Toward Science-Practice Integration in Brief Counseling and Therapy

Abstract

Increased interest in the practice of brief counseling and therapy has been accompanied by an expansion of research activity. Nevertheless, signs abound of a schism between science- and practice-based understandings. This article outlines major approaches to brief counseling practice, including psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and strategic; summarizes recent research on brief therapeutic outcomes and processes; and identifies overlapping themes in the science and practice literatures. An integrative model of brief intervention, capable of being flexibly modified for a variety of client populations, is offered as a framework for future practice, research, and training activities.

Counsellor bias against shorter term counselling? A comparison of counsellor and client satisfaction in a Canadian setting

“…According to the Counselling Centre Data Bank, for example, time-limited counselling practices in the United States increased from 29.8% in 198229.8% in -198329.8% in to 52% in 199029.8% in -199129.8% in (Magoon, 198329.8% in , 1991. Similarly among Canadian university counselling centres there is a trend toward time-limited counselling (Warner, 1993(Warner, , 1994, and this is consistent with what Steenbarger (1992) has described as an explosion of interest in short-term approaches to counselling and psychotherapy (in the literature, and in this paper, the terms brief counselling and brief psychotherapy are used interchangeably to refer to both time-limited and shortterm interventions).…”

“…The estimates of the average number of sessions range from a median of 3.7 interviews (Pardes & Pincus, 1981), to a mean of around six sessions (Bloom, 1992), to a more conservative figure of under 10 sessions (Garfield, 1989). Given the reality that in practice that therapy is brief (more by default than design, however), brevity should be intentionalized in the treatment process (Steenbarger, 1992). De Shazer (1985) sums it up welt: "Since six to ten sessions is all that can be expected, then the model needs to be built on that reality rather than on some ideal, hypothetically unlimited number of sessions" (p. 5).…”

Transforming School Counseling to Serve the Mental Health Needs of At‐Risk Youth

“…Having limited time to spend with individuals makes these models especially attractive for school counselors. Steenbarger (1992) supported the capability of brief counseling to effect sustained change, but advised counselors to recognize that this model is more than long-term work compressed in fewer sessions (p. 439). Because effective prevention programs necessitate a focus on change in the environment as well as the individual, shortterm models allow counselors to address individual needs without having to engage in more time-consuming, longterm individual counseling relationships that take time away from other types of interventions.…”

School Counseling: An Evolving Specialty

“…Every semester, our school counseling interns or their site supervisors lament that they cannot do "real counseling" in the schools; one recently complained that her system had a limit of six to eight sessions with a student. Although we do not want to gloss over the frequent need to refer students for long-term therapeutic work, recent literature on brief counseling (see Steenbarger, 1992, for a review) has much relevance for school counselors. Brief counseling models are not only a reactive response to those situations in which a counselor has only six to eight sessions with a student or client.…”