Short-Term Psychotherapy with the Compulsive Personality and the Obsessive-Compulsive Neurotic

The psychotherapist often bypasses short-term treatment of compulsive neuroses and character disorders because of the tenacity with which these patients cling to their defenses and the defense mechanisms they use to deny affect and behavior. Therapeutic attention is better focused on current feeling levels rather than on genetic content. Validation and recognition of the patient's feelings in the interviews and in his current life help relieve his guilt, self-doubt, and fear. The author discusses patients' defensive manipulations and proposes possible interventions.