"Imagine yourself sitting in a session with a psychotherapist. Of course, you want to feel safe in that setting, respect the therapist, enjoy a strong relationship, agree on treatment goals, and feel motivated to do the work. All well and good, and all predictive of and contributing to your eventual treatment success. But you also want the psychotherapist to do something to help you. It would rarely suffice for them to be only a nice, warm, real person (and even at that, they have to do something to make you think they are ...
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"Imagine yourself sitting in a session with a psychotherapist. Of course, you want to feel safe in that setting, respect the therapist, enjoy a strong relationship, agree on treatment goals, and feel motivated to do the work. All well and good, and all predictive of and contributing to your eventual treatment success. But you also want the psychotherapist to do something to help you. It would rarely suffice for them to be only a nice, warm, real person (and even at that, they have to do something to make you think they are nice, warm, and real). You would probably want them to assess, listen, reflect, advise, interpret, support, challenge your irrational thoughts, be responsive to your cultural identities, provide new perspectives, offer feedback, teach you skills, or collaborate on between-session tasks"--
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