Relation and technique in psychotherapy: Two partly overlapping categories.
(2017) In Journal of Psychotherapy Integration 27(1). p.59-78- Abstract
- The terms relation and technique are frequently used in discussions of what is effective in psychotherapy, but often on the assumption that they refer to conceptually separate phenomena. The present article questions this dichotomy between relationship and technique. This is done on the basis of a theoretical analysis of the concepts of technique and relationship, and the variety of phenomena they refer to. Techniques are defined as procedures prescribed as the means to reach some goal, that are made available to individuals through various kinds of training, education, and apprenticeship, and that result in the acquisition of skills and attitudes. It is argued that there are 2 basic categories of techniques in psychotherapy: (a)... (More)
- The terms relation and technique are frequently used in discussions of what is effective in psychotherapy, but often on the assumption that they refer to conceptually separate phenomena. The present article questions this dichotomy between relationship and technique. This is done on the basis of a theoretical analysis of the concepts of technique and relationship, and the variety of phenomena they refer to. Techniques are defined as procedures prescribed as the means to reach some goal, that are made available to individuals through various kinds of training, education, and apprenticeship, and that result in the acquisition of skills and attitudes. It is argued that there are 2 basic categories of techniques in psychotherapy: (a) relational techniques, which the therapist uses either explicitly or implicitly in the interaction with the patient, and (b)
self-techniques, which the therapist teaches the patient to use (or applies to him/herself). In addition, it is argued that the therapeutic relationship involves a number of nontechnical aspects that need to be systematically addressed. This model of technique and relationship as partly overlapping categories is illustrated with examples from psychodynamic therapy, cognitive– behavioral therapies and humanistic-experiential therapy. It is argued that the development of a comprehensive theory of psychotherapy would benefit from a systematic search through the literature to identify techniques that have been advocated by various therapists, and the use of thematic analysis to analyze the content of these techniques in terms of skills and attitudes. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/a9bf2678-b6ee-4e01-9c36-3c69be7d5418
- author
- Lundh, Lars-Gunnar LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2017-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Journal of Psychotherapy Integration
- volume
- 27
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 59 - 78
- publisher
- American Psychological Association (APA)
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85009787067
- ISSN
- 1053-0479
- DOI
- 10.1037/int0000068
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- a9bf2678-b6ee-4e01-9c36-3c69be7d5418
- date added to LUP
- 2017-03-15 20:51:36
- date last changed
- 2022-04-24 22:37:40
@article{a9bf2678-b6ee-4e01-9c36-3c69be7d5418,
abstract = {{The terms relation and technique are frequently used in discussions of what is effective in psychotherapy, but often on the assumption that they refer to conceptually separate phenomena. The present article questions this dichotomy between relationship and technique. This is done on the basis of a theoretical analysis of the concepts of technique and relationship, and the variety of phenomena they refer to. Techniques are defined as procedures prescribed as the means to reach some goal, that are made available to individuals through various kinds of training, education, and apprenticeship, and that result in the acquisition of skills and attitudes. It is argued that there are 2 basic categories of techniques in psychotherapy: (a) relational techniques, which the therapist uses either explicitly or implicitly in the interaction with the patient, and (b)<br/>self-techniques, which the therapist teaches the patient to use (or applies to him/herself). In addition, it is argued that the therapeutic relationship involves a number of nontechnical aspects that need to be systematically addressed. This model of technique and relationship as partly overlapping categories is illustrated with examples from psychodynamic therapy, cognitive– behavioral therapies and humanistic-experiential therapy. It is argued that the development of a comprehensive theory of psychotherapy would benefit from a systematic search through the literature to identify techniques that have been advocated by various therapists, and the use of thematic analysis to analyze the content of these techniques in terms of skills and attitudes.}},
author = {{Lundh, Lars-Gunnar}},
issn = {{1053-0479}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{59--78}},
publisher = {{American Psychological Association (APA)}},
series = {{Journal of Psychotherapy Integration}},
title = {{Relation and technique in psychotherapy: Two partly overlapping categories.}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/int0000068}},
doi = {{10.1037/int0000068}},
volume = {{27}},
year = {{2017}},
}