Building on Pretreatment Change to Construct the Therapeutic Solution: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

This paper reports the authors' “accidental” discovery that change in the problem situation frequently occurs prior to the first session, and that clients can often recall and describe such changes, if prompted. The authors describe one technique for eliciting reports of pretreatment change from clients, and discuss the results of an informal survey of 30 families who responded to this intervention. Rather than discounting pretreatment change as a “flight into health,” it can be framed in Batesonian terms as a “difference that makes a difference.”

“Almost There”...Why Clients Fail to Engage in Family Therapy: An Exploratory Study

“…Two other non-engagement factors identified by participants have also received previous support in the psychotherapy literature at large. For example, the concept that problems can improve in the time between intake and first appointment, ''pre-treatment change'' in the literature (Weiner- Davis, de Shazer, & Gingerich, 1987), or: ''the threat of therapy'' in street vernacular, was supported in this study. The most strongly rated factor relating to non-engagement was videotaping.…”

Protecting Children After a Divorce: Efficacy of Egokitzen—An Intervention Program for Parents on Children’s Adjustment

“…It should be noted that there might have been a pre-treatment change, as the pre-intervention evaluation was composed of three interviews with the participant, which might constitute an intervention in itself that may have an uncontrolled effect. Pretreatment change has been reported to take place somewhat frequently (Weiner-Davis et al 1987) and that meaningful changes can and should be identified and amplified (Kindsvatter et al 2010).…”

What Can Clients Tell Us about Seeking Counselling and Their Experience of It?

“…(2) A Sizeable Number of New Clients Who Attend a First Session Report that their Problems have Already Begun to Improve Weiner-Davis et al (1987) reported on an accidental discovery that has since become known as pretreatment change; that is, that even before counselling has begun, some clients report that their problem situation has improved in a desired way. Subsequently, systematic attempts to elicit this information by means of a series of 'pre-therapy change' questions have identified problem improvement in 25% to 50% or more of new clients (Johnson, Nelson, & Allgood, 1998;Lawson, 1994;Ness & Murphy, 2001;Throckmorton, Best, & Alison, 2001).…”