Which therapy is most effective?

After practicing counseling for the last decade and a half, it is fascinating to see how no one therapy has proven to be most effective for all clients. Regardless of the empirical research that dictates the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapies, a myriad of therapies seems to blend together to offer what most clients need to grow therapeutically. Counselors who have a strong understanding of how different therapies work can use what is most appropriately determined by the client’s need.

The various kinds of therapy…

There are too many to list here but there are a few major therapies almost all counselors understand and many of them choose to work with. In graduate school, they referred to the various ‘waves of therapy and I found this helpful as they do flow back and forth between one another at times. The one mentioned above is probably the one that has been most studied and measured because it can be. Cognitive-behavioral therapy in essence brings forth the thoughts and behaviors of the person and uses techniques and interventions to explore the patterns that need fine-tuning or correction. It is a very clear type of treatment that aids in many areas, not the least of which includes anxiety, learning disorders, depression, and obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Psychodynamic therapies focus on the person’s motivations and struggles that emanate from a deeper place in their lives namely in childhood and the subconscious. This treatment is extremely effective in healing wounds and messages that the ‘here and now’ of cognitive-behavioral therapies cannot always address. A common and effective therapy is objection relations and one that is quite effective in couple’s treatment, family treatment, and individualized treatment as well. This explores the inner workings of relationships of the person all the way back to childhood and how those relationships may or may not have affected current struggles. Psychoeducation and solution-focused therapy might be one of the most effective with children, teens, and adults who respond well to learning as a form of improving behavioral and thinking functions.

What is missing?

Therapy is a dance and with every step, there is the possibility of growth, insight, and change depending on the readiness of the person. Here is what is used the most in treatment and found to be quite effective because it takes away the complexities that so many people bring into treatment in the first place. Counselors use the therapeutic relationship effectively by focusing on listening intently to the client’s story. But beyond the story, because it would be easy to get caught up in those, the focus is reflection and empathic listening followed by pulling and drawing patterns to help to see things more clearly. It is an honoring of emotions while also using the space to learn new skills, heal wounds, and become fully integrated.