Doing Psychotherapy Effectively

Psychotherapy is a $2.5 billion business in the United States, but no one can answer the basic question of how therapy works. No watchdog groups rank therapists for potential consumers; no one school of thought has proven to be superior to another. And no method has emerged for determining what makes therapy successful for some but not for others. __Doing Psychotherapy Effectively__ proposes much-needed answers to the puzzling questions of what therapists actually do when they are effective.\ \ Mona Sue Weissmark and Daniel A. Giacomo offer a unique mode of evaluation that focuses not on a particular school of therapy but on the relationship between therapist and patient. Their approach, the "Harvard Psychotherapy Coding Method," begins with the assumption that good therapeutic relationships are far from intuitive. Successful relationships follow a pattern of behaviors that can be identified and quantified, as the authors demonstrate through clinical research and videotaped sessions of expert therapists. Likewise, positive changes in the patient, observed through client feedback and case studies, can be described operationally; they involve the process of overcoming feelings of detachment, helplessness, and rigidity and becoming more involved, effective, and adaptable.\ \ Weissmark and Giacomo explain and ground these principles in the practice of psychotherapy, making __Doing Psychotherapy Effectively__ an accessible and pragmatic work which will give readers a tool for measuring therapeutic effectiveness and further understanding human transformation. For the first time, successful therapy is described in a way that can be practiced and communicated. Psychotherapy is a $2.5 billion business in the United States, but no one can answer the basic question of how therapy works. No watchdog groups rank therapists for potential consumers; no one school of thought has proven to be superior to another. And no method has emerged for determining what makes therapy successful for some but not for others. "Doing Psychotherapy Effectively" proposes much-needed answers to the puzzling questions of what therapists actually do when they are effective.Mona Sue Weissmark and Daniel A. Giacomo offer a unique mode of evaluation that focuses not on a particular school of therapy but on the relationship between therapist and patient. Their approach, the "Harvard Psychotherapy Coding Method", begins with the assumption that good therapeutic relationships are far from intuitive. Successful relationships follow a pattern of behaviors that can be identified and quantified, as the authors demonstrate through clinical research and videotaped sessions of expert therapists. Likewise, positive changes in the patient, observed through client feedback and case studies, can be described operationally; they involve the process of overcoming feelings of detachment, helplessness, and rigidity and becoming more involved, effective, and adaptable.Weissmark and Giacomo explain and ground these principles in the practice of psychotherapy, making "Doing Psychotherapy Effectively" an accessible and pragmatic work that will give readers a tool for measuring therapeutic effectiveness and further understanding human transformation. For the first time, successful therapy is described in a way that can be practiced and communicated."A thoughtful and provocative book onthe complex processes of psychotherapy". -- Jerome Kagan, Author of Galen's Prophecy: Temperament in Human Nature "Doing Psychotherapy Effectively proposes much-needed answers to puzzling questions of what therapists actually do when they are effective." "Mona Sue Weissmark and Daniel A. Giacomo offer a unique mode of evaluation that focuses not on a particular school of therapy but on the relationship between therapist and patient. Weissmark and Giacomo's approach, the Harvard Psychotherapy Coding Method, begins with the assumption that good therapeutic relationships are far from intuitive. Successful relationships follow a pattern of behaviors that can be identified and quantified, as the authors demonstrate through clinical research and videotaped sessions of expert therapists. Often these behaviors have little to do with the rational, theoretical accounts provided in psychotherapy textbooks. Likewise, positive changes in the patient, observed through client feedback and case studies, can be described operationally; they involve the process of overcoming feelings of detachment, helplessness, and rigidity and becoming more involved, effective, and adaptable." "Weissmark and Giacomo explain and ground these principles in the practice of psychotherapy, making Doing Psychotherapy Effectively an accessible and pragmatic work that will give readers a tool for measuring therapeutic effectiveness and further understanding human transformation. The Harvard Psychotherapy Coding Method transcends the differences among psychotherapies by focusing on practice rather than theory. Weissmark and Giacomo provide, for the first time, a framework for understanding successful therapy and a practical guide to achieving effectiveness."--Jacket