natkuhn.com—psychotherapy

The therapy I practice involves various elements but I primarily practice Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP), a form of psychodynamic psychotherapy developed by Habib Davanloo, MD of McGill University. In ISTDP, the therapist is active and works with the patient to stay focused on the core issues, to help achieve meaningful change in as few sessions as possible.

STDP starts from the premise that people's difficulties are rooted in problematic ways that people experience or avoid feelings.

Therapy starts with an initial evaluation session (often as long as three hours), generally followed by weekly 50-minute therapy sessions. Therapies in this model tend to run about 20 to 60 sessions, though I also do some long-term therapy. In addition, I am also trained in Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

Before working in ISTDP, I spent a decade working closely with Dr. Leigh McCullough and her Affect Phobia model of STDP. As the Assistant Director of her Psychotherapy Research Program at Harvard's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, I've trained many therapists in this form of treatment, and I'm the second author on our book for therapists, Treating Affect Phobia: a Manual for Short-Term Dynamic Therapy (Guilford Press, 2003).

I am also trained in EMDR (Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).