Common factors in psychotherapy

The evidence reviewed in Chapter 2 indicates that psychotherapy is effective in helping most people overcome psychological problems. A question arising from this conclusion is: What factors common to the wide variety of effective psychotherapies are responsible for their effectiveness? In this chapter the role of factors common to all forms of psychotherapy is the central focus. In Chapters 4 and 5 specific psychotherapy protocols that have been found to be particularly effective with a number of distinct problems will be considered.