Short‐Term Psychodynamic Therapy of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

This chapter describes a psychodynamic treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). After presenting a psychodynamic model of GAD, the empirically supported GAD-specific psychodynamic treatment are described in the form of six treatment modules which can be flexibly applied to the individual patient's needs. In psychodynamic psychotherapy, mental symptoms are regarded as being determined by an interaction between biological and psychological factors. The psychodynamic concept of conflict which is central to the former model was operationalized by L. Luborsky by the core conflictual relationship theme method. Supportive–expressive (SE) therapy is among the empirically best-supported methods of psychodynamic therapy. Recently, a model for short-term psychodynamic therapy (STPP) for the treatment of obsessive–compulsive disorder based on SE therapy was presented. STPP may be differentiated from long-term psychodynamic therapy by including up to 25 sessions.