Making the Case for Psychotherapy

Hotly debated in mental health care, psychoanalytic therapy has been criticized for lacking evidence in comparison to other approaches. Now, many clinicians attest to the benefits of this evidence-based treatment and see great need in their patients for relationship-centered therapeutic approaches from their doctor and an emphasis on knowing oneself in order to heal.

 

Jonathan Shedler, PhD, psychologist and author of “The Efficacy of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy,” is staunchly advocating for clinicians to keep an open mind about what suits their patients best on this episode of The Menninger Clinic’s Mind Dive podcast. This internationally acclaimed author is known for his work in establishing psychotherapy as an evidence-based treatment. 

 

Alongside the podcast’s co-hosts, Dr. Shedler explores the dilemmas and nuances of psychotherapy throughout its history and how clinicians can use it to their benefit under a modern lens.

 

Dr. Shedler is a consultant, master clinician, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California (UCSF) and faculty member at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis. He also leads workshops for professional audiences, consults to U.S. and international government agencies and provides expert clinical consultation to mental health professionals worldwide.

 

“I think it’s perfectly fine to say we don’t fully know our own hearts and minds. The things that we don’t know cause suffering and can cause symptoms and limitations. Because of this, there’s a tremendous value in coming to know ourselves more fully,” said Dr. Shedler. “That’s what can happen in the context of psychoanalytic therapy and what can allow our patients to ultimately feel more free and more whole.”

 

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