Chapter 1.Introduction

Since we first assembled a text on the art and science of brief psychotherapies in 2004, the field has exploded in terms of both research and practice. This interest has been accompanied by greater efforts to train mental health professionals in the theory and practice of short-term work. That led us to develop videos, included on a DVD, to accompany our second edition in 2012, illustrating the how-to’s of brief therapy. In this third edition, we continue to update this dynamic field. We have added chapters on mentalizing, cultural formulation, and mindfulness-based dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and expanded the presentation of motivational interviewing. As with the chapters in the rest of the book, each new chapter is written by leading practitioners in the field, and, in many cases, these chapters are enriched with video illustrations. We also cover fresh approaches to intervention, such as Internet-based therapies and telepsychiatry; document new developments within existing models; and summarize the growing body of evidence that tracks outcomes among the models. We have also updated the video illustrations to reflect fresh practice trends and have replaced the DVD with streaming video.