Deconstructing Davanloo

Episode 18 - The Case of the German Architect, part 9

In this episode Deb and Maury continue with an analysis of the German Architect case. They consider the ways that Davanloo's approach can be seen as an attempt to convince the patient to do the work. They also discuss the potential implicit or explicit assumptions of what constitutes a "cure" in ISTDP and in psychotherapy more generally. References Davanloo, H. (1990). Unlocking the Unconscious. Wiley. Kovel, J. (1980). The American mental health industry. In Ingleby, D. (Ed.), Critical Psychiatry: The Politics of Mental Health. New York: Pantheon. pp. 72-101. James, B. (Host). (2026, May 14). Catherine Liu | The Problem With Trauma Culture | HITW 165 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENktQEsdwds&t=4500s [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENktQEsdwds&t=4500s]

Episode 17 - The Case of the German Architect, part 8

On this episode, Deb and Maury continue to wrestle with the meaning of the German Architect’s slip of the intellect, react to the post breakthrough exploration, and become especially interested in the dynamic meaning of certain literary choices in the construction of the case write up— why are transcripts sometimes used, and at other times narratives? What are the differences in experience for the reader, when transcript is included vs summarized? They are also struck by a radical shift in the case, and begin to wonder how that came about. References: Abbass, A. (2015). Reaching through resistance: Advanced psychotherapy techniques. Seven Leaves Press. Davanloo, H. (1990). Unlocking the Unconscious. Wiley. Langs, R. (1978). The listening process. Jason Aronson. Ogden, T. H. (1997). On psychoanalytic writing. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 78(2), 267–285.

Episode 16 - The Case of the German Architect, part 7

In this episode, Maury and deb explore part 2 of the German architect case, and continue to explore Davanloo’s interpretation of events, and offer new, alternate conceptualizations of their own. They discuss issues of diagnosis and technique with passive transference resistance, think about the thorny issue of interrupting patients in ISTDP, and struggle with the limitations of transcript and the ambiguities it creates. Beyond all that, they seem to be having a pretty damn good time. Stay tuned for more soon. References Davanloo, H. (1990). Unlocking the Unconscious. Wiley. Deutsch, H. (1992). The therapeutic process, the self, and female psychology: Collected psychoanalytic papers. Transaction Publishers. Freud, S. (1957). Mourning and melancholia (J. Strachey, Ed. & Trans.). In The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 14, pp. 243–258). Hogarth Press. (Original work published 1917) Jung, C. G. (1969). Answer to Job. Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1952) Langs, R. (1978). The listening process. Jason Aronson. Weiss, J., Sampson, H., & the Mount Zion Psychotherapy Research Group. (1986). The psychoanalytic process: Theory, clinical observations, and empirical research. Guilford Press.

Episode 15 - Within the hermeneutic circle

In this episode, a listener comment gets our hosts thinking deeply about the role of interpretation in istdp. They consider the interpretive acts that are woven into the fabric of istdp , but that often go unnamed and unexamined. References: Davanloo, H. (1990). Unlocking the Unconscious. Wiley. Klein, G. (1976). Psychoanalytic theory: An exploration of essentials. International Universities Press. Lingiardi, V., & McWilliams, N. (Eds.). (2017). Psychodynamic diagnostic manual: PDM-2 (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.  Messer, S. B., Sass, L. A., & Woolfolk, R. L. (Eds.). (1988), Hermeneutics and psychological theory: Interpretive perspectives on personality, psychotherapy, and psychopathology.

Episode 14 - The German Architect, So What?

In this episode, Deb and Maury ask the question, "So What?" after their analysis of the first part Davanloo's German Architect case. They consider the impact of the certaintistic language and voice that is used in the chapter and how that might impact the reader. They discuss the importance of therapist self-doubt and allowing space in learning communities for dissent and differences of opinion. References: Davanloo, H. (1990). Unlocking the Unconscious. Wiley. Nissen‐Lie, H. A., Rønnestad, M. H., Høglend, P. A., Havik, O. E., Solbakken, O. A., Stiles, T. C., & Monsen, J. T. (2017). Love yourself as a person, doubt yourself as a therapist?. Clinical psychology & psychotherapy, 24(1), 48-60. Ravven, H. M. (2013). The self beyond itself: An alternative history of ethics, the new brain sciences, and the myth of free will. The New Press. Texier, H., & Watson, E. (Eds.). (2025). Freud's principal case studies revisited: Freudian-Lacanian psychoanalysts reconsider the legacy. Routledge.