Your post is very interesting, and I must say I agree with much of what you've said. Psychotherapy is a relatively new science and practitioners come from several disciplines, as you know. All of these disciplines are based on their own theories. For instance, the training of a Licensed Clinical Social Worker is very different from that of a Marriage and Family Therapist. Psychiatrists, psychologists, professional counselors, and psychiatric nurses all come from different schools of thought. And that is not to mention addictions counselors. With that in mind, we then have pratitioners who are dedicated to CBT or Alderian Therapy or Gestalt or Psychoanalysis. Most describe themselves as eclectic, which doesn't really mean much. Then we have the EMDR folks, the rebirthing therapy people, ad infinitum. To me, it is unethical to utilize therapeutic techniques and methods that are not the standard for the industry. That means Cognitive Behavior Therapy in most cases. CBT is well-researched and that research generally shows that it works. As therapists we should not cobble together a theory based on a little Gestalt, a little Freud, a little Wilhelm Reich. Managed care rarely pays for therapies other than CBT or other behaviorally-based interventions. Why? For the same reason they pay only for medications that are approved for a particular condition -- because they work. My two cents' worth.
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