| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | |
|
Basic InformationMore Information Someone to Talk to Truth, Effectiveness, and Mental Health: Part ThreeA first-impression review of the new HBO series 'In Treatment'Aiming AttentionAn Interview with Bruce Ecker, M.A., L.M.F.T., on Coherence TherapyAn Interview with Bruce Ecker, MA, on Memory Reconsolidation and PsychotherapyAn Interview with Jon Frederickson, MSW, on Experiential Psychodynamic PsychotherapyAn Interview with Joshua Lerner, MA, LCSW, on the History of Object Relations TheoryAn Interview with Kirk Schneider, Ph.D., on Existential Humanistic PsychotherapyAn Interview with Leslie Greenberg, PhD, on Emotion-Focused TherapyAn Interview with Wilma Bucci, Ph.D., on Psychoanalysis and Cognitive ScienceAsleep at the WheelB.F. SkinnerBehaviorismBrainless, Then MindlessChoosing the Right Mental Health TherapistCognitive TherapyCommon and Mature Defenses, and BeyondConsidering the ConsequencesDBT is Too Complicated: A Common Misconception about Dialectical Behavior TherapyDialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Self InjuryEmotions Myths: What Do You Believe About Your Emotions?Empathy and Therapeutic RapportEye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)Falling In Love with the Therapist: Erotic Transference and PsychotherapyGestalt TherapyGetting Rid of Painful ThoughtsHealing, Is It Just a Matter of Medication? Helping People to Mature: Robert Kegan and Psychotherapy (Commentary on 'In Over Our Heads')Humanistic PsychologyList of PsychotherapiesMany Voices; One SelfMental Health and the Legacy of Sigmund FreudMindfulness Skills in Dialectical Behavior TherapyMuddling ThroughObject Relations Theory 101: All the World's a StageOperating the Creature You InhabitOrdinary TrancePerson Centered PsychotherapyPsychiatric Restraints: Physical and FigurativePsychoanalysisPsychodynamic Group PsychotherapyPsychodynamic PsychotherapyPsychotherapy and Pseudoscience: Five Indicators of Dubious TreatmentsRational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)Research on Self-Help/Mutual Aid GroupsSalience and SuggestionShameShould Psychotherapy Embrace the Arts?Sigmund FreudSuggestionSwiss Psychiatrist Fights Fear with LSDThe "Fallen" Realities of Human NatureThe Gross Distortion of "Scientifically Validated" Mental Health CareTimeline of PsychotherapyTruth, Effectiveness, and Mental Health: Part OneTruth, Effectiveness, and Mental Health: Part TwoVirtue and ChangeWill and the Competitors for Your AttentionWise Counsel Interview Podcast: Myrna Weissman, Ph.D. on Interpersonal PsychotherapyWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Alan Rappoport, Ph.D. on Control-Mastery TheoryWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Annie Fahy, MSW on Motivational Interviewing Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Becky LaFountain, Ph.D. on Adlerian Psychology and PsychotherapyWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Dr. Jürgen Kriz on Self-Actualization and Person Centered PsychotherapyWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Fern Cohen, Ph.D. on whether Psychoanalysis is DeadWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Francine Shapiro, Ph.D. on Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) TherapyWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Jeffrey Young Ph.D. on Schema TherapyWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with John Clarkin, Ph.D. on Transference-Focused TherapyWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Jonathan Engel, Ph.D. on the History of American Psychotherapy - Part 1Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Jonathan Engel, Ph.D. on the History of American Psychotherapy - Part 2Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Laris Macpherson on the Therapy Client's ExperienceWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Marsha Linehan, Ph.D. on Dialectical Behavior TherapyWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Natalie Rogers, Ph.D. on Expressive Arts TherapyWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Otto Kernberg, MD on Transference Focused Therapy Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Raul Moncayo, Ph.D. on Lacanian PsychoanalysisWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Richard Shulman, Ph.D. on Volunteers in PsychotherapyWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Shinzen Young on Mindfulness MeditationWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Steven Hayes, PhD on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Latest NewsQuestions and AnswersLinksBook Reviews101 Healing Stories101 Things I Wish I'd Known When I Started Using HypnosisA Primer for Beginning PsychotherapyA Therapist's Guide to Understanding Common Medical ProblemsACT With LoveAssessment and Treatment of Childhood Problems, Second EditionBad TherapyBefore ForgivingBeing a Brain-Wise TherapistBiofeedback for the BrainBoundaries and Boundary Violations in PsychoanalysisBrain Change TherapyBreaking ApartBuffy the Vampire Slayer and PhilosophyBuilding on BionCare of the PsycheChoosing an Online TherapistClinical Handbook of Psychological DisordersClinical Intuition in PsychotherapyClinical Pearls of WisdomCompassion and Healing in Medicine and SocietyConfessions of a Former ChildConfidential RelationshipsConfidentiality and Mental HealthConfidingCouch FictionCounseling with Choice TheoryCritical Issues in PsychotherapyCrucial Choices, Crucial ChangesDecoding the Ethics CodeDepression 101Depression in ContextDo-It-Yourself Eye Movement Techniques for Emotional HealingDoing ItE-TherapyEncountering the Sacred in PsychotherapyEnergy Psychology InteractiveEssays on Philosophical CounselingEthics in Psychotherapy and CounselingEveryday Mind ReadingExpressing EmotionFacing Human SufferingFairbairn's Object Relations Theory in the Clinical SettingFamily TherapyFavorite Counseling and Therapy Homework AssignmentsFlourishingFlying ColorsHandbook of Clinical Psychopharmacology for TherapistsHandbook of Counseling and Psychotherapy with Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual ClientsHealing the Soul in the Age of the BrainHeinz KohutHow to Give Her Absolute PleasureHow to Go to TherapyIf Only I Had KnownIn SessionIn Therapy We TrustIn Treatment: Season 1Incorporating Spirituality in Counseling and PsychotherapyIs Long-Term Therapy Unethical?Issues in Philosophical CounselingIt’s Your HourLearning from Our MistakesLetters to a Young TherapistLove's ExecutionerMan's Search for MeaningMetaphoria: Metaphor and Guided Metaphor for Psychotherapy and HealingMindfulness and AcceptanceMindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for DepressionMindworks: An Introduction to NLPMockingbird YearsMomma and the Meaning of LifeMotivational Interviewing: Preparing People For ChangeMulticulturalism and the Therapeutic ProcessOf Mice and MetaphorsOf Two MindsOn the CouchOne Nation Under TherapyOur Inner WorldOvercoming Destructive Beliefs, Feelings, and BehaviorsPhilosophical CounselingPhilosophical MidwiferyPhilosophical PracticePhilosophy and PsychotherapyPhilosophy for Counselling and PsychotherapyPhilosophy PracticePlato, Not Prozac!Psychologists Defying the CrowdPsychology, Psychotherapy, Psychoanalysis, and the Politics of Human RelationshipsPsychosis in the FamilyPsychotherapyPsychotherapyPsychotherapy As PraxisPsychotherapy for Children and AdolescentsPsychotherapy for Personality DisordersRational Emotive Behavior TherapyRational Emotive Behavior TherapyRationality and the Pursuit of HappinessRecovery OptionsRent Two Films and Let's Talk in the MorningSaving the Modern SoulSecond-order Change in PsychotherapySelf MattersSelf-Determination Theory in the ClinicSexual Orientation and Psychodynamic PsychotherapyStrangers to OurselvesTaking America Off DrugsTales of PsychotherapyThe Art of HypnosisThe Case Formulation Approach to Cognitive-Behavior TherapyThe Crucible of ExperienceThe Education of Mrs. BemisThe Fall Of An IconThe Gift of TherapyThe Husbands and Wives ClubThe Love CureThe Making of a TherapistThe Mummy at the Dining Room TableThe Neuroscience of PsychotherapyThe Neuroscience of Psychotherapy: Healing the Social BrainThe New PsychoanalysisThe Philosopher's Autobiography The Portable CoachThe Portable Ethicist for Mental Health Professionals The Present Moment in Psychotherapy and Everyday LifeThe Problem with Cognitive Behavioural TherapyThe Psychodynamics of Gender and Gender RoleThe Psychotherapy Documentation PrimerThe Real World Guide to Psychotherapy PracticeThe Schopenhauer CureThe Talking CureThe Therapist's Guide to Psychopharmacology, Revised EditionThe UnsayableThe Wing of MadnessTheory and Practice of Brief TherapyTherapyTheraScribe 4.0Toward a Psychology of AwakeningTracking Mental Health OutcomesTreating Attachment DisordersWhat the Buddha FeltWhat Works for Whom? Second EditionWhy Psychoanalysis? |
| |
by J. Scott Fraser and Andrew D. Solovey American Psychological Association, 2007 Review by Rosemary Cook on Oct 14th 2008 
Research has determined that psychotherapy does indeed work. The question at hand now is "How does it work?" The authors of this book submit that the answer to this question has ramifications for all those involved in the practice of psychotherapy including professors, students, policy makers, insurance providers, and practitioners of all sorts. To answer the question the authors set out to provide a theoretical framework that cuts across all of the therapeutic approaches that have been empirically shown to be effective. In the past, those claiming to answer the question of how psychotherapy works have polarized into two opposing groups. These are referred to as the "best practice" group and the "common factors" group. The best practice group argues for specific therapy protocols for specific therapy populations, whereas the common factors group maintains that a positive client-therapist relationship, among other factors, is most significant in issuing forth positive change in therapy. Since each side presents a compelling argument the authors were (themselves) compelled to find a unifying factor that each side might share. In Greek mythology, the golden thread helped the warrior Thesus safely find his way to the center of a labyrinth and back. The tread traced his pathway through seemingly endless disorienting corridors in which his movement was (at times) contrary to intuition. Today there are a large and growing number of different, purportedly effective psychotherapies. However, their differences in approach and suggested mechanisms for change appear to contradict each other, creating a modern-day labyrinth for all those interested. What makes these treatments effective? What do they have in common? What pathways do they share, and what thread, if any, connects them? Those encountering this dilemma cry out for a modern golden thread to find their way (pp. 8-9). The authors contend that "second-order change" is that golden thread. They submit that the unifying perspective on "change" unites all effective psychotherapy. "First order change is defined as a class of resolutions that do not change a problem or make a problem worse. In Contrast, second-order change is a change of those first-order resolutions, which results in a resolution of the problem" (p. 15). First-order change is related to stability, while second-order change is related to transformation. Clearly, there is more to these brief definitions, and the authors do a fine job at preparing a presentation that could have gone way beyond the scope of this book. But, Frazer and Solovey draw upon their extensive clinical and theoretical backgrounds to offer this unifying theory. And by keeping the subject concise they make their point clear, understandable, and practical. Each clinical chapter follows a format where the authors formally define a problem to be addressed, and then analyze the "best practice" recommended for the clinical scenario, including a synopsis of the practical goals, steps, and research supporting it. Then, they examine the situation showing how second-order change operates as an underlying pathway to improvement in that therapeutic setting. In this way, case examples and comparisons with current therapeutic approaches place "second order" change in a practical light. Beyond this, the text offers recommendations for making the second-order shift in both practice and policy. While dealing with a fairly high-minded meta-analysis of psychotherapy, the authors have managed to keep this text at a very readable level (i.e., college level). Professors and researchers of clinical psychotherapy might benefit from reading this book. It would make a worthy addition to any graduate level clinical course. Given the unifying principle of second-order change, students might refrain from getting caught-up in the undue process of determining a best-practice approach to therapy, and thusly focus their attention on the process of change that is so essential to effective psychotherapeutic treatment. However, it is this reviewer's opinion that reading this book would benefit researchers, practitioners, and students alike. I will read it again, and I will probably refer to it often.
© 2008 Rosemary Cook
Rosemary Cook is a Psychotherapist in private practice living on Long Island, NY. |
|
|
|
|
