Brief Therapy with Intimidating Cases: Changing the Unchangeable

"Fisch and Schlanger have done an admirable job of addressing thedifficult. They have done this with detailed description of casesand step-by-step explanations for dealing with the 'unchangeable'briefly." --Paul Watzlawick, emeritus clinical professor,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, StanfordUniversity

"Filled with rich examples, this is an incisive, carefully analyzedexploration of the pioneering practices created at MRI's BriefTherapy Center." --Carlos E. Sluzki, clinical professor ofpsychiatry, University of California Los Angeles

"No other book gives such detailed information for helping peoplewho are caught in hopeless situations. Brief Therapy withIntimidating Cases shows how to succeed with the tough cases eventhe best therapists usually give up on." --Lucy Gill, Bramson-GillAssociates

Brief therapy has proven to be an effective form of treatment for a variety of common psychological problems including marital conflict, parenting issues, anxiety, moderate depression, and simple phobias. But can short-term therapy be a successful therapeutic technique for clinicians working with clients who present more challenging and complex problems?This hands-on guide by Richard Fisch and Karin Schlanger-pioneers in the field of brief therapy-offers behavioral health care professionals an important resource for applying the proven principles of brief therapy to a range of complex psychological problems that were once thought to be treatable only through long-term therapy or with the use of psychotropic medication. The practical techniques presented in this timely book are based on the authors' more than fifty years combined clinical experience in both private practice and at Palo Alto's acclaimed Mental Research Institute.In easy-to-understand language, Fisch and Schlanger offer the information necessary to sharpen the skills needed to learn a problem-solving, short-term approach to complex therapeutic issues. By using the method of brief therapy outlined in this book, clinicians can learn how to first focus on their clients' primary complaint and understand how and in what context the undesired behavior is performed. Once clinicians learn this powerful therapeutic technique, they can help clients eliminate any problem-maintaining behavior and avoid the trap of 'routine' prescription of medication to clients who present clinically challenging problems.Step-by-step, Brief Therapy with Intimidating Cases shows how to implement a proven model of short-term therapy for treating such difficult psychological problems as severe depression, delusions and paranoia, anorexia, alcoholism, obsessive-compulsive behavior, and borderline personality disorder. The authors also offer a wealth of illustrative examples and include actual transcripts from a wide va

A proven technique applying brief therapy to difficult and challenging disorders

Brief Therapy with Intimidating Cases is a myth-shattering book that reveals how short-term therapy can be used as a powerful tool for treating clients who present a range of complex psychological disorders including severe depression, delusions and paranoia, anorexia, alcoholism, obsessive-compulsive behavior, and borderline personality disorder.

“Fisch and Schlanger have done an admirable job of addressing the difficult. They have done this with detailed description of cases and step-by-step explanations for dealing with the ‘unchangeable’ briefly.”
—PAUL WATZLAWICK, emeritus clinical professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University

“Filled with rich examples, this is an incisive, carefully analyzed exploration of the pioneering practices created at MRI’s Brief Therapy Center.”
—CARLOS E. SLUZKI, clinical professor of psychiatry, University of California Los Angeles

“No other book gives such detailed information for helping people who are caught in hopeless situations. Brief Therapy with Intimidating Cases shows how to succeed with the tough cases even the best therapists usually give up on.”
—LUCY GILL, Bramson-Gill Associates

RICHARD FISCH, is director of the Brief Therapy Center in Palo Alto, California, which he cofounded in 1966. He is also a senior research fellow at the Mental Research Institute and a clinical associate professor emeritus at Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Fisch is the coauthor of the best-selling classic on brief therapy, Tactics of Change.

KARIN SCHLANGER, M.F.C.C, is the assistant director of the Brief Therapy Center, codirector of the Latino Brief Therapy Center at the Mental Research Institute, and adjunct professor of psychology at the University of San Francisco.