can J Psychiatry. 1968; 13: 301-309 Google Scholar , MacKay, 1967 MacKay J The use of brief psychotherapy with children. Can J Psychiatry. 1967; 12: 269-278 Google Scholar , Turecki, 1982 Turecki S Elective brief psychotherapy with children. Am J Psychother. 1982; 36: 479-488 PubMed Google Scholar ). This report describes a further extension of the use of these models of short-term dynamic psychotherapy that is applicable to children between ages 3 and 7 years. While still relying on a fixed number of sessions, there is a lessened emphasis on time and more on the expectation of “being ready” to terminate treatment, reflecting young children's cognitive limitations regarding concepts of time.