Supervision for Psychotherapists

For psychotherapists who are interested in learning ISTDP, I offer individual supervision using Zoom videoconferencing. I became actively engaged in the study and practice of ISTDP beginning in 2005. I completed a 3 year core training program with Patricia Coughlin which led to my being certified in ISTDP in 2010. I then participated in Patricia's four year teacher training program and I then became certified as a teacher and supervisor of ISTDP. I have taught ISTDP core training groups in Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Melbourne, and Warsaw. I have taught ISTDP to psychiatry residents at UCLA and USC. I have supervised many trainees in ISTDP by studying their videotaped clinical sessions together. I authored a paper titled "ISTDP in the Private Practice of Psychiatry" in Psychiatric Annals.

Testimonials

The following are verbatim comments written by therapists who have studied with me in core training groups in Los Angeles, Melbourne, and Copenhagen.

"You were outstanding David. So patient, tolerant, kind and wise. It was really great to see your video presentation and to hear you articulate so elegantly so many psychological gems that were just so timely in their delivery. And educating without explaining, such a skill to have. I'm really grateful to you David for endorsing the idea that we can be ourselves in this work and find our own authentic voice."

"David is very astute and I find always gives extremely accurate and attuned advice, catching and teaching what is essential to the client in question. I find his teaching very helpful and clear. David has a way of expressing concepts and working with clients that I find extremely valuable to watch and his manner is one I aspire to. The quality of his listening and attunement and the way that he expresses things to a client is really impressive and we were all scrambling to get his wordings down as these seemed so effective. He seems to manage to be very effective while managing to maintain what I can only imagine is a very high level of alliance in general. Just great to have such a fine example to emulate. Seeing David really being present with and listening to the client in order to understand their experience was for me so well done that I hope to integrate this more into my own work. I have taken with me the wish to be more attuned and present myself using his example."

"I appreciate many things about David but the one thing that stands out is his flexibility. He knows ISTDP so well and understands its power and yet is not rigid in requiring that we all sign on 100%. He doesn't encourage us to idealize ISTDP and become converts who believe it's the be all and end all. That is really helping me stay open to learning with confident that it's OK to be questioning and integrate ISTDP with other valuable ways of working."

"Organized, respectful, and gentle without giving unnecessary praise. Lovely use of his own case examples and a misalliance. Offering very accomplished examples of doing hard stuff gently which I find very helpful as I struggle with the more aggressive styles and use of language. Good time keeping. Good provision of helpful readings and a structure."

"You were very inspiring. You are very professional and focused on the learning process. Your way of being flexible and spontaneous is very authentic and less structured in showing "the right ISTDP method".

"I found you displayed a fantastic balance of open receptiveness and also directness. Never too loose to make things float away or dissolve, never too square not to see the individual perspective. You never doubt the theoretical foundation but it doesn't come "between". All in all great."

"You are consistently a strong teacher/supervisor. And more than relating the material well, I think you tend to what any good teacher should, which is how you treat and relate to your trainees: with kindness, empathy, and respect. I am very grateful for you."

Resources

Patricia Coughlin Ph.D. has written three excellent books for psychotherapists about ISTDP. Her first book is titled Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (1996) and describes the therapy method in detail. Her second book, Lives Transformed (2006), provides detailed accounts of the treatment of seven patients, revealing the unique elements of ISTDP which can lead to remarkable changes. Patricia's third book titled Maximizing Effectiveness in Dynamic Psychotherapy (2016) describes how dynamic therapists can develop the skills and personal qualities needed to bring about consistently effective results.

Co-Creating Change: Effective Dynamic Therapy Techniques (2013) by Jon Frederickson, M.S.W. is a clinically practical book that explains how the principles of ISTDP can help psychodynamic therapists improve their skills and effectiveness.

Allan Abbass, M.D. has written Reaching Through Resistance: Advanced Psychotherapy Techniques (2015), a textbook that conveys ISTDP theory and technique as it was taught to him by Dr. Davanloo. He provides extensive transcripts to demonstrate how he does therapy using the ISTDP model.

The website for the ISTDP Institue has many resources for therapists interested in learning about ISTDP and can be found at www.istdpinstitute.com.