Focal Psychoanalytic Therapies for Patients with Compulsive Disorders?

The article is part of the preparatory conceptualization process for an empirical study investigating the success of brief psychoanalytic therapies for patients with compulsive disorders. The authors discuss the thesis that these patients can only be successfully treated if a creative psychoanalytic process is established in the therapeutic relationship. All the different existing clinical psychoanalysis formats (short- or long-term therapies, fully fledged analyses, etc.) are based on analogous technical principles and therapeutic attitudes. Brief therapy, for example, can convey to the patients a first impression of the way in which their compulsive symptoms have an unconscious meaning but at the same time massively interfere with the pursuit of their wishes and longings. It can encourage them to confront the unconscious conflicts underlying their symptoms and to make at least an initial attempt to refrain from compulsive actions and thoughts. In many cases, long-established routine defense structures are challenged and psychic processes revitalised. The thesis is substantiated with reference to psychoanalytic literature and illustrated with a case example.