ISTDP for couples and families
In the form developed by Habib Davanloo and his students, ISTDP has traditionally been targeted towards individual therapy. However, many practitioners encounter patients seeking couples therapy, or patients presenting with problems deeply ingrained in family- or couple-dynamics. How can one expand the traditional framework of the ISTDP session to accommodate couples and families (couples with children), while still utilizing the powerful techniques and metapsychology of ISTDP? And how can the ISTDP model of individual therapy be enriched by knowledge of the dynamics of the couple or family? At this Immersion, Leone Baruh will shed light on these questions by means of his framework “Intergenerational Family Therapy”(TIF), and will show how we can obtain relevant and long lasting changes within the couple relation and the inner psychic organization, in a short lapse of time.
Thus, while the framework presented (TIF) will be new to ISTDP practitioners, the techniques
applied within the framework are strictly ISTDP. As such, this Immersion will follow the format of a
traditional Immersion course in ISTDP, welcoming both proficient practitioners and newcomers
alike, but with a focus on couple-and family dynamics. In short, participants will gain practical
knowledge of the application of ISTDP to couple-dynamics, and will have the chance to be exposed
to Leone Baruh’s seasoned and elegant style of ISTDP.
Intergenerational Family Therapy – a framework for applying ISTDP to couple dynamics
Leone Baruh’s model “Intergenerational Family Therapy” (TIF) is a psychotherapeutic model under development. It integrates different theoretical orientations into one experiential dynamic psychotherapeutic approach for couples and families. The model is developed in order to implement psychodynamic techniques from ISTDP into the work with families and couples, which are considered the basic family unit. As such, TIF can be used as a therapeutic framework.
The linchpin of the model lies in using ISTDP to generate significant individual changes in a short time, resulting in changes in the more complex systems of the couple or the family. Techniques from cognitive therapy as well as theoretical understandings from systemic therapy are used to implement such changes in the family system. As such, TIF draws upon three different theoretical orientations:
1. Systemic family therapy as a basic support for understanding the individual family members’ roles in the family as a system.
2. ISTDP as the optimal technique for creating deep changes in the parents/couple’s respective intrapsychic conflicts. By using ISTDP, an unlocking of the parents/couple’s unconscious can facilitate deep understanding of their own psychological problems, as well as symptom reduction and a fundamental sense that the emotional problems in the family can be solved.
3. CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is used for children in order to alleviate “front door symptoms”, and as tools for the parents to handle emergencies in the family.