One of the leading voices in integrative thinking in the field of psychotherapy, and the author of Therapeutic Communication: What to Say When, Paul Wachtel argues passionately for avoiding the traps of rigid ideology and pseudoscience that continue to hold sway in our profession.
The Miraculous (or not) Efficacy of Solution-Focused Therapy
For years solution-focused therapy approaches have been all the rage; the popularity of this distinctively brief therapy method is unarguable. Beginning in the 1980s, solution-focused therapy hit the mainstream and many mental health providers (and third-party payers) continue to sing the praises of its brevity and effectiveness. For example, in a 2009 book chapter Sara Smock claimed, “. . . there are numerous studies, several reviews of the research, and a few meta-analyses completed that showcase [solution-focused therapy’s] effectiveness.” Solution-focused counseling…
Psychotherapy: Terminal or Interminable
“I was okay until I met you!” she said and slammed the door of my office as she left. I have never forgotten that moment. I was shocked, not just by the vehemence, her incandescent anger, but by my complete failure to anticipate her reaction. I thought I was a good judge of character and I had got this woman badly wrong. I had invited her husband to attend the previous session and, instead of supporting her jibes and scarcely…
Cathy Cole on Motivational Interviewing
An expert MI trainer and practitioner discusses the foundations and applications of Motivational Interviewing. Learn how MI can be used with clients struggling with addiction and PTSD, and get a sneak peek into the MI training process.
Motivational Interviewing in End-of-Life Care
A social work intern grapples with a situation that would challenge even an experienced clinician: helping a loving wife decide whether to stop feeding her dying husband of 64 years.
Ethics of Treating Two Psychotherapy Clients who Know Each Other
A question was recently posed to us about what to do when you discover in an early session with a new client that they are the former partner of another well-established client. Well, for those of you who actually stopped to think, “Oh, this may be a problem,” then you are certainly one step further away from sliding down the slippery slope of unethical behavior than those who did not recognize that this situation may pose a potential ethical dilemma….
Maria Gonzalez-Blue on Person-Centered Expressive Arts Therapy
An expressive arts therapist discusses the person-centered foundations of her work, and recounts transformative experiences with individual clients as well as in groups and international settings.
First Impressions in Psychotherapy
A woman wrote to me, having heard me on a radio programme. She had picked up my concern that not enough attention was being paid to the quality of the therapeutic relationship (as opposed to techniques) and wondered how her 25 year-old son, who was seeking a psychotherapist, could assess that in advance of therapy when neither of them knew any therapists where they lived. The obvious answer is that he should wait until he and the therapist meet. Therapy…
The Spinoza Problem: An Excerpt
By imagining the unexpected intersection of Jewish philosopher Spinoza’s life with that of powerful Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg, bestselling novelist Irvin Yalom explores the mindsets of two men separated by 300 years. Psychotherapy.net is pleased to publish this exclusive excerpt.
Two Therapy Poems
Poems by Esther Wright-Wilson about those unsettling moments in therapy that we can all relate to.