Intentional Intervention in Counseling and Therapy Goals and process in client engagement

Preface: The adroit clinicial, neuroscience and the dialectic between goals and process  Prologue: Two theses in theory implementation • cognition and discourse in evidence, practice and outcome  Part I. Phenomenology of Clinical Decision Making  1. Theory: Observation and construction • evolutionary aggregation and the developmental metamodel  2. Evidence: Physiological operationalization • empathy, countertransference and practice-based evidence  3. Relationship: Mirroring and evolutionary theory • the difference between counseling and therapy  4. Conceptualization: Client personality development and second-order change • signal of the dialectic 5. Treatment: Pathology, adaptation, transference and transition • the environmental call to let go  Part II. The Therapist-Self  6. Synthesis: Obviating the client's dilemma • therapeutic communication • The clinician’s cardinal Archetypes  Part III. Phenomenology of Clinician Development  7. Transition: From good intentions to intentionality • the beginning clinician and the Feeling-Sensing Style  8. Empathy: Developing clinician emotional intelligence • the Einfühlung group  9. Congruence: Client negative affect and the low experiencing clinician • neurobiology of upholding the dilemma  10. Unconditional positive regard: clinician susceptibility to client disavowal • projective identification and the countertransference group  11. Intentionality: Flow and the good therapist • the final letting go of neediness  Epilogue: Working hypothesis for intentional intervention • implications for the education of clinicians  Appendix: What Is Your Preferred Style of Helping? Glossary Author Index Subject Index

Biography

Peter Geiger is an educator, writer, and marriage and family therapist licensed in California. Between 2006 and 2013, he taught in the counseling psychology graduate program of the University of San Francisco. Geiger advises prelicensed and licensed clinicians on case conceptualization and countertransference. He is a consultant to and fellow of the Oxford Symposium in School-Based Family Counseling.

"The psychotherapy culture war between proponents of goal-oriented and process-oriented approaches has gone on long enough. With Intentional Intervention in Counseling and Therapy, Peter Geiger shows us how to transcend this dichotomy. Any therapist, regardless of orientation, who seeks to be more effective will find much here to help them do so."
Derek Truscott, PhD, RPsych, professor of counseling psychology and director of counseling training, University of Alberta, Canada, author of Becoming an Effective Psychotherapist, and coauthor of Ethics for the Practice of Psychology in Canada

"No one has ever done this before. Peter Geiger impresses in finding intentional balance between the predominant paradigm of cognitive-behavioral therapy and historical and modern psychodynamic thought. Full of stimulating and practical theorizing, this book leads me to think differently and integrate my beliefs about therapy and counseling practice in a new, useful fashion. The sophisticated discussion of empathy and the place of a developmental orientation in therapy are persuasive and will make a significant difference to your client work."
Allen E. Ivey, EdD, ABPP, distinguished university professor (emeritus), University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

"This book explores diverse theories of helping and distills the most critical elements of what makes a good therapist. Geiger invites readers to examine their own closely held beliefs and to consider ways in which skills can be developed throughout one’s career. As one who works mostly from a ‘doing’ position, this book provides a potent reminder of ways to stay connected to the feeling-sensing side of the therapeutic adventure. A thought-provoking and challenging read."
Kathleen Minke, professor, School Psychology Program, University of Delaware, USA

"This is a ‘must-have’ book for all those interested in the challenging questions of what makes good therapy and what makes a good therapist. It is the very book I wished I had in setting out on my counselling career. Key theoretical underpinnings and therapist qualities informing clinical decision making are comprehensively contextualized and illustrated with case studies in an eloquent, narrative style."
Phillip T. Slee, PhD, professor in human development, Flinders University, Australia

"Venturing into largely unexplored territory, Peter Geiger makes explicit the reciprocity between goals and process in clinical work. This remarkable text opens up new vistas of understanding for clinicians and researchers and will be a treasured resource for years to come."

Irma Eloff, PhD, professor of educational psychology, University of Pretoria, South Africa

"In this thoughtful text, Peter Geiger invites the reader to reflect on the fundamental questions facing counselors and psychotherapists today. Whilst allowing us to remain faithful to our theoretical orientations, Geiger challenges us to question our theoretical parsing to become ‘better therapists’ for the sake of the clients we encounter in our daily work. This highly accessible yet theoretically incisive book is essential reading for psychotherapy trainers and trainees alike."
Maria Marchetti-Mercer, professor of psychology, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

"The focus is not on specific models and techniques but rather on the self of the therapist and the ability to achieve the right combination in goals and process as core factors in successful outcome. This book surely will help you become an effective therapist."
Frederick Ka Ching Yeung, PhD, principal lecturer, Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong

"Geiger's practical guide to implementing evidence-based practice in psychology espouses incorporating relational methods, theories and interventions. His purposeful paradigm shift sets new standards for the education and training of psychotherapists, providing to both prospective and existing clinicians a road map for self-development and enhancing their praxis."
Gertina J. van Schalkwyk, PhD, associate professor of psychology, University of Macau

"This book has taught me much. Peter Geiger has a unique voice among teachers of counseling and therapy, invaluable for students and professors in psychology, counselor education, human services and the history of psychology theory."
Quan Chaolu, PhD, professor of psychology, Shandong Normal University, China, author of Statistics for Psychology and Education

"Engaging, informative, helpful and easy to understand, this book focuses on the therapist's self, clinical decision making and development. I highly recommend Intentional Intervention to clinicians and other helping professionals both emerging and experienced and concerned to balance goals and process in clinical work."
J. Scott Glass, PhD, chair, Department of Interdisciplinary Professions, East Carolina University, USA