Am J Psychiatry 1979; 136:1578-1580
Copyright © 1979 by American Psychiatric Association
Common mistakes in psychotherapy
P Buckley, TB Karasu and E Charles
To better monitor the psychotherapy training of psychiatric residents and
to understand therapist factors involved in a negative outcome to
psychotherapy, the authors surveyed 20 supervisors on the frequency of
mistakes made by resident therapists. Among the mistakes most commonly made
were wanting to be liked by patients, premature interpretations, overuse of
intellectualization, inability to tolerate patients' aggression, and
avoidance of fee setting. The authors conclude that the mitigation of the
most common errors requires open discussion of countertransference issues.
