What is goal-oriented psychotherapy?
In goal-oriented therapy, a clearly defined goal is always the focus. The duration of the therapy may be short-term or long-term depending on the magnitude of the goal and the starting point of the client. I find that maintaining a clear goal enables the client and me to remain focused and to more readily observe progress than does an open-ended approach to therapy. The way the therapy generally works is as follows. An initial assessment period may take one to three sessions, during which time information is gathered and a clear goal is identified by the client with my assistance. We then contract to address this goal for a certain number of sessions. (Typically 10 or 12 sessions. Of course, the client may choose to discontinue prior to this number of sessions, or at any time.) The initial goal may or may not be met at the end of the initial set of sessions. However, the ending of a set of sessions offers a valuable opportunity to assess progress and growth, change course, or discontin
