The Interpersonal Situation

Pincus and Hopwood have provided a definitive summary of interpersonal theory, including a comprehensive understanding of the broad areas of clinical practice--psychopathology, assessment, and intervention. These domains of clinical practice are often taught as separate courses and procedures for patient contacts (e.g., first assessment, then interventions) but this text provides a meaningful integration under a single theoretical approach. While transdiagnostic models and common factor approaches have challenged these traditional boundaries, Pincus and Hopwood explain how this unified interpersonal approach can also be sophisticated and adaptable for multiple situations.--Timothy Anderson, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Ohio University, Athens The field of clinical assessment and intervention has undergone drastic changes in the last few decades, as clinicians and scholars alike have recognized the substantial limitations of categorical diagnostic models when describing and treating mental health disorders. Clinical formulations that rely wholly on psychiatric symptoms and generalized distress typically fail to capture the complex ways that mental health challenges impact individuals in their efforts to build and maintain lives of meaning, connection, and value. Contemporary integrative interpersonal theory (CIIT) represents a synthesis of clinical, theoretical, and empirical work from the past century aimed at challenging reductionistic models of mental health, offering new transdiagnostic frameworks that carry greater utility and more direct salience and value to both practitioners and patients. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the historical roots and central tenets of CIIT and offers immediate practical value to readers through the inclusion of evocative clinical case examples, guidelines for applying CIIT concepts in both clinical assessment and intervention, and free assessment and training resources for readers looking to incorporate CIIT into their work. This book offers readers an opportunity to not only expand their fundamental formulations of psychopathology and personality as abstract concepts, but to deepen their understanding of the real and heartfelt complexities of navigating relationships across both joyful and challenging moments in everyday life.--Katie C. Lewis, PhD, Director of Research, the Austen Riggs Center, Stockbridge, MA This book is a well written, comprehensive, and engaging overview of contemporary integrative interpersonal theory (CIIT) that will broadly appeal to clinicians, academics, and students. Drs. Pincus and Hopwood, experts in interpersonal theory and research, succinctly summarize over 70 years of theory and research and provide a step-by-step primer for how to integrate CIIT seamlessly into clinical practice. In fact, their excellent clinical examples, including four cases followed in-depth throughout the book, truly bring the material to life for the reader. I have no doubt that it will become the 'go-to' book for anyone interested in learning more about CIIT.--Nicole M. Cain, PhD, Associate Professor, Clinical Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ