Electronic Winter 2021 | Issue 49

New Psychotherapy Committee

By: Alyse Eytan, MD

The holidays are upon us, maybe sooner than expected, and so is a new IPS psychotherapy committee.

The essence is to bring psychotherapy back to the membership, in its previous and present forms. For me, psychotherapy, psychodynamic in nature, is part and parcel of my daily practice to a degree or another with every patient depending on the need. It is integrated with pharmacotherapy, which certainly shortened the length of treatment, and facilitated return to daily functioning. The core of psychotherapy is empathy, at any age, just expressed differently.

Kohut has written a great deal on the very subject and demonstrated how it functions as an information-getting tool, since it is most likely one of the most accurate ones. It also relies fully on the material being carefully understood during each session and spontaneously expressed by the patient. In addition, it functions as an important healing tool. Feeling and being understood most likely makes someone feel less alone, and is conducive to a robust change and the need for certain ego defense mechanisms.

I hope that many of you will join the committee and contribute, to enjoy dialogue with all colleagues, including case presentations, relating to different cases and the path towards recovery, that regular talk therapy of a psychodynamic nature afforded. In many cases, psychopharmacotherapy was added. Case presentations, discussions about current practices of psychotherapy, integrated in the administration, as well as the discussion of compensation modalities and billing approaches will be visited on a monthly basis.

Please feel free to add your own impressions, opinions, and aspirations to this committee. Reach out to kmalloy@ilpsych.org if interested.