Supportive Therapy Techniques Part I

A number of patients seen in contemporary clinical practice are not appropriate for traditional insight-oriented therapy (i.e., expressive approaches). These may include sicker patients or those who are not interested in exploratory work. Supportive therapy refers to a flexible treatment approach that is intended to be responsive to the particular needs of these patients. Supportive therapy also benefits from the integration of techniques from other orientations (e.g., cognitive-behavioral therapy). After discussing supportive therapy more generally and differentiating it from the expressive approaches, this chapter focuses on two sets of supportive techniques. The first focuses on ways to support and enhance realistic patient self-esteem. The second set consists of techniques used to increase patient knowledge and build adaptive skills (e.g., psychoeducation, reality testing).