Chapter 2.What Is Psychotherapy?
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Excerpt
The answer to the question “What is psychotherapy?” usually includes some reference to “talk” and to “psychology” and perhaps to the idea of “analysis.” A dictionary might define it as the use of psychological methods to treat mental and emotional disorders. On the one hand, this simple definition leaves out any consideration of the complex relationship involved or the multitude of therapeutic variations. On the other hand, unnecessary complexity can obscure important aspects of psychotherapy that are simple and straightforward. It may not be possible to construct a definition that covers all of the different methodologies that lay claim to the “psychotherapy” title, but it is worthwhile to define the core qualities, the basic parts of any psychotherapeutic modality. In this chapter, I examine those generic features.
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