ABSTRACT
Research is beginning to support the clinical observation that treatment outcomes are significantly improved when therapists maintain a treatment focus (Binder, 2004). However, maintaining that focus is not as easy as it may sound. After all, the lives of clients are complex and changing, and it is to be expected that they will want to discuss and process recent issues and concerns that arise between sessions. Oftentimes, these concerns are not directly related to the focus of treatment. The challenge is for therapists to “track” a treatment focus along “with flexibly modifying the content as new information arises and digressing from the initial focus as circumstances dictate” (Binder, 2004, p. 100). This chapter briefly discusses the value and challenge of maintaining a focus for treatment. Then it provides a case example and extended transcription of how a therapist seeks to “stay on track” with a very articulate client who easily and quickly shifts the focus to other issues and concerns.
