Formulation as a Basis for Planning Psychotherapy Treatment: A Comprehensive Guide

By Mardi J. Horowitz, a renowned expert in the field, this book provides a step-by-step approach to planning psychotherapy treatment, ideal for psychiatrists, residents in psychiatry and psychology, social workers, and marriage and family counselors.

The new edition, released after two decades, offers revised content, updated case studies, and fresh insights gained from the author’s distinguished career. Clinical formulation, also known as case formulation and problem formulation, is a theoretically-based explanation or conceptualization of the information obtained from a clinical assessment.

Understanding Clinical Formulation

Clinical formulation is a crucial aspect of psychotherapy, and different schools of psychotherapy have their own approaches. The author adopts a systematic approach based on an integrative effort, combining concepts from psychodynamic, interpersonal, cognitive-behavioral, and family system approaches.

The Configurational Analysis System

This system involves a five-step process, which is covered systematically in the book:

1. Selecting and describing the patient’s currently most important symptoms, signs, problems, and topics of concern.

2. Describing states in which the patterns of phenomena do and do not occur, with attention to patterns of shifts in states, especially maladaptive state cycles.

3. Describing the challenging topics that patients may both approach and avoid because they are conflicted or unresolved, as well as the obstacles patients may create to divert attention from those topics.

4. Describing the organizing roles, beliefs, and scripts of expression and action that seem to organize repetitions in each state, with an effort made to identify dysfunctional attitudes and how these may have evolved from past attachments and traumas.

5. Figuring out how to stabilize working states by enhancing the therapeutic alliance and helping the patient contain and master emotional attitudes.

By following this comprehensive approach, clinicians can gain a deeper understanding of their patients’ needs and develop effective psychotherapeutic plans tailored to their specific requirements.

A Comprehensive Resource for Mental Health Professionals

Formulation as a Basis for Planning Psychotherapy Treatment transcends DSM diagnoses, providing clinicians with a practical guide to making sound, sensitive, and effective psychotherapeutic decisions. This book is an indispensable resource for mental health professionals seeking to improve their skills and provide optimal care to their patients.

With its clear explanations, insightful case studies, and practical applications, this book is an essential read for anyone involved in psychotherapy treatment planning.

Publisher: American Psychiatric Publishing

Language: English

ISBN: 9781615372188, 9781615372447