How to Fail as a Therapist - New 2nd Edition

Editorial Reviews

"…provides useful information and shares numerous lessons of relevance for all psychotherapists."

-- Jeffrey E. Barnett, PsychCRITIQUES, APA Review of Books



"Practical advice on how to bypass obstacles and sidestep pitfalls that cause clients to drop out of therapy."

-- Behavioral Science Book Service

Customer Reviews

Bernard Schwartz, Ph.D. and John V. Flowers, Ph.D.
	Bernard Schwartz, Ph.D., has written a number of books, including the highly successful How to Get Your Children to Do What You Want Them to Do. He has specialized in the fields of sports psychology, and child custody evaluations, and has written extensively on both subjects.
	John V. Flowers, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology at Chapman University and a clinical psychologist in private practice. His research has focused on psychotherapy process and outcome, and more recently psychotherapy in the cinema. He has authored dozens of journal articles, seven prior books and made hundreds of presentations to scientific societies.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Arnold A. Lazarus

Introduction

1. Failing to Recognize Our Limitations as Therapists


Part I - How to Fail Even Before You Start Therapy

2. Ignoring Client Strengths, Capabilities, and Resources

3. Failing to Address Client Expectations about Therapy

4. Ignoring the Client's "Stage-of-Change" or Commitment Level

5. Failing to Inspect the Client’s Previous Experience with Psychotherapy

6. Failing to Explain the Therapist’s Expectations Regarding the Therapeutic Process

7. Failing to Prepare Clients for the Variety of Emotions That Therapy Can Evoke

8. Failing to Enhance Client Expectations of Success


Part II - How to Perform Incomplete Assessments

9. Failing to Assess Psychological Reactance

10. Underutilizing Clinical Assessment Instruments

11. Failing to Challenge Client "Self-Misdiagnoses"

12. Failing to Assess for the Possibility of Organic or Medical Conditions


Part III - How to Ruin the Therapist-Client Relationship

14. Emphasizing Technique over Relationship Building

15. Failing to Communicate Sufficient Empathy and Other Signs of Support

16. Believing That Empathy and Unconditional Positive Regard Means Liking Your Client

17. Failing to Elicit Client Feedback on the Alliance

18. Ignoring the Client’s Verbal and Nonverbal Feedback

19. Responding Defensively to Negative Client Feedback


Part IV - How to Avoid Collaboration with the Client

20. Setting Goals Unilaterally

21. Failing to Develop Collaborative Goals in Early Sessions

22. Failing to Include the Client in Setting Session Agendas


Part V - How to Ignore Science

23. Disregarding the Data

24. Attending to the Messenger Not the Message

25. Achieving Theoretical Rigor Mortis


Part VI - How to Set Improper Therapist-Client Boundaries

26. Overidentifying with the Client

27. Allowing Inappropriate Levels of Physical Intimacy

28. Having Boundaries That Are Too Rigid

29. Making Inappropriate Levels of Therapist Self-Disclosure

30. Failing to Set Boundaries for Out-of-Session Client-Therapist Contact


Part VII - How to Guarantee Noncompliance with Assignments

31. Developing the "Out-of-Session Activity" Unilaterally

32. Failing to Adequately Prepare Clients for the "Assignment"

33. Failing to Provide Backup Support to Increase Compliance


Part VIII - How to Make Bad Attitudes Worse

34. Failing to Prepare the Client for Attitude Change

35. Relying on Passive Learning Strategies

36. Failing to Attend to the Client's Core Beliefs

37. Failing to Explain That Attitudes Are Not Fixed Traits


Part IX - How Not to Confront Clients

38. Responding Passively to the Client’s Unproductive Behaviors

39. Responding in an Aggressive or Insensitive Way


Part X - How to Get Clients to Refuse Medication

40. Failing to Prepare Clients in Advance for the Possibility of Medication

41. Failing to Be Prepared for Client Objections, Concerns, and Resistance to Medication


Part XI - How Not to Terminate Therapy

42. Failing to Discuss Termination Early in Therapy

43. Failing to Follow Proper Termination Procedures

44. Confusing Termination and Abandonment

45. Failing to Be Prepared to Deal with the Myth of Time-Limited Therapy


Part XII. How to Achieve Therapist Burnout

46. Failing to Monitor One’s Own Well-Being

47. Failing to Balance Work and Leisure

48. Ignoring the “Comfort Zone” of the Environment

49. Overspecializing


Part XIII - How to Fail Working with Children

50. Forgetting to Include "The Village" in Children's Therapy

51. Believing that "Children Should Be Seen but Not Heard" in the Treatment Planning Process

52. Talking Too Much in Talk Therapy

53. Exploring Intense Emotions Prematurely

54. Talking to Children So They Don't Listen

55. Interrogating Instead of Conversing

56. Believing That Psychological Assessment Is Not for Kids


Part XIV - A Final Word: The Power of Human Resiliency

57. Undervaluing the Power of Human Resiliency


Appendix A. Therapist Self-Assessment Questionnaire

Appendix B. Assessment Instruments: Therapist Effectiveness

Appendix C. Assessment Instruments: Clinical Issues

Suggested Reading

Bibliography

Index