ABSTRACT
Th e focus of this chapter is on the basic principles of treatment within the psychoanalytic and psychodynamic tradition. M astering the skills to implement these principles is learned through practice, good supervision, more practice, and additional supervision. In essence, it is a lifelong process that ought never to stop. Some might add (including myself) that personal, dynamically oriented therapy is also a valuable-if not the most valuable-tool for one’s development as both a professional and as a person who happens to conduct individual, dynamically oriented psychotherapy. Indeed, most therapists say that most of the learning of how to do psychotherapy comes from real contact with the patient and what it is like to be with a patient. Th is is no diff erent within the psychodynamic t radition, though virtually all psychodynamically oriented clinicians will indicate that their technique is distinctively infl uenced by psychodynamic and psychoanalytic principles. It is, therefore, a knowledge and understanding of the principles that creates a framework on which to begin practice from a dynamically oriented perspective.
