Effective Psychotherapists

"This volume should be required reading for anyone entering the mental health professions. Clear, easy to read, and eminently practical, it offers a needed counterbalance to the focus on manuals and therapeutic techniques that characterizes so much of therapist training. The text lays out the basic skills that any therapist, using any model of intervention, needs in order to be effective. What a refreshing perspective! The field of psychotherapy needs the wisdom in this text. We need to be reminded of the basic truth that interventions offered with skilled compassion and empathy are the essence of effective psychotherapy"--Susan M. Johnson, EdD, Professor Emeritus of Clinical Psychology, University of Ottawa, Canada; Distinguished Research Professor, Marital and Family Therapy Program, Alliant International University, San Diego "At long last, a book about the most important factor in psychotherapy--the person who delivers the treatment. And who better to author a book about effective psychotherapists than Miller and Moyers? Discussing the most crucial skills that therapists need to learn, this is a clinically focused presentation with a solid scientific basis. To top it off, Miller and Moyers discuss how the skills should be taught and learned through deliberate practice. This is an invaluable read for any practicing therapist and essential for all trainees. It is a solid supplemental text for a counseling theories course or primary text for a course on basic clinical skills."--Bruce E. Wampold, PhD, ABPP, Department of Counseling Psychology (Emeritus), University of Wisconsin-Madison "If I had a dime for every time I heard a therapist say, 'The relationship is the most important ingredient in psychotherapy,' I'd be wealthy. Finally, we have a book that translates this old bromide into clinical skills that actually improve client outcomes. If achieving better results is your professional development objective, Effective Psychotherapists provides the roadmap to success."--Scott D. Miller, PhD, Director, International Center for Clinical Excellence "Many practitioners conflate therapeutic effectiveness with a full caseload or professional reputation, but, to paraphrase Forrest Gump, effectiveness is as effectiveness does. Here's a definitive account on how to do effective therapy. Rooted in clinical science and grounded in the therapeutic relationship, this book demonstrates how you can improve your own relationship competencies and thus your outcomes. Cutting-edge science and application that both Carl Rogers and B. F. Skinner would endorse!"--John C. Norcross, PhD, ABPP, Distinguished Professor and Chair of Psychology, University of Scranton-

William R. Miller, PhD, is Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico. Fundamentally interested in the psychology of change, he is a cofounder of motivational interviewing and has focused particularly on developing and testing more effective treatments for people with alcohol and drug problems. Dr. Miller has published over 400 scientific articles and chapters and 50 books, including the groundbreaking work for professionals Motivational Interviewing, Third Edition, and the self-help resource Controlling Your Drinking, Second Edition. He is a recipient of the international Jellinek Memorial Award, two career achievement awards from the American Psychological Association, and an Innovators in Combating Substance Abuse Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, among many other honors. The Institute for Scientific Information has listed him as one of the world's most highly cited researchers. Theresa B. Moyers, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of New Mexico, where she conducts research on treatments for addictive behaviors, with a focus on motivational interviewing (MI). Her primary interests are identifying the active ingredients of MI as well optimal methods for disseminating it in addictions settings. Dr. Moyers has published more than 35 peer-reviewed articles and has presented on MI and addictions treatment in 16 countries. She is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers. In addition to her academic pursuits, she trains and competes with her border collie in the sport of dog agility.Her website is www.theresamoyers.com.

Preface I. Helping Relationships 1. An Invitation 2. Therapist Effects II. Therapeutic Skills 3. Accurate Empathy 4. Acceptance 5. Positive Regard 6. Genuineness 7. Focus 8. Hope 9. Evocation 10. Offering Information and Advice 11. The Far Side of Complexity III. Learning, Training, and Clinical Science 12. Developing Expertise 13. Teaching Therapeutic Skills 14. Toward a Broader Clinical Science References Index