Essential activities in a session of brief dynamic/interpersonal psychotherapy.

Therapeutic discourse combines inquiry and dialogue strategies, which correspond, respectively, to the construction and deconstruction of a patient's maladaptive personal story line. This story line refers to a pattern of dysfunctional thinking/emotional management and a corresponding maladaptive interpersonal pattern that has been identified as the root cause of the patient's presenting problems. Identifying and critically examining a patient's personal story line is the superordinate technical strategy that guides our work each session.

Toward a hermeneutic model of ethical decision making in clinical practice.

Documented ethical violations and empirical research have demonstrated that, despite professional standards and formal training in ethical principles, some psychotherapists engage in unethical behaviors that compromise the welfare of clients. It appears that competing values and interests that emerge in the therapeutic endeavor can interfere with therapists' considerations of ethical standards and their willingness to act ethically. Expanding current models of ethical decision making, this article offers a hermeneutic model that recognizes that in addition to moral reasoning, the context of the therapeutic relationship and the therapist's subjective responses are fundamental considerations in the interpretation and application of ethical interventions.