Counselling and Psychotherapy: Reflections on Practice

Counselling and Psychotherapy: Reflections on Practice comprises of 23 chapters from the practice of psychotherapy and counselling in Australia, its genesis comes from discussion between members of the Research Committee of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) in 2012. PACFA is a peak body for the psychotherapy and counselling profession in this country.

The profession of psychotherapy and counselling in Australia continues to develop new and renewed modalities of practice across various disciplinary fields. The diversity of approaches and modalities arises for many reasons-historical, disciplinary, political-as well as from consumer input. Therapeutic approaches draw from frameworks across a spectrum of disciplines from the philosophically informed to the science-practitioner approaches. While each approach claims to be effective in its own domain, there is no single approach that proves to be most effective for most clients. Therapy is inherently intersubjective work, and the diversity of client bases will continue to call for diversity of therapeutic approaches as well as responses. Moreover clients will increasingly and rightly be the main arbiters of the effectiveness of the therapy they co-create in dialogue with their therapist.