The Other Side of Psychotherapy

The client is the protagonist in the psychotherapy journey with the therapist supporting them on their journey.

This book argues for the importance of recognizing clients’ expertise in their own lives and allowing them the space to generate their innate capacity for self‑healing. It offers fresh insights into clients’ experiences and offers guidelines for how therapists can capitalize on clients’ knowledge, skills, and strengths to build the therapeutic alliance and ensure transformational change.

Contributors present what is known about client factors, what can be inferred about clients from the literature, and what isn't known or is missing. They also emphasize that each client must be understood as an individual that does not always conform with broad empirical conceptualizations.

Authors discuss implications for practice, teaching and training, and identify fruitful areas for future research.

Case examples offer vivid, practical illustrations centering psychotherapy around individual clients in real‑life clinical scenarios.

Contributors

An Introduction to The Other Side of Psychotherapy
Jairo N. Fuertes

Part I. Client Factors in Therapy Processes and Outcomes

• Chapter 1. Client Expertise: The Active Client in Psychotherapy
  Arthur C. Bohart and Karen Tallman
• Chapter 2. Understanding and Enhancing Client Motivation
  João Tiago Oliveira, Juan Martín Gómez-Penedo, and Martin grosse Holtforth 
• Chapter 3. Patient Readiness to Change: What We Know About Their Stages and Processes of Change
  John C. Norcross, Danielle M. Cook, and Jairo N. Fuertes 
• Chapter 4. Therapist and Client Facilitative Interpersonal Skills in Psychotherapy
  Timothy Anderson and Matthew R. Perlman
• Chapter 5. Clients’ Experiences of Attachment in the Psychotherapy Relationship
  Brent Mallinckrodt
• Chapter 6. Clients’ Agentic and Self-Healing Activities in Psychotherapy
  Amy Greaves

Part II. Client–Therapist Interactions

• Chapter 7. The Client’s Function in the Psychotherapy Relationship: What Clients Experience and Contribute
  Charles J. Gelso and Kathryn V. Kline
• Chapter 8. Client-Focused Assessment and Intervention: Tailoring the Work to the Client
  James F. Boswell and Adela Scharff
• Chapter 9. Rethinking Therapists’ Responsiveness to Center Clients’ Experiences of Psychotherapy
  Heidi M. Levitt, Kathleen M. Collins, Javier L. Rizo, and Ally B. Hand
• Chapter 10. Clients’ Influence on Psychotherapists and the Treatment They Provide
  Rodney K. Goodyear and Hideko Sera
• Chapter 11. Clients’ Own Perspectives on Psychotherapy Outcomes and Their Mechanisms
  Michael J. Constantino, Averi N. Gaines, Alice E. Coyne
• Chapter 12. Clients’ Experiences of Therapy Ending
  Cheri Marmarosh

Part III. Integration and Discussion

• Chapter 13. Closing Thoughts About The Other Side of Psychotherapy
  Jairo N. Fuertes

Index

About the Editor

Jairo N. Fuertes, PhD, ABPP, LMHC, is professor in the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology at Adelphi University and clinical assistant professor of medicine in the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. He is senior associate editor of Behavioral Medicine and served on editorial boards for other top-tier journals.

Dr. Fuertes was chair of the Education and Training Committee and diversity domain representative in APA’s Division 29.

He is staff psychologist and clinical supervisor at the Counseling Center at Baruch College, CUNY.

Dr. Fuertes maintains a private practice in Garden City, NY.