Expertise in Counseling and Psychotherapy

Abstract

Expertise in Counseling and Psychotherapy features seven master therapist studies from around the world and provides an extensive synthesis of these studies to produce the first international perspective of expert counselors and psychotherapists. The study of expertise has a rich history, whereas research on psychotherapy expertise has mostly surfaced in the past two decades. Jennings and Skovholt first applied qualitative methodology to the study of expert therapists in 1996. Qualitative research has proven to be an extremely effective method for capturing the complexity of the master therapist construct. One limitation of this line of research is that most studies have been conducted in the United States. Fortunately, there are a small but growing number of international qualitative studies on psychotherapy expertise. Moreover, these studies utilized essentially the same research questions and methodologies as our first study on expert therapists, making the consolidation of the findings seamless and trustworthy. The studies include three therapist expertise research projects in Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Japan, and Korea. In North America, there are studies from the United States and Canada. In Europe, there are studies from Portugal and the Czech Republic. The qualitative meta-analysis of all seven data sets is the highlight of our book on master therapists from around the world. The findings and recommendations from this book will enhance the training of future psychotherapists and counselors. Understanding the universal characteristics of expert therapists practicing around the world offers training programs and mental health practitioners a heuristic for optimal therapist and counselor development.