Integrative Therapy: A Practitioner′s Guide - Softcover

O′Brien, Maja; Houston, Gaie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 076195385X ISBN 13: 9780761953852

Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2000

Synopsis

`This book is itself an integrative endeavour which lends authenticity to the work as a whole as it is written by two authors from different backgrounds....The integrative framework is clearly laid out, and some very central questions are asked and explored' - The Psychotherapy Review

Integrative Therapy is a timely and innovative guide for practitioners which explores what research has shown to be the effective dimensions of therapy whatever the therapist's orientation. Guided by the theory that no single approach can do justice to the complexity of human beings, the authors argue for the integration of theories and methods to best meet the needs of different clients at different stages.

At a time when integration rather than `schoolism' is increasingly seen as the way forward for counselling and psychotherapy, this book addresses questions which are central to the debate - `Does therapy work?' and `How does it work?'. The authors draw together research from all areas of therapy to pinpoint what is common as well as what is different in various approaches, making comparisons throughout between the three major models: psychodynamic, humanistic-existential and cognitive-behavioural.

Integrative Therapy aims to cultivate a spirit of willingness amongst therapists trained in a single model to learn from their colleagues trained in others. To help practitioners put theory into practice, the book provides a framework for assessing therapeutic effectiveness and includes exercises to illustrate how this can be done. For those in training this will be stimulating reading.

About this title

Review

`Students will also find much useful material, including evaluation of client assessment approaches and analysis of ethical dilemmas. Throughout the book the emphasis is on clients' needs, which sends out a message for all of us, whatever theoretical model we remain faithful to. it also contains a framework for an Intergrative Training course, giving details of Student Assessment and Appendices with exercises for facilitation of groups' - Self & Society

`Integrative Therapy has arrived to provide the integrative therapist with a working framework that deftly delineates the scope and state of contemporary integration without skirting the major issues that affect it.... As a trainee integrative therapist myself, I applaud O'Brien and Houston's work. Most of the reading material we encounter as integrative trainees is a compilation of theoretical books in various disciplines. A personal and professional synthesis of so many ideas in a novice's mind can be unnerving. We learn to trust that through our experiential work that our way of being will surely make us good therapists, and that an integrative theoretical understanding is sure to come later. This, however, can be very intimidating to trainees. O'Brien and Houston recognise this when they state that trainings "...which emphasis the uniqueness of the individual and places the theraputic relationship at the centre...dependent on subjectivity and intution"' - The Psychotherapy Review

`This book is itself an integrative endeavour which lends authenticity to the work as a whole as it is written by two authors from different backgrounds.... The integrative framework is clearly laid out, and some very central questions are asked and explored' - The Psychotherapy Review

About the Author

Gaie Houston is a writer, UKCP-registered psychotherapist and senior lecturer at The Gestalt Centre, London.

Edition details

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 076195385X
• ISBN 13: 9780761953852
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208