Resistance and Transference in Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (IS–TDP) and Classical Psychoanalysis— Similarities and Differences: Part I

Abstract

Classical psychoanalysis and Davanloo's system of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (IS–TDP) share similar goals. Their aim is to increase the relative strength of the ego in relation to the superego, id, and external world. While attempting to accomplish this purpose, psychological forces opposing this goal (resistance) are ubiquitous. Both therapies focus in depth upon the therapist/ patient relationship (transference). However, the psychotherapeutic setting and the technical interventions utilized by the two therapies to work with resistance and transference differ dramatically. Part I of this article discusses the evolution of the concepts of resistance and transference from Freud to the present, and how the changes in perspective regarding these clinical phenomena have subtly altered psychoanalysis. The clinical manifestations of resistance and transference in IS–TDP, and how they are managed clinically, are highlighted. The technical interventions utilized to manage the transference resistance in both techniques are compared and contrasted.