Praxical.Psych
Unit 6 of 20

Psychodynamic therapies

Follow the relational turn and the compression into brief, focused, testable treatments.

Chapter 3Sessions 10/9–10/19

What you should be able to do afterwards

  • 1Explain the drive/relational shift and why it matters clinically
  • 2Use the two triangles to plan an intervention
  • 3Build a CCRT from relationship episodes
  • 4Position a case on the supportive–expressive continuum and justify it

The reading

The essential move of this unit: brief dynamic therapy works by being narrow. A single focus, identified early, stated aloud, and held to — including a termination date set at the start. The discipline of refusing material that does not serve the focus is what trainees find hardest and what makes the treatment brief.

What belongs to this unit

Questions to take away

For a seminar, a supervisor, or an argument with yourself.

  1. 1MBT forbids interpretation; TFP requires it. Both work for the same population. What does that tell you?
  2. 2What is lost when a psychodynamic treatment is compressed into sixteen sessions? Is it worth it?
  3. 3How would you know whether your focal formulation was wrong rather than merely resisted?

Your notes

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Before you begin

What Praxical.Psych is, and is not

Praxical.Psych is an educational tool. It teaches the theory, evidence base and clinical method of psychotherapy at the level of an advanced survey course, and it lets you rehearse a complete session in a simulator.

It is not medical, clinical, psychological or legal advice. It cannot diagnose or treat anyone, and it does not state the law where you practise — requirements differ by jurisdiction and change. Nothing here creates a clinician–patient or solicitor–client relationship.

  • Every patient, transcript and case in this app is fictional — a composite written for teaching. None depicts a real person.
  • Praxical.Psych is not therapy, not a substitute for supervision, and not a credential. Competence to practise comes from training, supervised hours and licensure.
  • Scores from the instruments here are for learning how they behave. They are not a diagnosis and not a risk assessment, and must not inform a decision about a real person.
  • Do not enter real patient information. Everything you type stays in this browser, but that is not the same as a compliant clinical record system.
If you are in crisis

In the US and Canada, call or text 988. In the UK and Ireland, call 116 123 (Samaritans). Elsewhere, find a local line at findahelpline.com. In immediate danger, use your local emergency number.

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