Problem-Centered Psychotherapy
Keyword(s):
Research and clinical experience suggest that no one treatment modality (e.g., behavioral, cognitive, exploratory) is effective with all psychological problems. Some problems are more effectively dealt with by one or the other treatment approach. Clinicians, however, are generally trained to offer only one approach; this means that the patient is offered the treatment with which the clinician feels most comfortable not necessarily the one which has been more effective with the problem the patient presents. Problem-centered psychotherapy means that the problem as brought in by the patient will define the treatment offered. Issues of training and assessment are discussed.