It is essential to recognize that while integrative therapy is flexible, that doesn't mean that it is entirely without structure. Instead, therapists utilize their training and expertise to select the most beneficial techniques for a specific purpose and then integrate these approaches into a cohesive therapeutic experience.
There are many different types of psychotherapy that are integrative including cognitive analytic therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy , and schema therapy.
Research has found that such techniques can be effective in the treatment of a number of psychiatric conditions including depression, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, and personality disorders. This suggests that integrative therapies can have benefits for a wide range of conditions. While some therapists tend to stick to a specific style of therapy, research has found that most psychotherapists use at least some elements of an integrative approach in treatment.
The median number of theoretical orientations used in treatment was around four. It is important to note that integrative therapy is a very active process that involves a great deal of input from the individual. While in this type of treatment, your therapist may ask for information about your experiences, preferences, needs, and other factors that may affect which treatment techniques are suitable for your needs. Because integrative therapy tends to be more eclectic, the course of treatment may not follow a predictable schedule or pattern.
Multiple techniques may be used within a single session, and the goals and approach to the treatment may be changed as your therapist observes your progress and your needs throughout the treatment process. Getting started with integrative therapy involves finding a qualified mental health professional.
Many therapists take an integrative approach to treatment. You might start your search by talking to your primary care physician who can make recommendations and referrals. You might also consider looking through local directories or online therapist directories. Once you find a potential therapist, check their qualifications and educational background to get an idea of how they approach treatment. If they offer some type of consultation, ask questions about whether they practice integrative therapy.
Online therapy is another option you might consider. One study found that web-based integrative mindfulness interventions were an effective solution for reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression and for enhancing the quality of life. Ever wonder what your personality type means? Sign up to find out more in our Healthy Mind newsletter. Research on psychotherapy integration: building on the past, looking to the future. Psychother Res. Integrative psychotherapy works. Front Psychol.
Cognitive analytic therapy for personality disorder: randomised controlled trial. Br J Psychiatry. A systematic review of the evidence base for Schema Therapy. Cogn Behav Ther. What clinicians want: Findings from a psychotherapy practice research network survey. Psychotherapy Chic. Web-based mindfulness interventions for mental health treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis. Facebook Twitter RSS. Is Psychotherapy Integration Always Beneficial?
An Article Review. Used with permission. Cite This Article Swift, J. References American Psychological Association Submit a Comment Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience.
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These cookies do not store any personal information. Non-necessary Non-necessary. In some instances, the exposure is in vivo, as a patient may be asked directly to confront the source of the difficulties. In many cases, the exposure is verbal and in the imagination. However, in every case, the patient must talk about those difficulties or express them in some form and, by doing so, experiences those difficulties again.
In order for the treatment to be successful, the exposure often is followed by a new corrective emotional experience. The corrective emotional experience refers to a situation in which an old difficulty is re-experienced in a new and more benign way. As the patient learns to re-experience the problem in a new way, they find it is possible to master that problem and move on to a higher level of adjustment.
When the exposure occurs within the therapeutic alliance, both the therapist and the patient expect positive change to occur. This faith and hope is a common factor that is part and parcel of the change process that occurs in successful therapy. Without this hope and expectation of change on the part of the therapist, it is unlikely that they can deliver an intervention in a way that will be useful. If the patient does not have some expectation for change, it is unlikely that they will be particularly responsive to that intervention.
Moving to another common factor, there must be beneficial therapist qualities, such as paying attention to the patient, being empathic with the patient's circumstances and predicament, and demonstrating a positive regard for the patient. Finally among the common factors, the patient is provided with a rationale for the problems that are being experienced. The rationale comes directly from the therapist's theory. The same patient going to a series of therapists may be provided with a series of rationales for the same problem.
This leads to the very interesting question about whether the rationale that is provided must be an accurate one or whether it is sufficient that the rationale be credible to the patient. As long as credibility is sufficient and the patient now has a way of understanding what before had been incomprehensible, that may be sufficient and we need not get into the very thorny issue of ultimate truth. The second major approach to psychotherapy integration is assimilative integration Messer, A variant of this approach, technical eclecticism, is most common among many practitioners who refer to themselves as eclectic.
Assimilative integration is an approach in which a solid grounding in one theoretical approach is accompanied by a willingness to incorporate techniques from other therapeutic approaches. In technical eclecticism, the same diversity of techniques is displayed, but without a binding theoretical understanding.
The theoretical position with which I am most comfortable is a psychodynamic one Stricker and Gold, I try to understand my patients in terms of psychodynamic theory and find this very helpful in understanding what is going on in the course of the treatment. Nonetheless, I also find that there are many techniques not generated by psychodynamic theory, such as assigning homework to the patient, that work very well, and I would not hesitate to use them.
Using occasional cognitive-behavioral interventions, such as homework, and occasional humanistic approaches, such as a two-chair technique, but retaining the constancy of psychodynamic understanding, treatment can proceed in a relatively seamless manner. It is important that this seamless quality be present so that the patient's experience is of an easy flow of consistent treatment.
With the seamless approach, the patient is not aware that integration is taking place, but rather feels a consistent approach is being maintained.
After all, most patients are not familiar with theory and do not realize that different techniques are generated by different theoretical understandings. However, the therapist does, and it remains a very important challenge for theory to try to understand why any individual theory is limited--suggesting that the use of another technique can prove to be very helpful. Inherent in this is the idea that there is not a one-size-fits-all therapy.
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