ABSTRACT
One of the main ways in which therapists can maintain a collaborative working relationship and keep therapy focused is to keep in mind the overall structure of therapy. Although the actual content of therapy will focus on understanding the development and maintenance of the patient’s beliefs and behaviour, and on resolving the patient’s current problems and consequent distress, each session of therapy will follow a recognizable pattern. Without this basic structure to therapy, both patient and therapist are likely to find themselves getting caught up in specific problems without ever having reflected on how they got there and without a clear direction to progress therapy. Having a clear structure allows therapy to progress in incremental stages, each building on the previous one.
