[danimal]

Originally Posted by OhioBlue

I could go on for a while on this topic, so I'll try to be concise. I have no problem with CBT per se. I have a problem with mindless implementation of any set of techniques at the expense of the effort it takes to try to understand the person in front of you. I have a problem with therapists that, when faced with the complexity and ambiguity of trying to help another human being, assuage their own anxiety by just picking up their favorite hammer and assuming everyone is a nail. I have a problem with those who sing the praises of CBT or other similar techniques but whose eyes glaze over with confusion when you ask them about the implications and philosophical assumptions of what they're doing and why. IMO, some of the most dangerous therapists out there are those who use technique for technique's sake, with no ability to explain why they are doing what they are doing. The ones that are constantly looking to fill up their tool belt with cute little in-session activities and techniques, and take a flavor-of-the-month approach to their client's problems. I believe that fortunately, sometimes these therapists succeed in spite of themselves, because thankfully our clients are often capable of distilling from the therapy experience those things that are actually helpful to them. But it's interesting to me that, despite every camp's efforts to prove the greater efficacy of their approach (CBT, DBT, Cognitive, dynamic, etc etc etc), the meta-analytic research simply does not bear that out. In other words, we're not very good as a profession at identifying how it is that we're actually most helpful to people (see anything by Bruce Wampold, or google therapy and the Dodo Bird effect).

I hope that explains my position a little better. I use cognitive and behavioral principles all the time in my work, and successfully.

Few psychologists that i speak with are familiar with Wampold or most psychotherapy research. The simply do what they were taught to do -- CBT. That's the problem with being both a research and a professional degree. Few people are well informed by both.