| Abstract: | Reviews the book, The compleat therapist by Jeffrey A. Kottler (see record 1990-98953-000) . The Compleat Therapist begins with an assessment of the state of the art of psychotherapy, concluding with the observation first articulated by Goldfried in his landmark 1982 book, Converging Themes in Psychotherapy: The number of therapies has expanded exponentially over recent years, and paradigm strain mandates attempt to find commonalities and integrations. The book then proceeds to summarize research findings and the writer's personal observations regarding variables common to most therapies and to most effective therapists. The Compleat Therapist homogonizes therapy, and in so-doing points out the risks of the integrative psychotherapy movement. By putting all therapies into one blender and whirling them into one concoction, the unique techniques and insights of each tend to get lost. The result can be, and in this case is, a loss of data. The significant contributions of each type of therapy are submerged in the hunt for common elements. This book's conclusion seems to be that anything works, and why is a mystery. As a professional discipline we need to set our sights higher than that. An approach to integration that looks only at common factors is like looking at antibiotics, aspirin, and cortisone, all of which make people feel better, to find their commonality. Yes, they are all medicines, but that data does not facilitate treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
