Psychotherapy Process
Explore the dynamics and stages of the psychotherapy process, from the initial client assessment to the therapeutic interventions that promote healing. This section provides insights into the complexities of therapeutic relationships and strategies to enhance treatment effectiveness.
257 articles found
Working with Autobiographical Memory Narratives in Psychotherapy
Within psychotherapy, client storytelling is fundamental to the development of the therapeutic relationship and allows a shared context of meaning and understanding to emerge between client and psychotherapist, typically based on personal memories of past experiences (Angus, Lewin, Bouffard, & Rotondi-Trevisan, 2004). When clients provide narrative accounts of personal experiences in psychotherapy, they disclose information […]
Tali Z. Boritz, Ph.D. + 2 more
June 1, 2008
How We Say Goodbye
Termination is generally viewed by psychotherapists as a complex stage of psychotherapy (Gelso & Woodhouse, 2002). Research confirms that during this phase, the process and progress of psychotherapy are typically reviewed, goals are developed for the future, and the dyad says goodbye (Marx & Gelso, 1987). For some clients and psychotherapists, psychotherapy termination is also […]
Jennifer A. Hardy, Ph.D. + 1 more
April 30, 2008
Assimilating Common Factor Treatment Components into Cognitive Therapy for Depression
A voluminous and ever-expanding research literature points to the general effectiveness of psychotherapy (Lambert & Ogles, 2004). Through the use of controlled clinical trials, psychotherapy researchers have identified many empirically-supported treatments for specific clinical phenomena (Roth & Fonagy, 2005). The extant research also suggests that, with just a few exceptions, different therapy modalities yield comparable […]
Michael J. Constantino, Ph.D.
January 1, 2008
Believing is Seeing
A classic social psychological finding is that expectations shape people’s experiences, perceptions, and behaviors (e.g., Asch, 1946). Clinical psychologists have long been interested in how expectations specifically affect psychotherapy (e.g., Frank, 1968). After decades of theoretical and empirical attention, it appears safe to say that patient expectations are an important ingredient of psychotherapeutic change (e.g., Kirsch, […]
Michael J. Constantino, Ph.D. + 1 more
January 1, 2007
Three Ways to Improve our Psychotherapy Effectiveness
Garrison Keillor observes of the residents of Lake Wobegon, “All the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.” As psychotherapists, it is likely that we similarly believe we are above average, but as Keillor’s folksy humor reminds us, it ain’t so—half of us are below average, as […]
Bruce E. Wampold, Ph.D., ABPP
October 30, 2006