The Therapeutic Interaction Research Perspectives

Abstract

Psychotherapy as a profession is nearly a century old. During that time thousands of clinical books and papers have been published. Hundreds of different theories of therapy have been developed. Yet the clinician trying to choose a therapeutic approach has no clear criterion for choosing among the varied alternatives. As matters stand now, such choices are usually made on the basis of where one receives one's training and who one's supervisors were. General trends in therapeutic styles, partly influenced by cultural and economic factors, also influence therapist's choices. Since the 1950s, behavioral and related treatments have challenged the former (brief) predominance of psychoanalytic treatments. In the 1960s the "humanistic-experiential" therapies were popular, at least partly because they were consistent with certain emphases of the popular culture of that time. At present, a biological bias appears to be exerting an increasing influence, as can be seen by the replacement of psychoanalysts by psychopharmacologists in medical school departments of psychiatry.