There are many people who have helped make this book a reality. I credit my treatment approach to the supervision and readings I was exposed to early on in my training. As an undergraduate research assistant for Dr. David Bakan, I first became interested in the field of trauma and psychotherapy. And, as a graduate student in the mid-1980s, I soon imprinted on psychodynamic psychotherapy at Michigan State University, where Dr. Bertram Karon’s directive approach with very high-risk clients taught me to formulate and work within a psychodynamic framework that engages the individual, builds hope, and values the therapeutic relationship. The writings of Dr. Lester Luborsky (1984) and Dr. David Malan (e.g., 1979/1995) figured heavily into my training at that time. Later, during my postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, my clinical supervisors at the time, Dr. Robert Reifsnyder and Dr. Steven Nisenbaum, taught me to formulate within an attachment-based framework. Soon after, the publication of Dr. Judith Herman’s Trauma and Recovery in 1992 made a lasting impression on my approach to treatment with survivors of trauma.
I am grateful for the ideas, insights, and feedback that I have received from my colleagues and peers. Dr. Lynn Angus at York University, and Dr. Charles Gelso, editor of the scholarly journal Psychotherapy, provided valuable feedback on the earlier articles on which this book was based. My wife (and colleague) Dr. Diane Philipp spent long hours reading and editing multiple drafts of the book manuscript, as did associate editor Andrea Costella at W. W. Norton. I also benefited enormously from the editorial insights of Dr. Daniel Carlat, publisher and editor of the Carlat Psychiatry Report, and from Steven Muller, L.L.M., who provided a detailed, comprehensive review of the manuscript.
In addition, I would like to thank my friends and colleagues of many years, Dr. Peter Snyder and Dr. Christopher Green, for their insight and guidance regarding the academic book-publishing process. And, I thank Natalie Zlodre, M.S.W., at the Hincks-Dellcrest Centre, for her suggestion several years ago that I put together clinical workshops on the topic of trauma and avoidance and for her helpful guidance in that process.
I am grateful for my graduate students Kristin Gragtmans, Julie Cinamon, Karina Zorzella, Susan Rosenkranz, Ritu Bedi, Cheryl Fernandes, and Lise McLewin for their love of learning, their dedication, and their energetic commitment to this area of research. Thanks also to Adele Newcombe and Zohrah Haqanee who helped find some of the articles used in the literature review.
I would also like to express my gratitude to my clients. I am not sure they realize just how much they have taught me over the years.
Finally, this book is dedicated to my wife, Diane, and to my children, Aviva, Aaron, and Noah. Their love and support have been boundless and unwavering.