Formats for peer review of dynamic psychotherapy.

The mental health field must deal with peer review as a fact of life. However, many providers do not understand how to describe the nature or process of the psychotherapy they use, and many peer reviewers seem to lack knowledge of what constitutes a given modality of psychotherapy. If clear definitions of the different modes of dynamic psychotherapy are available--and in fact the literature shows substantial agreement on such aspects as patient selection, time frames, goals, and techniques--formats for the peer review of each modality will naturally follow. The author presents definitions and peer review formats for symptom-relief, supportive, focal, and long-term exploratory psychotherapy.