First published in 1946, Psychoanalytic Therapy stands as a classic
presentation of "brief therapy". The volume, which is based upon nearly
six hundred cases, derives from a concerted effort at the Chicago
Institute for Psychoanalysis to define the principles that make possible
a psychotherapy shorter and more efficient than traditional
psychoanalysis and to develop specific techniques of treatment. While
taking a psychoanalytic approach, the authors urge the therapist to plan
carefully and sensibly to avoid letting every case drift into
"interminable" psychoanalysis. They address not only psychiatrists and
psychoanalysts, but also psychologists, general physicians, social
workers, and "all whose work is closely concerned with human
relationships."