Book excerpt: How can one engage the hostile or the frightened patient or the patient incapacitated by shame or by physical illness? How can a clinician focus a therapy that threatens to wander indefinitely and unproductively: When and how should one use short-term therapy?Even experienced, talented therapists frequently find themselves stymied, often for prolonged periods of time, by problems commonly encountered in an office-based practice. Here, along with detailed case examples, is a hands-on demonstration of how to deal with such complex, at times seemingly intractable, problems.Basch's technique is a psychodynamic approach that also embraces cognitive and behavioral therapy. It correlates what is heard and seen in the therapist's consulting room with our knowledge of normal infant and child development. This book shows how Basch's developmental method can be used even in short-term therapy to deal with complex problems. The book also includes extensive examples of the supervisory process, demonstrating how to make the best use of this model for therapy, both as supervisor and supervisee.Basch's first book, Doing Psychotherapy, has become a standard introductory text and his second book, Understanding Psychotherapy: The Science Behind the Art, has gained widespread support and garnered much acclaim. Building on the principles elaborated in his previous books, this eminently practical new book takes readers to a new level of understanding.