Effective, Rapid Therapy
ISTDP is effective and progressive. From a mindset of wanting things to get better, it’s the gold standard of therapy to reach your goals quickly and stay there.
Dr. Coughlin is on the forefront of clinical research into the process of therapeutic change. Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP), originally developed by Habib Davanloo, M.D., is a scientifically validated method of psychotherapy which dramatically accelerates the process of change, so that patients see measurable results within weeks and months, rather than years. Therapist and patient engage in an active dialog from the inception of treatment. In fact, the initial meeting, called a trial therapy, is three hours in length and is followed by a one hour session within a few days of the evaluation. This intensive session allows the patient to actually experience the therapy and therapist to get a very real sense of what the underlying cause of the patient’s problems are and to determine whether this form of therapy is indicated.
Therapy isn’t something that is done to you but is a process that demands full engagement. The patient is expected to bring will and determination to the process – assuming responsibility for their own life and the outcome of their treatment. Unlike traditional therapies in which the therapist is relatively silent, uttering an occasional “A huh”, the ISTDP therapist is highly engaged in the process and will provide immediate and continual feedback to the patient. This kind of collaboration between patient and therapist is essential in overcoming the inevitable blocks and resistances that will emerge as thoughts and feelings that have been long avoided emerge.
The goals of ISTDP are ambitious
We seek not only to remove symptomatic suffering, but to help patients live at their highest level of capacity – free to love, to work, to create and feel fully alive. Research suggests that this treatment increases physical health and vitality and the quality of interpersonal relationships, as well as emotional well-being. If you want to get to the bottom of the problems that have plagued you for years, so you can free yourself to live fully, ISTDP may be an option for you.
For patients living locally, therapy is typically conducted on a weekly basis following the initial evaluation until goals are achieved. For those living out of state, “block therapy” is an option. In block therapy, the entire course of treatment is conducted via 3-4 hour blocks on a monthly basis. Contact Dr. Coughlin by phone if you are interested in discussing treatment options.
Real Client Feedback
“I feel liberated from the past. I don’t feel haunted any more. The past is the past — it’s my history and it’s shaped me, but it doesn’t haunt me. I’ve carried it around for so long — to not have that any more is amazing.”
— patient comment
“This is the most intimate relationship I have ever had, and what I really love is that I will be able to carry this with me and have this with people who are available to it. In fact, I already have — with my mother, my sisters, my boyfriend and other friends. I never thought I would be in this position in such a short time. I am sort of astounded and proud of myself. I have worked hard but I also want to thank you. It was you insisting on a partnership and doing it together. I haven’t experienced that a lot, and certainly never in the Doctor-Patient relationship.”
— patient comment
“I feel great — really great. I really have never felt this way in my whole life — maybe for a moment or two, but never in a sustained way. I just have more pep and energy.”
— patient comment
“These realizations are just unbelievable. I am making sense of things and seeing my past in a whole new light. I have been able to see and uncover how it actually was — the moments that I had completely pushed away or re-written. Seeing this so clearly has enabled me to stop blaming and torturing myself. I feel I am at great peace and ease because of that.”
— patient comment
“I just want to love and be loved now. Enough of this suffering! I feel lighter and more optimistic — that it is all possible somehow.”
— patient comment
“This definitely changes everything. My chest feels light and expansive — at ease. There are muscles that have been tense for decades that are letting go. For years, probably decades, I have been going to physical therapy and, every single week, my skeleton was out of place. They said it was because I am so tense. Suddenly it is completely gone! This is unprecedented.”
— patient comment
“It’s like a miracle really. You just don’t slowly sort of begin to deal with your life — you get better. You actually get better and you are able to leave some of this shit behind and be a person — a better person — someone capable of getting pleasure from life. That was always a big draw from me to you — this hopefulness — that I won’t be stuck in this mire forever and that there is a possibility for real growth.”
— patient comment