How Therapy Works

This is the first of our final series describing all the problems you are likely to encounter that psychotherapy can address. In this companion to the first half of Chapter 14, we look at voluntary avoidance, nonverbal schemas, reenactment and acting out. With each type of problem, we discuss some of the challenges and solutions that will help make the therapy clear and successful.

This is the last of the "how to" chapters and covers issues like how much to talk, how to work with different attachment styles and how to decide about homework. The next chapter begins the final section on what different kinds of problems you will encounter as a therapist and how to work with them.

Why Dr. Smith has traded the concept of transference for that of the inner child, and how to work with this alternative approach. Accompanies Chapter 12 in Psychotherapy: A Practical Guide

We explore the therapeutic relationship and how best to manage it, corresponding to Chapter 11 in the book, Psychotherapy: A Practical Guide.

We continue with a look at the cycles and phases of therapy and how some change processes take place over a longer time course than others, (before moving on to the next episode on the therapeutic relationship).

In this episode, we discuss how to begin sessions, how to follow the flow, when to intervene, and when not to in a generic form of psychotherapy adaptable to any style or orientation. 

This episode is the beginning of part II, focusing on what therapists actually do, and how to go about it. The companion chapter of the book presents ideas and principles regarding the first session. We use an approach that is generic and adaptable to any kind of talk therapy. 

In this episode, corresponding to Chapter 8 in Psychotherapy: A Practical Guide, we give therapists a concise guide to those developmental periods and steps where problems are most likely to affect clients in their adult lives and where understanding has an important role in helping clinicians make sense of what they see.

Motivation from within and without is a very important factor affecting every therapy. In this episode, a companion to Chapter 7 in Psychotherapy: A Practical Guide, we explore all the ins and outs of this critical factor.

Paired to chapter 6 in Psychotherapy: A Practical Guide, we delve into just how connection leads to mindfulness and mindfulness leads to the healing of painful emotions, especially from loss, trauma, and neglect. See Dr. Smith's website www.howtherapyworks.com and tell us about your experiences.