THERAPY AND POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGYand attachment styles of previous relationships are played out in other,
newer relationships, including the relationship with the therapist. For
example, a client whose father was absent or aloof in their childhood,
who then proceeds to behave in a filial fashion towards his therapist
may be considered to be exhibiting transference. Counter-transference
is simply the label given for when these kinds of processes affect the
therapist’s behaviour toward the client. A key part of many forms of
psychodynamic therapy is interpreting and identifying issues of trans-
ference that may be affecting a client’s current relationships.
HUMANISTIC-ORIENTED THERAPIES
In psychoanalysis and other psychodynamic therapies, the therapist
usually plays what’s called a directive role, overtly assisting the analysand
in resolving and interpreting their issues. In contrast, the psychologist
Carl Rogers (1902–87) pioneered a more person-centred approach to
world, where clients may be more complicated and unpredictable.
Related to this is the claim that some forms of therapy are more
amenable to research and measurement, especially those, like CBT,
which are more technical. That’s probably the reason why CBT (and its
offshoots like DBT) have gained more research support than probably
any other therapeutic approach.
One curious finding that emerges from many comparisons of
effectiveness is that outcomes are often fairly equivalent regardless
of the particular therapy that’s used. In fact, this occurs so frequently
that it’s been given a name – the Dodo bird verdict, after the Dodo in
Alice in Wonderland, who organizes a race in which everyone wins. The
phenomenon has led to the claim that what makes therapy effective
is not the particular approach that’s used, but rather key common
factors, including the quality of the relationship between the therapist
and client – what’s usually called the therapeutic alliance.
Other important factors for success (or otherwise) include the
motivation of the client, what their expectations are, and how much
support they have outside therapy. Other research has focused on
the therapist. Irrespective of their chosen therapeutic orientation,
a minority of therapists are unusually effective – dubbed “super
shrinks” in the research literature – while others are particularly poor.
Unfortunately, quite what these super shrinks have going for them
remains rather elusive, with obvious explanations such as years of
experience or professional status proving to be relatively irrelevant.