Multimedia psychodynamic psychotherapy: a preliminary report

Mourning the death of a beloved person is one of life's most stressful events. This psychotherapy case study describes a form of psychodynamic psychotherapy that the author developed in working with a patient who suffered from complicated grief after the death of her father from lung cancer. During sessions, the therapist worked with the patient to collect pictures and organize a "strip of life" of her father's most meaningful moments. The patient then wrote a short text associated with each picture. Finally, she chose music to be added to this "slide show" or "psychodynamic montage" as its soundtrack. The resulting multimedia presentation was finally posted on the Internet on a website to which only the patient and her relatives and friends had access via a password. This therapeutic strategy was effective in helping this patient resolve her symptoms of complicated grief. The author suggests that this new approach to psychodynamic psychotherapy may be a cost-effective and well-received tool for use in institutions such as hospices and general hospitals.