Deconstructing Davanloo

In this episode Deb and Maury start reading the 2nd case in Davanloo's Unlocking the Unconscious (1990) - the case of the machine gun woman. They read the opening paragraphs and wax philosophical about what Davanloo meant by a "direct view" of the "core neurotic structure," and what these terms suggest about how we conceptualize the psyche in ISTDP. They also consider the f...

Note: We accidentally skipped a number when numbering the eps, so ep 22 was published before ep 21. In this episode we welcome clinician, teacher, and researcher Peter Lilliengren to share his perspective on our reading of Davanloo. Peter shares some thoughtful critiques, and our dialogue extends to group dynamics of the ISTDP community— can we bear conflict and strain? Can we disagree and still r...

In this episode, Deb and Maury welcome special guest, Jon Frederickson, MSW, of the New Washington School of Psychiatry. A beloved teacher of ISTDP, Jon shares his insights about training with Davanloo, and subsequent impacts on training culture.

The end of the German architect case stirs a number of important questions and mixed emotions. What are the goals of istdp at this stage in Davanloo’s development? What exactly is istdp? And how do we, as modern readers cope with Davanloo’s grand claims about it? How do we square this with our personal sense that istdp is, in some ways, quite grand? We will continue to try to answer these and many...

In this episode, Maury and Deb return to the end of the German architect case, and begin their reflections on all that has come before. They discuss the anxieties that come at the end of an initial session. Connected with this, they also discuss the sales, commodification, and capitalistic aspects of therapy, and how these may, at times, be visible in Davanloo. They then explore Davanloo’s summary...

In this episode Deb and Maury continue with an analysis of the German Architect case. They consider the ways that Davanloo's approach can be seen as an attempt to convince the patient to do the work. They also discuss the potential implicit or explicit assumptions of what constitutes a "cure" in ISTDP and in psychotherapy more generally. References Davanloo, H. (1990). Unlocking the...

On this episode, Deb and Maury continue to wrestle with the meaning of the German Architect’s slip of the intellect, react to the post breakthrough exploration, and become especially interested in the dynamic meaning of certain literary choices in the construction of the case write up— why are transcripts sometimes used, and at other times narratives? What are the differences in experience for the...

In this episode, Maury and deb explore part 2 of the German architect case, and continue to explore Davanloo’s interpretation of events, and offer new, alternate conceptualizations of their own. They discuss issues of diagnosis and technique with passive transference resistance, think about the thorny issue of interrupting patients in ISTDP, and struggle with the limitations of transcript and the...

In this episode, a listener comment gets our hosts thinking deeply about the role of interpretation in istdp. They consider the interpretive acts that are woven into the fabric of istdp , but that often go unnamed and unexamined. References: Davanloo, H. (1990). Unlocking the Unconscious. Wiley. Klein, G. (1976). Psychoanalytic theory: An exploration of essentials. International Universities Press...

In this episode, Deb and Maury ask the question, "So What?" after their analysis of the first part Davanloo's German Architect case. They consider the impact of the certaintistic language and voice that is used in the chapter and how that might impact the reader. They discuss the importance of therapist self-doubt and allowing space in learning communities for dissent and differences...

In this episode Deb and Maury continue to marvel at the range of possibilities for understanding the part 1 of the German architect case, and share several hypotheses for what could be happening in the case that go beyond Davanloo’s formulation. The discuss issues of authority, compliance, and omniscience as these emerge in the case. As they finish their read through of part 1 of the case, they be...

n their continued close read of the German Architect, Deb and Maury highlight issues around suggestion and leading the witness, philosophy of science questions around creating falsifiable hypotheses, and they offer alternate lines of interpretation in the case, especially regarding the emergence of the story of the man in the bistro. Importantly, they offer the possibility that the incident with t...

In this episode, Deb and Maury continue their exploration of the German Architect, and encounter a number of complex topics. First is the possibility of a parapraxis, a possible mishearing by Davanloo, that might reveal the meaning-making system through which Davanloo filters the patient's behavior and speech. Then, they consider a critique of the notion of a "locked" unconscious, and the ways tha...

In this episode, Deb and Maury address a listener comment about timing when sharing hypotheses with patients. They continue with their textual analysis of the case of the German Architect. They look at ways that Davanloo's words may be conveying epistemic authority, and they consider various interpretations of meaning of the patients' utterances and body language. Here is Maury's bit o...

On today's episode, we welcome our first guest, Norwegian psychologist Jon Anders Lied , author of An Introduction to Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (2025). The conversation is a shared walk through the woods of ISTDP learning. We highlight complex intergenerational dynamics in the teaching of Davanloo's ideas, and the resulting polyphony of the field-- how "what ISTDP is&...

Deb and Maury catch up after taking some time off for the winter holidays. They share what they each have been reading and listening to, and how these relate to what they've been discussing on the podcast. They also read and respond to some listener comments and questions before delving back into the Case of the German Architect. The two attempt to look at the case from a relational perspectiv...

In this episode, Deb and Maury respond to a listener's comment that is related to Buddhist ideas about enlightenment. Then they dive into Davanloo's first case presented in Unlocking the Unconscious : "The German Architect." The two begin a table read of the transcript and consider the unconscious relational dynamics between the therapist and the patient as they begin to unfold....

In this episode Deb and Maury wrap up their foray into how Davanloo engages with Freud in Unlocking the Unconscious (1990). Deb joins their session from the Evolution of Psychotherapy conference in Los Angeles where she makes some comments about parellel themes between ISTDP and some of the other psychotherapy presentations. The two attempt to answer the question, "So what?" together. Wh...

In this episode Deb and Maury conclude their examination of how Davanloo positions himself to Freudian theory by continuing to consider the various ways he quotes and talks about Freud in Unlocking the Unconscious. Deb gets irritated that he doesn't quote Melanie Klein more, since she considers Kleinian theory to be a strong influence on ISTDP metapsychology. They also discuss the ways that th...

Celebrating 100 downloads and 100 followers on Instagram! In this episode Deb and Maury engage with a listener's comment to consider claims to "truth" and what they entail, suggesting it might be useful to differential local truths from an "Ultimate" Truth. Next they dig in to some of the key references to Freud in Davanloo's Unlocking the Unconscious. Throughout their...

After advising each other on proper turkey-brining techniques for Thanksgiving, Deb and Maury begin at the beginning, with the very first line of Davanloo's Unlocking the Unconscious, "One of the main aims of all forms of dynamic psychotherapy is to enable the patient to experience his true feelings, but this can only be accomplished by overcoming resistance." (UU, p. 1). The hosts c...

US Congressman John Lewis once famously encouraged all Americans to "get in good trouble, necessary trouble." On this episode of the podcast, Deb and Maury further explain why they think it's a good thing to stir up some trouble through their project of "Deconstructing Davanloo." First, Deb explains that the term "deconstruction" does not mean tearing something do...

What is this podcast about? In the landscape of modern psychotherapy, few figures have inspired as much admiration, anxiety, and controversy as Habib Davanloo, the founder of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP). His case reports read like dispatches from a revolutionary frontier—complete with heroic struggles, breakthroughs, and an almost mystical confidence in his own method. But b...