Shift in Focus from Therapist to Patient

• All About This Forum by Scott Miller, Ph.D., 10/29/98
  
  

I think that there is beginning to be a shift toward a new focus--on the patient and the role of patient characteristics/behaviors in successful treatment. This is exemplified particularly in the addictions area where studies such as Project MATCH have had as their specific focus patient characteristics associated with change, and in "new" treatment technologies such as Miller's motivational interviewing which focus on mobilizing natural healing processes and capitalizing on patient strengths rather than solely focusing on patient deficits.

This movement, along with a shift toward harm reduction strategies generally, has begun to put the client/patient back into the center of the therapeutic enterprise. That is, of course, where the client belongs!

I agree with Scott that we have, perhaps, focused too much on therapists, perhaps too much on techniques, and not enough on what works with what types of client. I think that we need to combine these foci into a more wholistic view of what happens in treatment--along with beginning to disseminate empirically supported technologies more widely.

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