ABSTRACT
Pluralistic therapy was developed at a point in the history of psychotherapy when a massively wide range of therapy approaches had already been devised and were in everyday use. In addition, several decades of psychotherapy research, conceptual analysis and integrative initiatives had failed to arrive at an agreed or consensus theory of psychotherapy. Pluralistic therapy treats the diversity and multiplicity of psychotherapeutic theory and practice as a resource, and it espouses a critically appreciative attitude to all existing models of therapy. Training in pluralistic therapy incorporates the development of skills around dismantling and reassembling mainstream therapy approaches and using existing theories as narrative structures that can form the basis of shared understanding with clients. Research into the process of psychotherapy, and the interventions used by therapists from different approaches, suggests that there exists a core of 'common factors', such as instilling hope, offering a healing relationship and encouraging the client to express emotion, that can be observed in all approaches.
