Psychotherapy

I believe that the art of psychotherapy is more important than the use of empirically validated treatments (EVT). I feel that the art of psychotherapy exists through the use of the common factors, which include the therapeutic relationship, client and therapist factors (e.g., personality), helping clients deal with problems, and hope or expectancy factors (Reisner, 2005). Although I do believe that empirically validated treatments may enhance the therapeutic process, the treatments themselves are by no means the most important or fundamental aspects of therapy. I agree with the idea presented by Allen (2008) that scientific knowledge is important, but it is not sufficient for the successful outcomes in psychotherapy. There appears, at least to me, to be much more of an art involved in developing the relationship with the client and understanding the client’s perspective, and if this cannot be done successfully then it is unlikely that individualized techniques could be successfully applied.

Managed care has not completely eradicated the art of psychotherapy; however, as more research reveals EVTs are effective on more disorders, the use of the art of psychotherapy will likely decline. This would occur due to managed care’s preferences for the use of EVT, since there is evidence that they likely work quickly, saving time and money (Cukrowicz et al., 2005). In order to receive reimbursement and compete with psychopharmacology, there is a growing necessity for the reliance on empirically validated therapy (Reisner, 2005). However, certain artful tactics involved in psychotherapy will never be entirely removed, such as the development of a therapeutic relationship (Allen, 2008). With the rise of EVT, there is a possibility that mana...

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... generally equal in how effective they are, but generally, it is the common factors across therapies that account for the most improvement in clients, not the specific techniques or treatments that are used (Reisner, 2005). Psychotherapy is arguably an art that cannot be conducted without some sense or understanding of life, meaning, and relationship issues that cannot be learned from science alone (Allen, 2008).

Ideally, therapy should involve both science (empirically validated treatments) and art by combining the therapeutic relationship and knowledge of the client’s needs with the proper treatment techniques. Overall, I do not feel that manualized treatments will ever completely replace the art of psychotherapy; however, it is likely that the combination of manualized treatments and the art of psychotherapy will lead to more successful therapeutic outcomes.