ABSTRACT
The question posed here is of particular interest to an integrative approach to psychotherapy, where there is an assumption that there is no one best way to proceed, and where the uniqueness of the person and their context are paramount. Clearly, a careful collaborative analysis with the client will be important in order to ascertain what might be the best approach to deal with the presenting issues. In the ®eld of psychotherapy research there is a hot debate that continues about this matter. Some approaches to psychotherapy research favour the identi®cation of symptoms or particular psychological disturbances with the parallel identi-®cation of approaches that are deemed most suitable as a response, as well as the length of time that will be necessary for effective treatment. A somewhat different approach favours the identi®cation of common factors which are relevant regardless of the type of technique employed. Asay and Lambert (1999) divide common therapeutic factors into four different categories, each with a percentage contribution to therapeutic outcome derived from relevant research ®ndings. These authors propose that extratherapeutic and client factors account for 40 per cent of change, the therapeutic relationship for 30 per cent, expectancy and placebo effects for 15 per cent and speci®c techniques for 15 per cent. These data demonstrate the relatively small effect of a particular therapeutic approach to outcome. Seligman (1995) has also drawn attention to the fact that clients who are actively involved in seeking the right therapist and who are motivated to inquire about the speci®cs of the services offered are more likely to achieve a positive outcome.
