ABSTRACT
The extraordinary growth of psychotherapy has spawned a profusion of theories, methods, and techniques, plus a host of ill-defined terms and a slew of misconceptions. The resultant chaos appears to be perpetuated mainly by several widespread myths, some contradictory to others, some interconnected:
The in-depth training provided by a specific system or school of psychotherapy is the best way to advance knowledge and help clients.
Integration or theoretical eclecticism augments the psychotherapeutic database and has synergistic effects.
A sound therapeutic relationship is usually both necessary and sufficient to produce significant change.
Common factors account for most of the outcome variance, and all approaches achieve essentially equal results.
There are no well-documented treatments of choice for particular problems or specific strategies for specific syndromes.
Cognitive therapy and behavior therapy are, at best, superficial; genuine change calls for attention to dreams, unconscious motivation, and intense feelings.
The therapist should have all members of the social network present at the initial interview, and unless all members of that network are treated, outcomes will be unbalanced or otherwise unsatisfactory.
What transpires in the patient-therapist relationship is a microcosm of all significant interactions in the patient’s environment.
Changes that accrue in the office, in the consulting room, or in a therapeutic group automatically generalize to the extratherapeutic environment.
Terms without concrete referents contribute to the understanding of problem generation or resolution (e.g., archetypes, borderline personality, transference).
