Dr. Busch has written and edited books on psychodynamic treatments for specific disorders, on combining psychodynamic psychotherapy with medication, and on the problem-focused approach he developed.
Problem-Focused Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
Psychodynamic psychotherapy has traditionally avoided focusing too directly on symptoms, on the grounds that doing so interferes with free association and with the analytic process more broadly. This book makes the opposite case: that a psychodynamic treatment can address the specific problems a patient brings to it without losing the depth that makes the approach valuable.
The book sets out a general template. The therapist and patient develop a problem list, examine the contexts and emotions surrounding each problem, and elaborate a psychodynamic formulation that serves as a framework for understanding what contributes to them. Working through then involves identifying how particular dynamics recur across different problems and in different situations. Later chapters address the role of adverse and traumatic experiences, personality disorders, the integration of dissociated aspects of self and other representations, and termination.
Because the approach suits both brief and longer-term work, it can be used with patients who are unable to commit to extended treatment or who have access only to short-term care. It is intended for clinicians at any level of experience, and relies throughout on case vignettes and tables rather than abstract exposition.
176 pages. American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 2022.
American Psychiatric Association Publishing
Skills Training in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: A Problem-Focused Approach
This is the practical companion to the problem-focused approach. It is organized around 26 worksheets and handouts that can be reproduced and used within a session or given to patients to work on between sessions.
The worksheets are meant to make the work concrete. They help the therapist and patient clarify what the problems are, explore together the intrapsychic and interpersonal dynamics that contribute to them, and develop skills for managing emotions and behavior more effectively. Case examples run throughout, showing how each form is used in practice.
It is written for therapists who find psychodynamic concepts persuasive but want a clearer sense of how to apply them quickly and to a particular difficulty. It can be used on its own or alongside Problem-Focused Psychodynamic Psychotherapy.
222 pages. The Guilford Press, 2025.
Manual of Panic-Focused Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: eXtended Range
Panic-focused psychodynamic psychotherapy was the first psychodynamic treatment of a DSM anxiety disorder to demonstrate efficacy in a randomized controlled trial. This manual extends that treatment beyond panic disorder to generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, agoraphobia and other phobias, and anxiety-related personality disorders.
The manual describes the conflicts that commonly underlie panic and anxiety, particularly conflicts surrounding anger, dependency, separation, and guilt, along with the defenses that develop around them. Treatment is presented in three phases: initial evaluation, interpretation of central conflicts and defense mechanisms, and termination. A separate chapter takes up the clinical difficulties that arise when a treatment does not proceed as expected.
232 pages. Routledge, 2012. Written with Barbara L. Milrod, Meriamne B. Singer, and Andrew C. Aronson.
Postpartum Problem-Focused Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
The postpartum period carries a raised risk of anxiety and depression, along with behavioral and interpersonal difficulties involving the baby, a partner, and the wider family. A range of treatments exists, but each has limitations in addressing difficulties of this kind, and many women face substantial barriers to obtaining good mental health care during this period.
This manual adapts problem-focused psychodynamic psychotherapy specifically to the postpartum period. It covers developing a problem list around the difficulties that commonly arise after birth, adapting psychodynamic technique to that context, working with transference and countertransference, identifying the conflicts and representations that contribute to problems, assessing improvement and deciding when to conclude treatment, and taking account of cultural factors bearing on a patient's identity. Clinical vignettes run throughout, some of them accompanied by video illustrations.
188 pages. American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 2026. Written with Alyson Gorun, M.D.
American Psychiatric Association Publishing
Other books
- Trauma Focused Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: A Step-by-Step Treatment Manual
- Psychodynamic Approaches to Behavioral Change
- Psychodynamic Treatment of Depression
- Psychotherapy and Medication: The Challenge of Integration
- Psychodynamic Approaches to the Adolescent with Panic Disorder
- Mentalization: Theoretical Considerations, Research Findings, and Clinical Implications