Can a control model approach assist case formulation in psychotherapy?

Abstract

This paper looks at issues regarding case formulation in psychotherapy. Case formulation is well recognized as being helpful in the conceptualizing of psychological problems and as a useful tool in the practice of cognitive therapy. Control, as opposed to behaviour, is increasingly being seen as that human process most relevant to psychopathology. We look at the diagnosis and treatment of a small number of people, treated in a naturalistic setting, who were selected without any specific criteria other than being people whose problems were treated using the Method of Levels, a form of cognitive therapy based on the principles of Perceptual Control Theory, and who completed both pre- and post-treatment questionnaires. We then consider how the problems these people presented with, and their treatment, might be formulated as a result of taking this approach.

Show us a behaviour without a cognition and we'll show you a rock rolling down a hill

“…Control theories propose that when psychological therapies like CBT work well, they help people shift awareness to higher levels of control so that they can manage and balance the lower processes more flexibly. Spratt & Carey (2009) describe eight case examples where the concept of control was central to the formulation and treatment of the patients' problems.…”