My Experience as a Neuropsychoanalytic Psychotherapy Consultant/Supervisor ( Part I )

Let's begin this post with the books/papers/lectures  I use in  teaching, consulting, and supervising students ( and licensed clinicians)  interested in neuropsychoanalytic psychotherapy. For an introduction to psychoanalytic structural theory ( Ego, Id, and Superego), I request they read Sigmund Freud ( 1912, 1913, 1923, 1926.) I further add for a theory introduction, Brenner (1973.) For theory and technique in both insight and supportive therapy, I assign DeWald (1973.) From these classics I add the following books to their reading assignments: Luborsky, 1984. Viorst, 1986. Wallerstein, 1993. Gabbard, 1994, 2004. Rockland, 1989. McWilliams,1992, 2004. Goldstein, 2001......... And for neuropsychoanalytic psychotherapy I assign Mark Solms' books, papers, and online lectures--- especially his Three Lockdown Lectures, and my own, Eight Introductory Lectures on Neuropsychoanalytic Therapy ( found here on my Blog).

These texts introduce the trainees to the major analytic theories/techniques of ego psychology, object relations, self psychology, relational analysis, and the modifications that are made to them by neuropsychoanalytic theory/technique. Every other week in didactic sessions we discuss these readings and how they apply to their patients. The weeks we are not discussing supervisee's  readings, we explore their cases in neuropsychoanalytic therapy consultation/supervision. In consultation/supervision sessions the student trainees present their cases utilizing process notes and videos of their sessions. I was trained in process note presentations in my own supervision, and I also presented with audio sessions, but video presentations are newer to me. Some of the various schools my supervisees attend now require reviewing video sessions. There are, of course, strengths and weaknesses in these different ways of presenting case material. I will not go into those in this post. In a future post I will write in more detail about the three phases of neuropsychoanalytic psychotherapy consultation/supervision-- beginning, middle, and ending.