Adaptive - communicative psychotherapy

Domain I · Psychodynamic & depth psychology · Robert Langs · 1979

What it is

An individual psychoanalytic psychotherapy built on one premise. The mind has a conscious system and a deep unconscious system. The deep unconscious perceives what actually happens in therapy, above all how the therapist handles the ground rules and what the therapist says. It reports those…

Format

• Langs does not set out manualised phases with session counts. What follows is an operational sequence. Phase labels are; the content of each phase is sourced as marked.
• Format: individual sessions in a private, soundproofed professional office, which stays the same throughout. Fee, session time, length and frequency are fixed. The therapy is open-ended. Session length and frequency are not fixed in the sources found; use your standard 45–50 minutes, once or more…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Recurring critical themes after a particular habit of yours show a chronic error to correct.
• The trigger, the themes and the bridge should all point the same way. If they don't, keep listening.
• Images of safety and containment validate. Early pressure to change the frame is the first indicator to work with.
• A good trigger fits the themes closely. If no trigger fits, you are probably missing your own contribution (see 4.11).
• Strong themes are concrete and emotionally charged. Thin, generic themes mean there is not yet enough to interpret, so stay silent.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.