A case of brief psychotherapy.

The six-month psychotherapeutic treatment of a 29-year-old woman with a hysterical personality is described. Criteria for selection of patients suitable for brief psychotherapy and the various applications of this technique are discussed. Aspects of the psychopathology of the hysterical personality are described and related to that of the patient presented, whose sexualized transference exemplifies the important task of 'focusing' this form of treatment.