Therapeutic Techniques
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This paper is a detailed examination of Frederick H. Kanfer and Arnold P. Goldstein's textbook, Helping People Change, a catalog of essays on the most prominent therapeutic techniques in current use for intervention in contemporary psychology. These therapies are most effective in the treatment of such common problems as eating disorders, marital difficulties, stress management, and interpersonal problems. While many practicing therapists adhere to one primary approach, most also acknowledge the usefulness of knowing about others and, where appropriate, the efficacy of applying a variety of techniques and understandings. Whatever the underlying philosophy, all recognized approaches share four qualities, being unilateral, systematic, formal, and time limited. In order to be effective, each must also be administered by a trained professional with a clear sense of ethics. Change, the successful application of these techniques to the patient's problems within a helping relationship, can be measured in a number of ways, depending upon the nature of the initial problem. Change can include behavior modification, emotional relief, alteration in self-perception, or other measurable instances in which the patient is enabled to deal with his or her problems in more effective ways. Human beings are, by definition, flawed creatures. Even under the most stable conditions, subjected to the fewest possible psychological stresses, every individual f
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ocusing on relationship-enhancement methodology, observe, "A helper's empathy with the client's feelings strongly influences the quality of the helper-client relationship that develops and, subsequently, the degree of client change, at least with a substantial portion of psychotherapy clients" (p. 41).
Each new patient increases the therapist's level of experience, and part of the therapist's role is to continue to learn from these cases. C. H. Patterson (1989) observes, "The client educates the therapist about himself or herself, and the therapist facilitates the client's exploration and self-learning . . . Therapy is not a one-way street" (p. 559-560).
The therapist's status as an expert is important in many types of therapeutic approaches. However, therapists must guard against the trap that their expertise can present, by making the helper so much of an authority that the patient abrogates all responsibility for treatment. Some theoretical approaches actually encourage this kind of god-like attitude toward the therapist; one of the most traditional is Freudian psychoanalysis. A number of modern therapists are actually leading a backlash campaign against the father of modern psychology. R. C. Tallis (1996, March 9) argue
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Oldham Morris, Measured Rosewater, Rogers Frankl, Kanfer Goldstein, Nick Higginbotham, Goldstein Higginbotham, Jacobo Varella, David Burns, Change Human, People Change, kanfer goldstein, helping people, therapeutic approaches, behavior modification, treatment program, people change, rosewater 1987, helping people change, treatment plan, kanfer goldstein eds, change textbook, boston allyn, people change textbook, change textbook methods, boston allyn bacon,
Approximate Word count = 5193
Approximate Pages = 21 (250 words per page)
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