Design and implementation of the child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapy training programme by the International Psychotherapy Institute for Jiandanxinli

The author describes how her interest in China and Chinese families led her to direct an online two-year programme for training Chinese therapists in child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapy. She sets her work in its social and professional context. She outlines the design and discusses modification in teaching technique to suit this educational setting, in which time must be allowed for translation from English to Chinese, and from conscious to unconscious. She illustrates a clinical case consultation group to show the group mind at work, and concludes with oral and written evaluation from participants.

An introduction to the International Psychotherapy Institute’s adult psychotherapy programme in China

In response to an invitation from the Chinese mental health platform, Jiandanxinli, and its CEO Li Zhen, the International Psychotherapy Institute developed and implemented a two-year training programme, “Object relations psychoanalytic psychotherapy” to be held on-site in Beijing, and online weekly. This contribution begins with an example of the teaching intrinsic to the programme, and then describes the programme itself.

Nonpharmacologic Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders

Pharmacologic therapies often complement nonpharmacologic therapies in the treatment of psychiatric disease. An overview of the theory and practice of psychotherapy and interventions is provided in this chapter. Psychodynamic or psychoanalytic psychotherapy, developed by Sigmund Freud, has influenced many forms of psychotherapy. The underlying framework of psychoanalytic theory holds that a majority of a person’s psychological experiences are unconscious.

What contributes to good outcomes? The perspective of young people on short-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy for depressed adolescents

Depression is the fourth leading cause of adolescent illness and disability worldwide. A growing evidence base demonstrates that Short Term Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy [STPP] is an efficacious treatment for moderate to severe adolescent depression. However, with research in its infancy, key factors contributing to efficacy are unknown. Service users’ lived experiences provide valuable insight in this area. This study aimed to elucidate what adolescents value in treatment by inductively exploring lived experiences of STPP. Five adolescents with the largest reduction in depressive symptoms scores between baseline and end of treatment, who had taken part in a large-scale randomized controlled trial, were sampled. In-depth interviews carried out soon after the end of therapy were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Three superordinate themes were identified: “Therapy as a Transformational Process”, “Explorative and Exposing: The Therapeutic Space” and “Being Heard and Working Together: The Therapeutic Relationship”. Adolescents valued a process of collaborative exploration with the therapist which when it was achieved was felt to facilitate a deep-rooted transformation in self-perception. Additionally, they described how an adjustment was needed to the particular frame of a psychoanalytic therapy. However, not all participants with a good treatment outcome experienced therapy in this way, suggesting a potential gap between the quantitative assessment of outcomes, and the way young people experience and understand the change process. Clinical implications and directions for research are discussed.