ABSTRACT
In the single-session therapy (SST) literature, an important distinction is made between SST by default and SST by design. In the former, the person has had one therapy session, the therapist and the client agree to have a further session or sessions, but the client either cancels this appointment without rescheduling another or does not show for the second session. In SST by design, the therapist and the client at the outset plan to have a single session. This most often occurs when SST is by appointment. SST by design also occurs in walk-in services where the person knows that they can walk in and see a therapist and then walk out again. Whichever approach to SST by design is taken, it is important for the therapist and the client to agree on parameters if the face-to-face session is their first contact, or to review parameters even if they have already agreed on them at the pre-session contact.
