The briefest encounter: psychotherapy for medical and surgical patients.

The liaison psychiatrist is often called upon to deal with psychological problems that may create medical emergencies. This paper describes a series of brief psychological interventions along a spectrum from shamanism to interpretation of unconscious conflict. Behind all of these maneuvers must be an understanding of the psychodynamics of the situation. These interventions may spell the difference between comfort and distress, illness and cure, and even occasionally life and death.