ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the values and techniques of those professionals who place their faith in science. They are also keen to show that their methods actually produce results. Academic researchers are interested in the process of therapy as well as its benefits, in other words, in how change comes about. Process research can help pinpoint principles of good practice, and also the skills and personality characteristics that differentiate therapists who get good or poor results. Technical therapies have a variety of theoretical rationales, values, and philosophies. By choosing a goal for therapy, and a way of reaching it, a technical therapist has already made a moral choice about how best to resolve a problem. Andrew Salter developed assertiveness therapy, now widely available as a form of interpersonal skills training in educational settings. Techniques employed to deal with a specific problem are also expected to have wider beneficial consequences and help a client to make the most of life’s opportunities.
