A four dimensional, integrative, categorial model of psychotherapy

Abstract

Integration of psychotherapeutic approaches has been notoriously dif cult because of incompatibility of technical procedures and theoretical concepts. A categorial analysis from a higher level of abstraction might be able to overcome these dif culties. A model is proposed with four dimensions: personal regard, a relationship component; structure, a planning component; consciousness, a cognitive component; and process, an individual component. It is maintained that these four dimensions span out the space within which psychotherapy of any lineage moves along. Problems with incompatibility of systems and techniques might stem from the fact that different schools of psychotherapy emphasize different aspects of this framework, while using the other aspects only implicitly. It might also be that clients with different problems and pathologies, and at different stages in therapy, need different approaches re ected in different weights of the four dimensions. The model could be used to arrive at a broader understanding of what psychotherapy does. Should it prove helpful, it could also be used as a means of understanding successful and unsuccessful therapies and as a prognostic tool.