Psychotherapy as a Developmental Process

A Psicoterapia como um processo desenvolvimentista.

Enquanto psicólogo e investigador desenvolvimentista, Michael Basseches tem procurado praticar uma psicoterapia focada no desenvolvimento ao longo do ciclo de vida. Partindo de uma perspectiva dialéctica-construtivista, o autor faz a integração transteórica de um vasto ambito de modelos de psicoterapia, oferecendo uma conceptualização desenvolvimentista dos processos fundamentais de eficácia psicoterapêutica, e independentemente da orientação teórica dos terapeutas. No seu mais recente livro - Psychotherapy as a Developmental Process - Michael sugere um conjunto de métodos de investigação para identificar e monitorizar esses processos fundamentais de desenvolvimento ao longo dos casos de terapia. Esta perspectiva é aplicável à supervisão e treino em psicoterapia, na compreensão de impasses, e na prevenção de "abusos teóricos" sobre os clientes pelos praticantes de psicoterapia. 

Michael Basseches has worked as a lifespan developmental psychologist with a focus on intellectual development, social development, and ego development. His research has emphasized psychotherapy and supervision of psychotherapy, as well as higher education and the workplace, as contexts for late adolescent and adult development. Michael has spent at least 50% of his time as a practicing lifespan developmental psychotherapist since 1984. He is currently using a dialectical-constructivist framework to integrate a wide range of approaches to psychotherapy, and to provide a developmental conceptualization of the fundamental processes by which all effective psychotherapy works, regardless of the therapist's theoretical or technical approach. Psychotherapy as a Developmental Process provides a set of research methods for tracking and studying these fundamental developmental processes within and across therapy cases. This framework, applicable to psychotherapy supervision and training, may also be used to understand how psychotherapy becomes stuck and to prevent "theoretical abuse" of clients by psychotherapy practitioners.

Current research interests include (a) case studies of successful and unsuccessful psychotherapy using the methods of developmental analysis (b) clients' experiences of psychotherapy, (c) therapists' understandings of the nature of expertise in psychotherapy, and (d) the impact of therapists' forms of meaning-making on the therapy process. These interrelated lines of research are part of an overall attempt to articulate a comprehensive dialectical-constructivist life-span developmental model of psychotherapy process and psychotherapist training.

A recent research and professional interest is in “socially responsible” psychology. This entails foci on peace psychology and conflict transformation. I am a member of Psychologists for Social Responsibility as well as a Boston area group conceptualizing the roles of clinical psychology and other training in preparing “peace psychology and conflict transformation professionals”. My private practice of psychotherapy and supervision in Cambridge and Gloucester now includes peace and conflict transformation training and practice.

Specialty Areas
Psychotherapy process, psychotherapy integration; lifespan developmental psychology; late adolescent and adult development; psychotherapy in the context of higher education; conflict transformation; peace psychology; dialectical constructivism.