Psychotherapy Process, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1980 Current Issues and Future Directions

Whatever else it may be, psychotherapy offers a clear form of human com­ passion channeled through myriad assumptions about the causes and solu­ tions of human distress. There has, of course, been a longstanding debate about whether the psychotherapist is best described (and trained) as an artisan or a scientist. Volumes of scholarly argument have also addressed such themes as the essential ingredients of psychotherapy, the role of tech­ nique, the importance of client characteristics, and the significance of the therapist's personality. Experts have defended a wide range of opinions on these issues and have mustered evidence to support their individual claims. The purpose of the present volume is neither to defend nor to expand any specific claim about psychotherapy. Rather, it is intended to be a heuristic compendium of contemporary views on this humane endeavor. At the most basic level of analysis, the field of psychotherapy research now faces three fundamental questions: 1. Is psychotherapy effective? 2. When and why is it effective? 3. How should psychotherapists be trained? The latter two questions obviously presume that the first can be answered affirmatively. Although I would hardly defend the generalization that all forms of psychotherapy are effective for all clients, it is equally clear that there is now ample warrant for the contention that some of the things we do in our fifty-minute hours seem to have positive effects.

1 A Structural and Transactional Approach to Cognition in Clinical Problems.- Commentary Egocentrism and Evidence: Making Piaget Kosher.- 2 The Transpersonal Stance.- Commentary Being One: The Search for Transpersonal Psychology.- 3 Personal Construct Psychology: A Theory to Be Elaborated.- Commentary George Kelly’s Anticipation of Psychology: A Personal Tribute.- 4 Psychotherapy as Coping Skills Training.- Commentary Cognitive Behavior Therapy as Psychodynamics Revisited.- 5 Principles of Cognitive Therapy.- Commentary A Manual for a Cognitive Therapy.- 6 Psychotherapy and the Structure of Personal Revolutions.- Commentary “De-Controlling” Cognition and Cognitive Control: Toward a Reconciliation of Cognitive and Dynamic Therapies.- 7 Cognitive Behavior and Its Roles in Psychotherapy: An Integrative Account.- Commentary And Now for Something Completely Different: Cognition and Little r.- 8 Imaginal Processes: Therapeutic Applications and Theoretical Models.- Commentary Imaginal Processes: A Glimpse of the Promised Land.- 9 Biomedical and Health Factors in Psychotherapy.- Commentary Treating the Whole Patient—The Psychologist as a Member of the Health Team.- 10 Toward Specifying the “Nonspecific” Factors in Behavior Therapy: A Social-Learning Analysis.- Commentary Catalyzing the Integration of Social-Learning Theory and Behavior Therapy.- 11 Rhetoric and Psychotherapy.- Commentary Aristotle as Psychotherapist.- 12 Psychotherapy from the Perspective of Cognitive Theory.- Commentary Three Cognitive Psychologies and Their Implications.- 13 Psychotherapy and Philosophy of Science: Examples of a Two-Way Street in Search of Traffic.- Commentary Psychotherapy and Science: Impurely Rhetorical.