ABSTRACT
This article addresses the issue of failures in psychodynamic psychotherapy. Drawing on the clinical and research literatures, and utilizing our clinical experiences, we first describe and define criteria for success and failure in treatment. We then review five factors that can lead to failure: client factors, therapist factors, technical factors, relationship factors, and environmental factors. We illustrate our presentation with a case example, and conclude by discussing ways in which the likelihood of failures in psychodynamic treatment can be lowered.
Subject(s)
Psychoanalytic Therapy , Adult , Anxiety Disorders/psychology , Anxiety Disorders/therapy , Countertransference , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Depressive Disorder/therapy , Emotions , Female , Humans , Loneliness , Motivation , Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care/methods , Professional-Patient Relations , Psychotherapeutic Processes , Self Concept , Social Adjustment , Social Responsibility , Treatment FailureABSTRACT
The continued population growth of people over the age of 65 correlates with the growth in the number of older people who experience a mental health crisis or frank mental illness. Currently there is a paucity of treatment programs that are specialized for the geropsychiatric patient. Given the limitations of finances and human resources as well as the constraints sometimes imposed by regulatory agencies, interdisciplinary health care workers are challenged to provide optimum care in traditional settings. This article describes how an inpatient psychiatric unit can be modified to replicate some of the best practices of a designated geropsychiatric unit with positive results.
