Psychodynamic Formulation

Abstract

Reviews the book, Psychodynamic Formulation by Deborah L. Cabaniss, Sabrina Cherry, Carolyn J. Douglas, Ruth L. Graver, and Anna R. Schwartz (see record [rid]2014-08958-000[/rid]). This informative, thoughtfully organized, clearly written book addresses a central topic that is being ever more exiled into the shadows of psychiatric knowledge and practice. This book stresses that all formulations are only hypotheses to be shared, at the appropriate time, with patients and then, through mutual exploration, to be tested over time. Many early chapters are devoted to an extensive discussion of human development, a perspective that heavily influences the formulations that are presented and one that has been deemphasized in much contemporary psychiatric literature. This book is addressed to students, recent graduates, and their teachers, but even medical students may find the level of conceptualization too lacking in subtlety. Many recent graduates as well as experienced psychiatrists whose education was short on psychodynamic teaching will also learn much from this accessible, informed consideration of the psychodynamic formulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)