If you are in serious emotional pain, waiting until all of the research results are in is just not possible; you need help now. In spite of incomplete knowledge in psychotherapy, a large body of information has come from studies of the effectiveness of therapies for different problems and for different kinds of people. But until now this information existed only in fragmented form and was familiar only to professional psychologists. Enough data are in to begin to draw reasonable guidelines for individuals who seek psychological help.
The mapping process described in this chapter is the result of assembling and then organizing large quantities of data from many sources. It was then necessary to design an easily followed step-by-step approach to enable you to narrow down the many therapeutic alternatives to a small number that, through your efforts and the assistance of a therapist, can be of help to you. Guidelines of this kind are never static; they will change to some extent as time and knowledge advance.
OBSTACLES TO FINDING A THERAPY THAT FITS YOU
There are real obstacles to efficient treatment in psychotherapy. They cost people much time, energy, hope, and money as they try to find appropriate help. Psychotherapy is not yet a systematic field.
There are three main reasons why it is so difficult to find approaches to therapy that will fit individual clients and their needs:
* Emotional and mental difficulties vary tremendously. Psychologists and psychiatrists are still in the process of classifying the kinds of emotional and mental problems people have.
* People are individuals. Their personalities, likes and dislikes, and motivations for entering therapy differ greatly.
* Therapists, too, are individuals. Their personalities, interests, values, and motivations for offering therapy differ greatly. Their professional training and preferences in favor of one or several approaches to therapy also vary significantly.
As a result, what works for one patient will not necessarily work for another. What helps and who helps in one person's situation may not help in another's. Yet all three of the factors on which effective treatment depends—a patient's goals and problems, his or her personality traits, and the approach of the therapist—in many cases can be matched intelligently. You, as a prospective client, know a great deal about yourself; it doesn't make sense to choose arbitrarily among the many therapies. It takes very little time to map your way: in the process, you will learn more about yourself, what to anticipate in therapy, and in what direction to start.