“Danielian and Gianotti's first book, Listening with Purpose, was an outstanding exploration of working with shame and narcissistic vulnerability. This new workbook represents a brilliantly innovative way to elaborate the clinical implications of that earlier work. The linking of the discussions and case examples in the book to videos accessible to every reader, to worksheets and other active teaching tools, makes this a book uniquely effective in conveying how the authors work and enables readers really to integrate their insights into their work.”

Paul Wachtel, PhD, Past President, Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI); Recipient of the Hans H. Strupp Award for Psychoanalytic Writing, Teaching, and Research; the Distinguished Psychologist Award by APA Division 29 (Psychotherapy); and the Scholarship and Research Award by Division 39. His most recent book is Cyclical Psychodynamics and the Contextual Self.

“In this invaluable and penetrating workbook, Drs. Patricia and Jack Danielian illustrate a clinical methodology for listening and tracking the moment-to-moment unfolding of the therapeutic process that is particularly attuned to the experience of shame, dissociation, and narcissistic vulnerability. In an effort to bolster resilience, authenticity, and healing--the painful aftereffects of relational trauma--the authors provide a nuanced model complete with training videos for facilitating careful listening and empathic attunement sensitive to varying attachment styles damaged by developmental compromises. Essential reading for all mental health professionals.”

Jon Mills, PsyD, PhD, ABPP, Diplomate, American Board of Professional Psychology; Board Certified in Clinical Psychology & Psychoanalysis; Fellow, American Academy of Clinical Psychology; Fellow, American Board & Academy of Psychoanalysis

“Danielian and Gianotti have done it again! – yet another magnificent volume that seamlessly integrates theory and practice as it addresses both the science and the art of an in-depth psychotherapeutic process. Exquisitely penned by two master clinicians, this second opus is an elegant and sophisticated Workbook that explores, in great detail, both the nuances and the complexities of the moment-to-moment encounter between patient and therapist. Culled from their decades of immersion in the study, the practice, and the teaching of a psychotherapeutic approach that is a synergistic blend of elements that are at once self psychological, existential, humanistic, empathic, present-focused, relational, attachment-based, systemic, Horneyian, and spiritual, at the end of the day the paradigm they espouse – exemplified by their Four Quadrant Model – can probably best be described as either “Danottian” or “Gianelian.”

But however we might describe their theoretical stance, what shines through on every page of this brilliantly conceived and beautifully orchestrated manual is their non-pathologizing optimism and profound belief in the patient’s innate resilience and capacity to self-repair. Against a therapeutic backdrop of reliability, attunement, and profound respect, patient and therapist work at their intimate edge to help the patient relinquish self-sabotaging but once adaptive narcissistic defenses mobilized to compensate for feelings of vulnerability and shame; heal the psychic split between the defensively dissociated parts of the patient’s character structure and the parts that are more spontaneous, heartfelt, and healthy; emancipate the patient’s resilient core; and facilitate the emergence of an integrated, consolidated, authentic self.

No offense intended to any of my other esteemed colleagues (or to myself for that matter), but were I to be alone on a desert island with only one book, this is the book that I would want to have – and I would read and reread it many times over, each time gleaning something new and inspirational. Quite frankly, I wish I had written this extraordinary book. It is so beautifully and sensitively written and explores with such finesse all the fine points and subtleties of the therapeutic relationship that it should be required reading for therapists of all levels. And the material is so rich and layered that I found myself wanting to peruse only a few pages at a time so that I could process and integrate the wealth of information contained on each page and savor every pearl of wisdom contained therein.

This lovingly and generously crafted masterpiece is a tome that I will long cherish. But I will not keep it on my bookshelf; I will want it in plain sight on my desk by my side – to guide me and to inspire me.”

Martha Stark, MD, Faculty, Harvard Medical School, Co-Director, Center for Psychoanalytic Studies; Author, Award-winning Modes of Therapeutic Action and 5 other books on psychoanalytic theory and practice