ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I’ll outline the most fundamental characteristics of relational psychotherapy: it’s about self-with-other, and it’s about how selfwith-other experience is a constant, active force in anyone’s life. Then I’ll expand on what this means by explaining what relational therapy is not. It’s not a medical model of psychotherapy, not an individualistic model, and not a rationalistic model. When I’ve outlined the essence of relational psychotherapy in these ways, I will compare and contrast it with other current models of psychotherapy. Finally I will introduce several relational theories of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy that converge within what I’m presenting as relational psychotherapy.
