Download Author: Stark, Martha M.D.
Reviewers have enthusiastically endorsed Martha’s books, trainings, and courses: “I have never read a better book about the essential complexity and beauty of the therapeutic process.” (Bessel van der Kolk, MD) “With Modes of Therapeutic Action, Martha Stark has taken the fledgling field of comparative psychoanalysis into a new and important domain. She develops in great detail a framework for contrasting and exploring the major contemporary models of the analytic process. She takes us underneath the slogans and banners of the various schools so that we may compare their underlying concepts and presuppositions. And she demonstrates what different technical systems actually look like in live action by presenting a remarkably rich array of clinical examples. This book will contribute to the enrichment of both the thinking and clinical sensibility of clinicians at all levels of experience and sophistication.” (Stephen A. Mitchell, PhD) “Dr. Martha Stark is a phenomenon. Her courses in postgraduate education are legendary. Now, with this volume, she distills her teachings into an accessible and lively dialogue that captures her inimitable style.” (Alfred Margulies, MD) “Every so often a book emerges from the vast sea of analytic writings that startles in its creativity and usefulness.” (Anne Alonso, PhD) “Martha Stark has brought together the three fundamental theories about how therapy works that prevail in our field at present and has shrewdly drawn out the virtues of each. Her own integrated conception is at once sophisticated and practical. Therapists of every level of experience will profit from it. Engaging and convincing clinical vignettes bring Stark’s concepts alive, illustrating them in a way that resonates with a practitioner’s experience. Modes of Therapeutic Action is a no-nonsense, deeply humane, eminently useful study of what really happens in a successful psychotherapy.” (Owen Renik, MD) “This book is destined to become a new standard for our field; it is a literary tour de force.” (Axel Hoffer, MD) “I wept along with you during your presentation today at WILA/NCP. In my experience, and I apologize for the vast generalization, but I find that people as brilliant as you don’t have as much of the empathy, kindness, generosity, and humble open heart that you possess. At least they don’t present themselves that way. I was so deeply moved by your vignettes (and the profound love of your patients), and I was equally inspired by your discussions on Mode 4, and all of your Modes of Therapeutic Action. I aspire to be a “Starkian.” It is a tall order. I can only imagine that it will take me many, many years to achieve some modicum of integration of all your modes into my clinical practice. I have never experienced a presenter at any conference that combines the HIGHEST intellect with the HIGHEST level of empathy and open heart as you have. You are a gift to us all. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” (David Beron, LMFT) “Dr. Martha Stark brilliantly describes the psychoanalytic process moment-to-moment in real time, as we sit with our patients. This gives the learning a personal depth rarely found in the field. Martha’s approach to depth learning is a truly optimistic antidote to compassion fatigue and therapeutic burnout. And it initiates a turning point to the future of our field – how teaching psychoanalysis will look and feel in the coming decades.” (Jack Danielian, PhD) “I just completed Dr. Martha Stark’s Intensive Training in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy – offered in May 2021 through the Department of Psychiatry at the Cambridge Health Alliance. To say that Dr. Martha Stark is a gift to the community of psychoanalytic thinkers, educators, and practitioners is an immense understatement. Dr. Stark’s bright enthusiasm and nuanced approach to material ranging from the classically psychoanalytic to the most modern and innovative not only is precise and edifying but also represents a rare, admirable, and much-needed intellectual bravery. One can only come away from Dr. Stark’s writings and teachings more comprehending of the interrelationship of many threads of psychoanalytic history, conceptualization, and practice. It is difficult to think of anyone whose scope of content is so broad and yet whose precision and animation bring material to life in such a clear and accessible manner. Dr. Stark’s concepts of “old-bad and new-good” as well as her concept of ‘here-and-then versus here-and-now’ are at once linguistically accessible and yet point to amongst the most profound and consequential psychoanalytic dynamics.” (Adam Rosen, PhD, JD) “Dr. Martha Stark brilliantly describes the psychoanalytic process moment-to-moment in real time, as we sit with our patients. This gives the learning a personal depth rarely to be found in the field. Martha’s approach to depth learning is a truly optimistic antidote to compassion fatigue and therapeutic burnout. And it initiates a turning point to the future of our field, how teaching psychoanalysis will look and feel in the coming decades.” (Jack Danielian, PhD) “I would like to express my appreciation for the extraordinary learning experience that Dr. Stark’s course has afforded me. It has had a profoundly transformative effect on both my way of working clinically and my understanding of the complex territory of analytic thought. I am truly grateful for this exquisite experience.” (Laurie Scheck) “Many years ago, Dr. Stark inspired me to shift my psychotherapy focus towards psychoanalytic psychotherapy and, ultimately, towards training in psychoanalysis. Her classes and individual supervision made the field of psychoanalysis alive for me. Dr. Stark is a profoundly generous, insightful, and intelligent teacher and mentor. My psychotherapy practice would not be as rich and rewarding without her influence.” (Carolyn Stack, PsyD) “Dr. Stark has a rare combination of innovative energy, insightful brilliance, and compassionate encouragement – her presence is a true gift for us students. I found myself looking forward to the release of her lectures every week and reading avidly the very collaborative, diverse, and enlightening discussion forums. I learned much challenging and new material that I was able to integrate and apply promptly in my clinical practice throughout the course – and my patients definitely benefited from this!” (Marlynn Wei, MD, JD) “Thank you for this information and for all of your efforts in putting this course together for CHA faculty. I greatly appreciate the clarity and integration of different conceptual frameworks you have distilled into your “models of therapeutic action.” Your flexible thinking and pragmatic approach in my view reflects the reality of the available research into these frameworks of therapeutic change. Over the course of the years, I have tried to work with a variety of therapeutic approaches in my own clinical practice, but, to this point, had not been able, as you have so beautifully done, to construct a clear conceptual framework for integrating them. Your efforts are outstanding and much appreciated, especially your curiosity and openness to new ways of thinking about what we do as psychotherapists.” (Ayelet Barkai, MD)