Advertise on podcast: Deconstructing Davanloo

In this episode Deb and Maury start reading the 2nd case in Davanloo's Unlocking the Unconscious (1990) - the case of the machine gun woman. They read the opening paragraphs and wax philosophical about what Davanloo meant by a "direct view" of the "core neurotic structure," and what these terms suggest about how we conceptualize the psyche in ISTDP. They also consider the function of time pressure, and Deb brings in some historical information about the practice of psychotherapy by American shrinks on the front lines of WWII. References Davanloo, H. (1990). Unlocking the Unconscious. Wiley. Moskowitz, E. S. (2001). In therapy we trust: America's obsession with self-fulfillment. JHU Press.

Note: We accidentally skipped a number when numbering the eps, so ep 22 was published before ep 21. In this episode we welcome clinician, teacher, and researcher Peter Lilliengren to share his perspective on our reading of Davanloo. Peter shares some thoughtful critiques, and our dialogue extends to group dynamics of the ISTDP community— can we bear conflict and strain? Can we disagree and still remain cohesive? We are grateful for his participation and his modeling of collegial dialogue. References: Johansson, R., & Lilliengren, P. (2026). Effectiveness and mechanisms of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy for treatment-resistant depression: a reanalysis of a randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 17, 1815946. Join us all at the ⁠⁠IEDTA conference⁠⁠ in Dubrovnik in October, 2026!

In this episode, Deb and Maury welcome special guest, Jon Frederickson, MSW, of the New Washington School of Psychiatry. A beloved teacher of ISTDP, Jon shares his insights about training with Davanloo, and subsequent impacts on training culture.

The end of the German architect case stirs a number of important questions and mixed emotions. What are the goals of istdp at this stage in Davanloo’s development? What exactly is istdp? And how do we, as modern readers cope with Davanloo’s grand claims about it? How do we square this with our personal sense that istdp is, in some ways, quite grand? We will continue to try to answer these and many other questions as we proceed to the case of the woman with the machine gun.

In this episode, Maury and Deb return to the end of the German architect case, and begin their reflections on all that has come before. They discuss the anxieties that come at the end of an initial session. Connected with this, they also discuss the sales, commodification, and capitalistic aspects of therapy, and how these may, at times, be visible in Davanloo. They then explore Davanloo’s summary of the case and share their reactions to it, noting especially the absence of reflection about his own unconscious contribution to the therapeutic relationship.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

In this episode Deb and Maury continue to marvel at the range of possibilities for understanding the part 1 of the German architect case, and share several hypotheses for what could be happening in the case that go beyond Davanloo’s formulation. The discuss issues of authority, compliance, and omniscience as these emerge in the case. As they finish their read through of part 1 of the case, they begin to consider what they’ve learned, and try to couple their critique with empathy for Davanloo, for the pressures he was under as he was writing these foundational texts. New music by Danny Joseph! References: Davanloo, H. (1990). Unlocking the Unconscious. Wiley. Malcolm, J. (1981). Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

n their continued close read of the German Architect, Deb and Maury highlight issues around suggestion and leading the witness, philosophy of science questions around creating falsifiable hypotheses, and they offer alternate lines of interpretation in the case, especially regarding the emergence of the story of the man in the bistro. Importantly, they offer the possibility that the incident with the man in the bistro is not unequivocally a “breakthrough,” but might also reflect a variation on the earlier defiant transference enactment that has become visible in the case. They finish by reflecting on the importance of revisiting and reinterpreting cases, rather than accepting any one interpretation as final. References: Apfelbaum, B., & Gill, M. M. (1989). Ego analysis and the relativity of defense: Technical implications of the structural theory. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 37(4), 1071-1096. https://doi-org.libezproxy2.syr.edu/10.1177/000306518903700410 (Original work published 1989) Davanloo, H. (1990). Unlocking the Unconscious. (Wiley). Pollack, D. (2024). On closing the frame: An existential argument for setting a time-limit in ISTDP. Journal of Contemporary ISTDP.

In this episode, Deb and Maury continue their exploration of the German Architect, and encounter a number of complex topics. First is the possibility of a parapraxis, a possible mishearing by Davanloo, that might reveal the meaning-making system through which Davanloo filters the patient's behavior and speech. Then, they consider a critique of the notion of a "locked" unconscious, and the ways that concept can shape a therapist's perception of the clinical process. Finally, they examine the complex interpersonal process of the transcript, considering both Davanloo's and alternate narratives of the interaction that's unfolding, leading to a discussion of the potentials and pitfalls that occur when the therapist begins to behave in a way that might reinforce, rather than challenge and resolve, the patient's transference resistance. References: Davanloo, H. (1990). Unlocking the Unconscious. Wiley. Kuhn, N. (2014). Intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy, a reference. Experient, Charleston, SC Joseph, M. (2025). The spirit of ISTDP. Journal of contemporary ISTDP, 3, 122-133 Racker, H. (1972). The meanings and uses of countertransference.  Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 41, 487-506

In this episode, Deb and Maury address a listener comment about timing when sharing hypotheses with patients. They continue with their textual analysis of the case of the German Architect. They look at ways that Davanloo's words may be conveying epistemic authority, and they consider various interpretations of meaning of the patients' utterances and body language. Here is Maury's bit of writing on counterpower anxiety: For Davanloo, striated muscle anxiety is seen as a signal that confirms the effectiveness of an intervention. We assume that anxiety is a signal that defenses are failing and unconscious contents are coming closer to consciousness. Thus, anxiety in the clinical process generally suggests that the therapist’s intervention is working. There are exceptions, however, when anxiety does not point to the effectiveness of the therapist’s interventions. In certain contexts, striated muscle anxiety points instead to the therapist’s failure to listen. Here is an example: A therapist has the hypothesis that the patient is defending against feelings of anger towards him. He regards everything the patient says as an effort to avoid this anger. Meanwhile, there is no striated muscle anxiety. If the therapist were listening to anxiety, he would note this absence and begin to wonder if he is “barking up the wrong tree.” Sadly, he continues to listen to his hypothesis, but not to the absence of the patient’s anxiety. Finally, the patient takes a big sigh and says, “I feel you are not listening to me. None of what you are saying is making sense to me, and I feel like you are twisting my words to fit your theory. I need you to hear me." What happened here? Does this large sigh validate the therapist’s hypothesis about hidden anger? One possibility is that the therapist’s efforts finally broke through the patient’s defenses, triggering a rise of striated muscle anxiety and a new wave of defenses—the patient now attempts to change the therapist’s behavior or control him. Some therapists would see it this way, code the patient’s feedback as defensive, and continue to pursue the anger they believe is there. Another interpretation of the anxiety, however, is that it is triggered by the risks associated with speaking “truth to power.” The patient openly criticizes a person he depends on but who is not listening. I call this manifestation of anxiety a “counter-power sigh.” The patient is not resisting the therapist’s therapeutic efforts; he is resisting the therapist’s efforts to overpower him (Foucault, 1981; Fors, 2021). No wonder the patient becomes anxious. Who among us has not experienced the dangers that come when we stand up to someone trying to overpower us? The counterpower sigh comes when patients must make a massive and frightening effort to speak openly and truthfully to someone who is exerting power over them, here manifested as the power to interpret what is going on in the patient’s mind. The counterpower sigh occurs when the patient’s wish to save the therapy overwhelms his fear of what might happen if he speaks truth to power. I am highlighting counterpower sighs here as an important caveat. It is not true that “all signs of striated muscle tension are universally and inevitably signs that therapy is moving along in a positive way.”A counterpower sigh can arise when the patient tries to break out of a sadomasochistic enactment. If we mistake the counterpower sigh for an unequivocal sign that the work is going well, we may continue to enact a sadomasochistic power dynamic and miss the patient’s supervision. References: Davanloo, H. (1990). Unlocking the Unconscious. John Wiley.

On today's episode, we welcome our first guest, Norwegian psychologist Jon Anders Lied, author of An Introduction to Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (2025). The conversation is a shared walk through the woods of ISTDP learning. We highlight complex intergenerational dynamics in the teaching of Davanloo's ideas, and the resulting polyphony of the field-- how "what ISTDP is" is something different to everyone, and the importance of avowing that. We also hear Jon Anders' thoughts about our recent discussion of the German Architect. Throughout the episode is a clear thread of empathy and concern for the experiences of trainees, and a wish to support them in learning theory, technique, and the complex practice of being with the patient even when theory and technique fall short. Jon Anders Lied is a Norwegian clinical psychologist and ISTDP therapist, working in clinical practice, teaching, and supervision. You can check out his book here: Lied, A. (2025). An Introduction to Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy: Foundations of Clinical Practice. Routledge. Also mentioned: The International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association's biennial international conference to be held in Dubrovnik, Croatia, 7-9 Oct, 2026.