Perhaps even more than professional background, the therapist’s theoretical approach to clinical practice is a decisive facet in defining a psychotherapist’s identity, 6 and those theoretical approaches are also very diverse. In the clinical literature there appear to be literally hundreds of theoretical orientations, often closely related to one another, and with labels differing just by a word or two, sometimes prompted by therapists’ desires to have their own “brand” in the marketplace.
Orlinsky, David E.. How Psychotherapists Live (p. 15). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.
When people ask me what kind of psychotherapist I am I say, “I am a practical therapist. I talk with people about what might help with the problems they are trying to manage and when they return for their next session I ask, ‘How has that been working for you?”
People laugh, and I laugh, and it’s all good.
