Paul L. Wachtel Book order

Focusing on the integration of various therapeutic strategies, the book delves into how early attachment experiences shape individuals' emotional development and self-perception. Wachtel emphasizes the importance of acknowledging neglected aspects of the self and employs a blend of psychodynamic, humanistic, systemic, and cognitive-behavioral approaches. By addressing the influences of race, class, and culture, the work provides valuable case studies that demonstrate how present-focused therapy can facilitate healing from past traumas.

In his 1983 classic The Poverty of Affluence , Paul Wachtel examines the psychological underpinnings of our insatiable desire for growth, and endless quest for “more”—whether in jobs, relationships, or any other sphere of life—suggesting that our commitment to consumption is in fact an increasingly desperate attempt to replace the sense of community that our very growth has torn apart.

The book offers full transcripts of three therapy sessions, allowing readers to observe both successful moments and potential missteps by the therapist. This unique perspective provides insight into the thought process of a renowned psychotherapist, highlighting the complexities of therapeutic interactions. It serves as a valuable resource for those interested in the nuances of psychotherapy and the intricacies of client-therapist dynamics.

This important and innovative book explores a new direction in psychoanalytic thought that can expand and deepen clinical practice. Relational psychoanalysis diverges in key ways from the assumptions and practices that have traditionally characterized psychoanalysis. At the same time, it preserves, and even extends, the profound understanding of human experience and psychological conflict that has always been the strength of the psychoanalytic approach. Through probing theoretical analysis and illuminating examples, the book offers new and powerful ways to revitalize clinical practice.

This text examines the implications of developments in psychoanalytic and behavioural approaches. It addresses the powerful influence of cognitive perspectives in the thinking of behaviour therapists, and the emergence of a distinctive and integrative relational point of view in psychoanalysis. Dr Wachtel has developed an integrative theory called cyclical psychodynamics, and both these developments have been incorporated into this model.