[Intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy for chronic pain].

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Pain Management

Background:

• Intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) is a psychodynamic treatment.
• ISTDP demonstrates medium to strong effects in patients with functional (primary) pain.

Purpose of the Study:

• Summarize the theoretical background of ISTDP.
• Outline the therapeutic techniques used in ISTDP.
• Review the evidence supporting ISTDP for primary pain.

Main Methods:

• A narrative literature review was conducted.
• The review focused on ISTDP's application in treating primary pain.

Main Results:

• ISTDP is a highly focused psychodynamic approach.
• It targets unconscious conflicts and anxiety symptoms maintained by defense mechanisms.
• ISTDP leads to pain reduction or remission by enhancing affect tolerance and processing repressed feelings.

Conclusions:

• ISTDP achieves medium to strong effects in primary pain reduction.
• It may be superior to cognitive behavioral therapy for primary pain.
• Further research is warranted to confirm ISTDP's efficacy.