Failures in the Therapeutic Relationship: Inevitable and Necessary?

Abstract

Therapist errors are unavoidable in the psychotherapeutic process. This article examines their impact on the therapeutic relationship, both intrapsychic and interpersonal. The author describes several sources of these errors and examines the process by which these lapses can and should be repaired by the therapist. He questions whether these errors are not only inevitable but also necessary to the therapeutic process.

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Notes on contributors

Paul G. Guistolise

Paul Guistolise is the director of the Guidance Center of Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, Elmhurst, Illinois; an associate of the Institute for Integrative Psychotherapy, New York; and in the private practice of psychotherapy in Wheaton, Illinois.