Robert J. Kohlenberg – författare

For more than two decades, Functional Analytic Psychotherapy has brought new meaning – and new meaningfulness – to client/therapist relationships. And clients with disorders as varied as depression, PTSD, and fibromyalgia have benefited from its nuanced, curative power. In A Guide to Functional Analytic Psychotherapy, originators Robert Kohlenberg and Mavis Tsai join with other FAP practitioners to present a clinical framework, addressing points of convergence and divergence with other behavior therapies. Tracing FAP’s emerging evidence base, it takes readers through the deep complexities and possibilities of the therapeutic bond. And the attention to mindfulness and the self makes maximum clinical use of the uniqueness of every client – and every therapist.

As cognitive behavior therapy becomes increasingly integrated, Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) remains a rich therapeutic method. FAP synthesizes aspects of psychodynamic and object relations therapy with traditional CBT methods, and author/ practitioners Robert Kohlenberg and Mavis Tsai originally created this book to be more than a simple how-to manual. Rather it is a powerful framework for clinicians seeking to rethink their approach to the therapeutic relationship. Now in paperback, this classic work is more relevant than ever.

The book begins with the theory behind the therapy (including its roots in B. F. Skinner’s behavior-analytic work in the 1970s), explaining why clients’ unique needs may extend beyond well-mapped routes to change. From there, the authors present the clinical principles of FAP and their uses in treating diffuse, resistant problems. Case illustrations model the therapeutic dyad, show FAP techniques in action, and offer crucial caveats. The ground rules: how, and why, FAP works. Recognizing clinically relevant verbal behaviors. The role of the self in personality disorders. New roles for cognitions and beliefs in therapy. Memories and emotions: what they can and can’t do to promote change. How FAP fills the niche between psychodynamic and behavioral therapy. Key issues in ethics, research, and supervision.

For the clinical psychologist interested in revitalizing practice, minimizing impasses, and treating clients on a deeper emotional level, Functional Analytic Psychotherapy brings fresh insights to the many worlds within and outside the clinical setting. Graduate students, especially, will find this text a valuable window onto traditional behavioral approaches to therapy.

Since the earliest years of its development, Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) has been hailed for its clinical innovation and transformative power with clients across the range of disorders. Building on the foundations of their earlier volumes about this versatile therapy, the editors of The Practice of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy bring together noted clinicians and researchers to explain in depth how FAP can be used in conjunction with a broad spectrum of therapeutic approaches, and with diverse client populations. The hallmarks of the method, including therapist sensitivity and responding to client behavior in the moment, courage, mindfulness, acceptance, and egalitarianism, inform a wide array of interventions and strategies, among them:

As a new tool or an enhancement to current practice, these applications of FAP will give therapists an empowering complement to their work. The Practice of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy points to compelling directions in personal growth and change—on both sides of the therapeutic bond.