The Power of Therapist Personhood

"When the wrong [person] uses the right means, the right means work in the wrong way" --Barry Stevens (1970, p. 7).?

????????????Beyond the many systems of psychotherapy, with their philosophical underpinnings, their underlying theories, their techniques, there is something more to consider, something on an entirely different plane. Consider this: techniques, as well as philosophies and theories, are “abstractions.” As abstractions, techniques are made concrete only through their expression by a therapist. That is, techniques come alive through the personhood of the therapist. "The technique only becomes a lived event as it is brought to life through the therapist's personal expression" (Smith, 2000, p. 44).?

"I suggest that no given technique, however objectively pure it seems in the abstract, when read about or talked about, is ever the same when given life by different persons. The ‘personal’?is, here, vital. It is the individual, personally mediated expression of the technique that is real and present for the person in therapy" (Smith, 2001, p. 73). Based on their review of a considerable body of research at the time, Michael Lambert and Allen Bergin (1994, p. 174) concluded that "despite careful selection, training, monitoring, and supervision, therapists offering the same treatments can have highly divergent results." Furthermore, it should be emphasized that the therapist factor prevails even when therapists are following an explicit protocol. Different therapists evidence different levels of efficacy, even when they do therapy "by the book," that is, manualized psychotherapy.

The techniques of a school of psychotherapy, as well as its philosophical underpinnings and its theoretical base, can be taught, of course. However, in order for a psychotherapist to go beyond a superficial or artificial application of techniques, it is her or his personal resources that are crucial. Being a psychotherapist may not be able to be taught in the same sense that being an artist may not be able to be taught. There are personal qualities that are needed in order for one to “be”?a therapist and not just “do”therapy.

When we look to the empirical research concerning the relationship between therapist variables and efficacy of psychotherapy, we find a wealth of data. As important as these data are, looking to some of the masters may help to create a more coherent description of what is meant by the personhood of the effective therapist. I review these in detail in?The Person of the Therapist?(Smith, 2003). Some of the masters' views can be summarized as follows:

Good will (Barry Stevens); empathic ability, unconditional positive regard, and genuineness (Carl Rogers); power and authenticity (Irma Lee Shepherd); non-duplicity and the desire to establish straightforward communication with relatively uncommunicative persons (Helmuth Kaiser); a willingness to be totally and subjectively involved and thus risk vulnerability and the revelation of one's own "patient vectors" (Carl Whitaker, Tom??Malone, Richard Felder, John Warkentin, Avrum Weiss); full presence (Virginia Satir); willingness to be transformed (Carl Jung); willingness to enter into an "I –Thou" relationship (Fritz Perls, James Simkin); humanness (Joen Fagan); awareness and authenticity (Patricia Baumgardner); freedom from "emotional plague" (Wilhelm Reich, Elsworth Baker); courage to engage the predicament of the person in therapy (Ken Bradford); communicative intimacy (James Dublin); authenticity (James Bugental). We may add to this list the advice of Plato that those who treat the mind possess knowledge, benevolence, and boldness.??

References

Lambert, M. J., & Bergin, A. E. (1994). "The Effectiveness of Psychotherapy." In A. E. Bergin & S.?

L. Garfield (Eds.),?Handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change?(4th?ed., pp. 143-189). New York: Wiley.

Smith, E. W. L. (2000). "Toward the Meaning of 'The Person of the Therapist.'" In B. J. Brothers?

(Ed.),?The personhood of the therapist?(pp. 43-49). New York: Haworth.

Smith, E. W. L. (2001). "The Person of the Therapist: Research Findings."?Voices, 37(2), 73-79.

Smith, E. W. L. (2003).?The person of the therapist.?Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Stevens, B. (1970).?Don't push the river. Moab, Utah: Real People.

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