|
|||||||||||||||
| Publications |
| A thorough guide to working with individuals, couples and families to create lasting, in-depth change in far fewer sessions than is widely assumed necessary. |
| A clear and complete methodology and conceptual framework for producing lasting change beyond symptom relief | A compendium of many specific techniques | How to work time-effectively with clients whose presenting symptoms are driven by unresolved, lifelong emotional wounds | Abundant case examples |
| REVIEW POSTED ON AMAZON.COM
Best psychotherapy book ever read Reviewer: DLMore@aol.com from Philadelphia, PA area "This is a true, full-bodied integration of constructivist cognitive work with experiential work for the practicing psychotherapist. In short, this work takes the meat from all the modern innovations in theory and practice of psychotherapy. In my opinion, the book should have been entitled "constructivist-experiential psychotherapy," as the "brief" part of the title is irrelevant to the model (except in that good and effective psychotherapy should be oriented to relieve the suffering of clients as quickly as possible); and the term "depth" brings to the theoretically sophisticated mind a brand of psychodynamic therapy, which this model is not. But it is deep in another fashion: the transcripts in this book demonstrate very powerful therapy experiences. This book is for the practicing therapist and is not essentially a theoretical tract, but in my mind, the criticism of the constructivist-narrative model as being too cognitive/linguistically based -- and the authors' supplementation of that model with one that emphasizes non-linguistic, experiental (including soma/kinesthetic, emotional, sensory, and other) elements of problem construction -- is a major innovation that allows for a huge advance in understanding and practice of therapy. The transcripts are technically clear and are excellent exemplars of what the authors are attempting to present; they are also deeply moving. Furthermore, one of the great strengths of the book is the great clarity of its organization and of the writing. I am a committed therapist of 25 years with a wide knowledge and experience of different forms and models of therapy. I am considering whether or not this is the best book of psychotherapy that I have ever read, an attribution that I, for one, do not take lightly." |
To order online from the publisher, Jossey-Bass, click here, or use phone numbers at right... |
ISBN 0-7879-0152-0, 288 pages |
| Articles & Chapters |
| An annotated bibliography |
| Coherence
therapy: Swift change at the core of emotional truth Bruce Ecker & Laurel Hulley. In J. D. Raskin & S. K. Bridges (Eds.), Studies in Meaning 3. New York: Pace University Press (2007). A study of a single session for a woman’s 20-year compulsive eating and weight problem illustrates the methodology and principles of coherence therapy and describes their neuropsychological effects. Of neurons and knowings: Constructivism, coherence psychology and their neurodynamic substrates. Brian Toomey & Bruce Ecker. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 20, 201-245 (2007). This first of a set of three articles examines the neuroscientific support for coherence therapy’s model of symptom production--a model centering on unconscious knowledge structures in implicit memory. Depotentiation of symptom-producing implicit memory in coherence therapy Bruce Ecker & Brian Toomey. Journal of Constructivist Psychology (2007, in press). This second of three articles describes how coherence therapy operates both experientially and synaptically. Particular attention is given to the neural basis for coherence therapy’s purported ability to produce a profound depotentiation of long-term, symptom-generating constructs in implicit memory. It is proposed that coherence therapy achieves transformative change by inducing the reconsolidation of memory, a recently discovered, potent form of neuroplasticity, and evidence is presented for this hypothesis. A fundamental distinction is made on neuroscientific grounds between transformative change, which permanently eliminates symptom-generating constructs and neural circuits, and counteractive change, which creates new constructs and circuits that compete against the symptom-generating ones and is inherently susceptible to relapse. Competing visions of the implications of neuroscience for psychotherapy Brian Toomey & Bruce Ecker. Journal of Constructivist Psychology (2007, in press). This third and final article of a series considers three current, influential interpretations of the implications of neuroscience for psychotherapy: pharmacological treatment, reparative attachment therapy, and the cognitive regulation of emotion and behavior. On the basis of efficacy data and neuroscientific research, it is concluded that each of the three interpretations implements only part of the brain’s known capabilities for change, and that fuller use of these capabilities occurs through a therapeutic strategy of selective depotentiation of implicit memory, as epitomized by coherence therapy. The hidden logic of anxiety: Look for the emotional truth behind the symptom Bruce Ecker. Psychotherapy Networker, 27 (6), pp. 38-43, 58 (Nov-Dec 2003). Four case examples show that when the unconscious basis of anxiety and panic symptoms is brought to light, a deep sense and coherence is found, and that effective methods of transformation embrace rather than try to counteract these underlying emotional truths. DOBT toolkit for in-depth effectiveness: Methods & concepts of depth-oriented brief therapy Bruce Ecker & Laurel Hulley. New Therapist, 20, 24-29, (July-Aug 2002). A long history of severe panic attacks comes to a surprisingly fruitful end in five sessions that show the main features of DOBT in action. Deep from the start: Profound change in brief therapy Bruce Ecker & Laurel Hulley. Psychotherapy Networker, 26 (1), pp. 46-51, 64 (Jan-Feb 2002). An introduction to Coherence Therapy/DOBT demonstrating its use in dispelling a woman's lifelong "black cloud" of depression, stagnation, low self-esteem and family issues. Depth-oriented brief therapy: Accelerated accessing of the coherent unconscious Bruce Ecker & Laurel Hulley. In J. Carlson & L. Sperry (Eds.), Brief therapy with individuals and couples (pp. 161-190). Phoenix: Zeig, Tucker & Theisen. (2000). A delineation of the methodology and principles of DOBT/Coherence Therapy, specific techniques for implementing this methodology, and detailed case examples from individual therapy for underachieving and low self-esteem and couple therapy for chronic power struggles. The order in clinical “disorder”: Symptom coherence in depth oriented brief therapy Bruce Ecker & Laurel Hulley. In R. A. Neimeyer & J. Raskin (Eds.), Constructions of disorder (pp. 63-89). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press (2000). Four case examples of anxiety and panic are used to show that symptoms diagnosed as “disorder” in standard psychiatric taxonomy are produced by the same coherent pattern of unconscious self-organization as in non-symptomatic psychological process. The rapid accessibility and resolvability of symptoms’ unconscious emotional basis is also demonstrated. A new zone of effectiveness for psychotherapy Bruce Ecker & Laurel Hulley. New Therapist, 6, 31-33 (2000). Argues that the 1990s saw the emergence of a new paradigm of psychotherapy allowing far swifter in-depth effectiveness and accuracy than has been assumed possible in the field. Describes this constructivist paradigm of coherence , contrasts it with the disorder paradigm shaping most therapeutic modalities throughout the 20th century, and indicates modalities of therapy that can implement the coherence approach. Available online at www.newtherapist.com/ecker6.html. DOBT: Insights in a small space Bruce Ecker & Laurel Hulley. Family Therapy News, 29 (7), 27-28 (1999). A case study of couples therapy in which DOBT/Coherence Therapy is applied to loss of sexual desire, weight problems, and the struggle of a logic-based man and a feelings-based woman to communicate. Briefer and deeper: Addressing the unconscious in short-term treatment Bruce Ecker & Laurel Hulley. Family Therapy Networker, 22 (1), 75-83 (1998). Republished in: R. Simon, L. Markowitz, C. Barrilleaux, & B. Topping (Eds.) (1999). The art of psychotherapy: Case studies from the Family Therapy Networker (pp. 32-41). New York: Wiley. A close look at a single session of depth oriented brief therapy with a couple in chronic conflict, illustrating how focusing the work directly into the uncon-scious emotional basis of the problem can be the very means of making therapy brief. Copyright 2007 Bruce Ecker
|