Dr. Allan Abbass, MD: Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy

Comments or feedback? Send us a text!

Dr. Allan Abbass sits down to discuss Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) in the treatment of a variety of psychological difficulties.  We discuss the framework of ISTDP, conscious vs. unconscious anxiety pathways, patterns of body response that correlate with different types of emotional responses, where CBT and ISTDP overlap and where they may diverge and finally, the evidence base for this method.  We also briefly discuss how medication can augment but also impede psychotherapy. 

Host note: We will be offering a 6 week essentials of CBT workshop that I will be facilitating beginning March 24, 2023.  For more information and registration, please visit: https://www.ottawacbt.ca/news.  

Dr. Abbass is a psychiatrist, teacher, and researcher. He is a professor of psychiatry and psychology and the founding director of the Centre for Emotions and Health at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. He has consulted widely for governments, universities, and health agencies on the cost-effectiveness and applicability of short-term psychotherapy. Dr. Abbass has provided over 300 invited presentations around the world as well as ongoing video-recording-based training to professionals in several countries. In addition, he has been awarded many research grants and has over 250 publications including his 2 books Reaching through Resistance and Hidden from View. He has won several awards and recognitions for education and research.  He is currently the President of the International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association. He is proud to be the David Malan Visiting Professor of Psychotherapy at the Tavistock Institute, London, UK.