Lessons contemporary counselors can learn from the exploratory therapies

Abstract

The history of talk therapy is characterized by ideological trends rather than incremental progress. When a new trend is ascendant, insights from prior eras may be forgotten or lost. Currently, counseling is arguably dominated by an ideology of symptom reduction. Therefore, insights from the prior exploratory phase of talk therapy may be difficult for modern practitioners to access. I discuss eight important lessons that contemporary counselors can learn from exploratory therapies.