Risiken und Fehlerquellen in der Psychotherapie konstruktiv wenden – ein Plädoyer für personzentriertes Vorgehen?

Abstract

Addressing Risks and Sources of Error in Psychotherapy Constructively — a Plea for a Person-Centred Approach? Psychotherapy is effective. It is therefore not surprising that risks are also entailed in psychotherapeutic processes and that they may lead to negative effects. However, it is only in the last few years that psychotherapy researchers have begun to pay more attention to such risks and errors. The Department of Psychotherapy and Biopsychosocial Health of Danube University Krems has investigated these potential risks and sources of error in psychotherapeutic processes in a complex mixed-method design. The results of the project leave no doubt that psychotherapy can also be associated with a worsening of symptoms and/or a deterioration of the quality of life. They also provide information on the prevalence and causes of psychotherapeutic errors and means of addressing them, and point towards concrete ways in which risks can be reflected upon and contained. The results also draw attention to modality-specific aspects. This article reflects upon these results with regard to the humanistic therapies in general and the person-centred approach in particular.