Clinical Case Studies in Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Treatment

Abstract

This manuscript provides a review of the clinical case study within the field of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic treatment. The method has been contested for methodological reasons and because it would contribute to theoretical pluralism in the field. We summarize how the case study method is being applied in different schools of psychoanalysis, and we clarify the unique strengths of this method and areas for improvement. Finally, based on the literature and on our own experience with case study research, we come to formulate nine guidelines for future case study authors: (1) basic information to include, (2) clarification of the motivation to select a particular patient, (3) information about informed consent and disguise, (4) patient background and context of referral or self-referral, (5) patient's narrative, therapist's observations and interpretations, (6) interpretative heuristics, (7) reflexivity and counter-transference, (8) leaving room for interpretation, and (9) answering the research question, and comparison with other cases.

Book Review: Physician's Field Guide to Neuropsychology: Collaboration Through Case Example

“…Moreover, the organized approach of this book provides the reader with a smooth transition without requiring significant extraneous thought processing. This type of organization aligns with current literature recommendations of case study layouts (Meganck et al, 2017 ; Willemsen et al, 2017 ). In some regards, this book arguably can provide a consolidated neuropsychology training resource that some textbooks cannot provide.…”

65% of Americans believe they are above average in intelligence: Results of two nationally representative surveys

“…Fig 1 presents, for each weighted demographic category, the percentage of participants choosing each level of agreement (Tables 2 – 5 display results for all demographic categories). Here and for subsequent results, we include two-tailed p -values for their heuristic value, but they should be treated as the outcomes of exploratory analyses rather than as confirmatory tests [ 27 ]. We report group differences using the z -test for differences between two independent proportions along with the 95% confidence interval around the difference.…”

Psychoanalytic Perspectives on the Psychological Effects of Stillbirth on Parents: A Protocol for Systematic Review and Qualitative Synthesis

“…Single-case reports are definable as the therapists' narrative report of what happened during one or more sessions or the entire therapeutic journey through interpretations based on clinical experience with their own patients (Iwakabe and Gazzola, 2009). The case study method is a valuable method based on clinical experience rather than on replicable scientific evidence, with close examination of the details of a patient's personal/clinical history (Gomm et al, 2000;Hinshelwood, 2013); it is the method of choice for studying a phenomenon in context (Willemsen et al, 2017), especially when there is the wish to explore and describe the deepest levels of the human psyche (Dodes and Dodes, 2017), which could include those affected by a stillbirth.…”