The Complete Guide to Experiential Psychotherapy

Alvin R. Mahrer, Ph.D.

This is a professional book aimed at a serious, knowledgeable audience. It offers a comprehensive, step-by-step manual for the psychotherapist giving careful instruction in the four-part process that Alvin Mahrer originated forty-five years ago. This four-part process is:

1. Accessing inner experiencing
2. Integrating good relationships with the inner feeling
3. Being the inner experiencing in earlier scenes of strong emotion
4. Being the new person in the present

Therapists who seek deep-seated change with clients will be attracted to this therapy.

Rave Reviews

"A comprehensive, practical guide to the experiential psychotherapy that Al Mahrer has been developing for years...a fascinating and extensive description of a powerful approach." —Michael J. Mahoney, Ph.D., University of North Texas

"Climb a different mountain with Al Mahrer! He leads us off all familiar paths with his wholly original, startling ideas, and with his casual wisdom, he shows us step-by-step how to reach the deep potentials in our clients. Try Mahrer's approach after reading his extraordinary book." —Nolan Saltzman, Ph.D., New York, New York

"Here is a masterpiece! For those in search of a new paradigm for psychotherapy, here, finally, is a powerful yet gentle way of accomplishing what I call fundamental inner change." —Sergio Michel Barbosa, Ph.D., Irauato, Mexico

"A passionate guide to experiential therapy founded on rock-solid science? Yes! Thank you, Alvin Mahrer, for showing us the very essence of transformative therapy-peeling away pretense to recover the authentic and unvarnished self." —Michael P. Nichols, Ph.D, College of William and Mary

Table of Contents

• Section I - The Guide to Experiential Theory
  
  
  • Chapter 1
    How to Take a Friendly Perspective: Philosophy of Science and the Field of Psychotherapy
  • Chapter 2
    A Thumbnail Sketch of the Experiential Model of Human Beings
• Section II - The Guide to Experiential Psychotherapy
  
  
  • Chapter 3
    In-Session Goals, Objectives, and Directions of Change
  • Chapter 4
    For What Patients Is Experiential Psychotherapy Useful, Appropriate, and Appealing?
  • Chapter 5
    For What Kinds of Therapists Is Experiential Psychotherapy Suitable, and What Determines That the Session Will Be Effective?
• Section III - The Practice of Experiential Psychotherapy
  
  
  • Chapter 6
    Dealing with the Practicalities of Experiential Psychotherapy
  • Chapter 7
    Step 1. Being in the Moment of Strong Feeling and Accessing the Inner Experiencing
  • Chapter 8
    Step 2. Integrative Good Relationship with Inner Experiencing
  • Chapter 9
    Step 3. Being the Inner Experiencing in Earlier Scenes
  • Chapter 10
    Being and Behaving as the Inner Experiencing in the Present

Author

Alvin R. Mahrer, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus at the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa. A fellow of the American Psychological Association and past president of its Psychotherapy Division, Dr. Mahrer has published eleven books on experiential psychotherapy and holds dozens of lectures, and workshops each year in Africa, Asia and Europe.