This unique textbook offers an invaluable starting point in learning both the art and science of brief psychotherapy. Unlike other references, which review current literature and cover all of the many schools of brief therapy in current use, this compact text is packed with practical information that shows both what to do and why to do it, so that beginning therapists can start to think like brief therapists in their own work.Based on more than a decade of extensive teaching experience, the editors of this practical guide-another immediately useful tool in the Core Competencies in Psychotherapy series-take you step by step through every approach, describing therapies and specific interventions and including detailed case examples to illustrate how they are implemented. "The introduction" answers basic questions about how to define, when to use, and why and how to learn brief therapy. "Part I, Six Key Brief Psychotherapies," begins with the highly structured cognitive, behavioral, and solution-focused therapies and continues with interpersonal, time-limited dynamic, and couples therapies. "Part II, Special Topics," covers identifying the essential ingredients of brief therapy, conducting brief therapy in a multicultural context, combining brief therapy with medications, and evaluating competency in brief therapy. "Part III, Overview and Synthesis," proposes three skill sets-relationship, instrumental, and change agency-that form the backbone of what it means to be a competent practitioner of brief psychotherapy. Fully indexed and easy to use, this volume is destined to become the definitive guide to acquiring core competency in this field (as mandated by the residency review committee), bringing to life the fascinating and challenging world of brief psychotherapy for students, educators, residents, and practitioners everywhere.