Good Model of Therapy?… Not for us to decide…

March 19th, 2007

Hi Friends, I’m writing to clear up some confusion about Good Therapy’s position on the different models of therapy list. Originally our intention was to limit the list to only models we could endorse as nonpathologizing, empowering, and collaborative. This is truly a difficult task, one that requires the research funding of a large university, not the salary of a private practice therapist. And becasue it’s not the theory that makes a model healthy and effective, but rather the therapist, we see little point in focusing our attention on evaluating models. Sure, it makes sense for models to be evaluated, but we’re not the ones to do that. It’s clear from my recent post on psychoanalysis that my own bias would get in the way anyhow :) With all that said, we do reserve the right to exclude a model if it clearly conflicts with the element of good therapy, as we’ve defined them…. So, in an effort to be clear about our policy and position on the models of therapy list, I’m repeating here what we state on models of therapy page:

“The following is a list of therapies which can, if used accordingly, adhere to the spirit, philosophy, and principles of what we at GoodTherapy.org believe to be “good therapy.” Some have been around for many years, others are relatively new. Some have been grounded in research, others in theory, and some rely on anecdotal evidence. Some are popularly accepted, others are cutting edge, and some controversial. GoodTherapy.org is not in a position to endorse or disapprove any therapy models. Our intention is to promote the use and awareness of the universal elements of good therapy which can be found across therapies. However, we do reserve the right to exclude models which clearly conflict with the elements of good therapy. We encourage you to explore, research, and discover for yourself which therapies may be a fit for you. We’ve included links to other sites with information on these models so you can have any easy starting point. We wish you the best on your journey :)

For those searching for help, please know that even a healthy model of therapy can be used in an unhealthy way. The therapist you choose is a very important factor in whether a therapy intended to work collaboratively and to empower actually does so. Also, the following list is a work in progress; there are therapies not yet listed here. As we become familiar with other approaches we will add them to this list. Click here to suggest a model of therapy that is not on our list. ”

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