Relevant Therapeutic Skills In Psychotherapy

Therapeutic skills are an essential and indispensable tool when working in therapy. Psychologists or psychotherapists, therefore, have to learn these skills and implement them in sessions, just as they do with endorsed psychological techniques.

The concept of therapeutic alliance, originated in the psychodynamic model, was introduced by Bordin several decades ago. It can be conceptualized as an essential ingredient of change in any therapeutic model. That is, it is an ingredient that must be present throughout the treatment if we want it to really work.

The components of this therapeutic alliance are three: the bond between client and therapist, determined by the emotional tone and collaboration; the agreement on the objectives to be achieved and the agreement on the tasks to achieve these objectives.

Other authors, such as Rogers, from humanistic therapy, propose that the ingredients that must be present in all therapies are: the authenticity or congruence of the therapist, the unconditional acceptance of the client and empathy. In fact, Rogers believed that these components were necessary and sufficient for the change to take place. In addition to the essential alliance, other types of skills are also necessary that favor the creation of the alliance.

Important therapeutic skills in a therapist

In order to study the variables to be taken into account in the use of therapeutic skills, the study by Sloane et al. (1975) on the importance that patients give to these variables and what they consider the reason for success is mandatory. They were grouped into five:

• The personality of the therapist.
• Your ability to listen.
• The therapist’s way of gradually encouraging you to practice what was bothering you.
• The therapist’s ability to speak in a way that is understood.
• The help that the therapist offered him to understand himself.

Other authors, such as Ackerman and Hilseroth (2003) carry out a review of the publications on this topic and find that the characteristics of the therapist that favor the alliance are :

• Flexibility : he accepts and adapts his way of communicating to the situation and the patient in front of him
• Experience : shows clinical experience
• Honesty : the patient perceives it sincere
• Respect : the patient is respectful of values ​​and the way the patient expresses himself and communicates in general
• Loyalty : trustworthy
• Self-confidence : the patient perceives that he knows what he is doing
• Interest in the patient and his problem
• Attention : be aware of what happens in the session. That is, of the verbal and non-verbal manifestations of the patient
• Closeness : the patient perceives him to be close
• Warmth: loving, affectionate
• Open minded : understanding of other points of view

Currently, it can be concluded that there is abundant information on the importance of the characteristics of the therapist in the results of the treatment.

Studies indicate that the efficacy of treatment and the reduction of sessions is significantly greater when these strategies are used than when they are not.

And what happens within the sessions?

Approximately half of the patients who attend treatment drop out in the first session. Therefore, the first sessions are crucial to decide whether to continue or not.

Some studies reveal that the first interview in which the patient and therapist meet for the first time is decisive for most patients.

If we isolate the factors unrelated to the treatment, such as the economic possibilities of the patients or the trips to attend the session, the authors coincide in presenting two fundamental reasons that explain the dropouts. These are, on the one hand, the personal characteristics of the therapist and his lack of interest in the proposed intervention approach. On the other, that the patient believes they have improved significantly enough to decide not to continue.

Regarding early abandonment, studies suggest that it is the therapists’ verbal skills that influence the final success of the treatment, to the point that the number of dropouts is significantly lower in therapists who have these skills.

Therefore, in light of the studies, it is important for therapists to learn useful skills in therapy. It is not enough to have good or extensive knowledge, but you have to know when to put it into practice, how to present it and what type of patient. Training helps so much in this precision task.