Psychodynamic Psychotherapy in South Africa ― Contexts, Theories and Applications

Offering a fresh and innovative perspective on psychodynamic psychotherapy, this book captures the possibilities of using psychodynamic theory in service of progressive and socially relevant application. It takes the reader on a journey through the sensitive and often painful realities of contemporary South African life. Psychoanalysis as a long-term modality is inaccessible to the average South African, and in this book the authors describe how psychoanalytically orientated or psychodynamic psychotherapy can be practiced as a short-term endeavor and applied to contemporary issues facing the country. Psychodynamic work is currently undertaken by clinical psychologists, therapists, clinicians, trainers, teachers, clinical supervisors, consultants, and researchers working in university settings, state hospitals, community projects, private practice, and research. The debates, clinical issues, therapeutic practice, and nature of research covered in the book are widely representative of the work being done in the country. The need for shorter term therapy models and evidence-based interventions is as acute in global practice as it is locally. The lessons learned in South Africa have broader implications for international practitioners, and the authors stress the potential inherent in psychoanalytic theory and technique to tackle the complex problems faced in all places and settings characterized by increasing globalization and dislocation.

Cora Smith is an adjunct professor in the division of psychiatry, department of neurosciences, in the School of Clinical Medicine and Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. She is also the chief clinical psychologist of the Child, Adolescent and Family Unit at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.Glenys Lobban is in full time private practice in New York City. She is a graduate of the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy and an Adjunct Clinical Supervisor, Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program, City University of New York. She lives in New York City. Michael O’Loughlin is a professor in the School of Education and in the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University in New York, where he is also on the faculty of the postgraduate programs in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. He lives in New York City.