Case Studies in Relational Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis

This book brings the reader behind the closed door of the psychotherapy office through a selection of nine riveting psychotherapy and psychoanalytic case studies.

Each story delves into the hearts and minds of memorable patients and their therapist as they grapple with loss, betrayal, anxiety, depression, suicidality, substance abuse, and more. With a strong relational focus, the author examines the misattunements, ruptures, and enactments that occurred in each treatment and explores in each case what she might have done differently – if she could turn back time. Each story is brought to life with her warm, empathic style and honest reflections as she shares her thoughts, feelings, reveries, and clinical decision-making in the treatment room. The myriad emotional challenges in each case study will resonate deeply with anyone who has been in therapy and with both new and seasoned clinicians.

With a warm and accessible style and wonderful attention to detail, this book is essential reading for psychoanalysts and psychotherapists wanting to get a better understanding of how to work with challenging patients and for anyone interested in understanding the unique challenges of psychoanalytic work.

'While it is often said that we learn more from our mistakes than our successes, few analysts dare to revisit what went wrong. Beth Feldman, however, boldly steps into that space, offering nine riveting case studies from her clinical practice. With rare transparency, she invites readers behind the closed doors of the therapy room and into the mind of an analyst grappling with the emotional and intellectual challenges of treatment—both during and long after it ends. Feldman's gift for storytelling shines on every page, guiding us through moments of laughter, tears, anxiety, and awe as we witness the profound transformations that reshape both therapist and patient.'

Danielle Knafo, PhD, psychoanalyst, professor, author

'Dr. Feldman offers us an inimitable look into her inner world as she shares her experience of compelling clinical encounters with eight individual patients and one couple. She bravely illustrates misattunements, ruptures, and repairs with an openness that is courageous and admirable and offers us an imaginative series of reflections on what she might have done differently, if only she could ‘turn back time.’ In these accounts, Dr. Feldman unveils her own vulnerability, taking us behind the clinical curtain, and sharing the experiences of growth, regret, and longing that are part and parcel of the practicing clinician’s life. This book is a must read for clinicians and for anyone with a curious mind.'

Jean Petrucelli, Ph.D., training & supervising analyst, The William Alanson White Institute, faculty & clinical consultant, NYU Postdoctoral Program

Beth I. Feldman, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and relational psychoanalyst with a private practice in Plainview, New York. She treats adults and adolescents in individual, couples, and group therapy. Beth is the co-host of the podcast "Being a Parent Is Hard!" She is adjunct faculty at Post Graduate Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, Derner Institute, Adelphi University. Beth has two adult children and lives with her husband and three dogs.

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