A Collaborative Approach

By Christina Lacey



For me, the goal of therapy is to promote a therapeutic dialogue with the client, transformational talk to shift their meaning and provide a "sense of freedom" (Gehart & Tuttle; Anderson, 1997, p. 109). Through conversation and hearing a clients story and the clients strengths. A collaborative therapist is open and shares with their clients their thoughts about what they think about the client and their diagnosis (Gehart & Tuttle, 2003). As clients and therapists talk, they find what has not been said. A therapist is curious and not knowing they are assessing and allows them to explore new understandings of their situations ( (Gehart & Tuttle, 2003). Diagnosis includes identifying the problem and through external dialogue and maintenance of that dialogue. A client will assess various areas of themselves through this conversation and be able to find new possibilities in understanding.

Gehart, D., & Tuttle, A. (2003). Theory-based treatment planning for marriage and family therapists. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. ISBN: 9780534536169
As a Marriage and Family Therapist, I see individuals and couples mostly. I enjoy working with my clients and learning about them and how they can be better as an individual and also to others around them.

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