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by Ferruccio Osimo and Mark J. Stein, Karnac, London, 2012, 462pp.
This book presents a brief dynamic psychotherapy approach that was originally developed in the United Kingdom but is now practiced by therapists from many countries. Jeremy Holmes states in the Foreword that the central figure in this development is David Malan. Malan trained with Michael Balint, a pupil of Ferenczi who moved from Hungary to England before World War Two and founded the Brief Psychotherapy Workshop at the Tavistock Clinic in London. One feature of this approach, which stems from Ferenczi, is the therapist's active attitude. Malan is best known for having synthesized the various focuses of therapy in two triangles, which he took from other authors but combined and used systematically: the Triangle of Conflict, the corners of which are deep emotions (designated as X), which generate anxiety (A), which in turn elicits various defenses (D); and the Triangle of Person, or of Others, the corners of which are T (the current relationship of the patient with the therapist), C (the current relationships with others) and P (relationships with others in the past). In therapy, attention shifts and links are established between...