Therapeutic approaches – Pluralistic Practice

A response to Ong, Murphy, and Joseph regarding Cooper and McLeod’s exposition of pluralistic practice

Ross Crisp, ross.crispsy@gmail.com In their 2020 article, published in Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies, Ong, Murphy, and Joseph claimed that Cooper and McLeod’s exposition of pluralistic practice embraces specific ontological ‘positions’ for different schools of psychotherapy. They argued, incorrectly, that it equates to an ‘ontological eclecticism’ that is incompatible with Carl…

Introducing ‘pluralistic sand-tray therapy’: Humanistic principles for working creatively with adult clients

July 19, 2022 Arts therapies Practice Therapeutic approaches No Comments

Doreen Fleet PhD, Visiting lecturer and PhD Research Supervisor, University of Chester; Author of Pluralistic sand-tray therapy (2022, Routledge) As a counsellor and trainer, I have always seen the benefit of using sand-tray with adult clients who want to work creatively. The client will select objects to symbolise their inner…

Is There A Need For Pluralistic CBT?

June 27, 2022 CBT Personal Practice Therapeutic approaches 2 Comments

Ashleigh Hennessy, 2nd Year BA (Hons) Student, studying Counselling and Therapeutic Practice at the University of South Wales Currently there is a lack of research and writing into the benefits of doing CBT within the pluralistic framework. Although Beck, as cited by Windy Dryden, emphasises the importance of collaboration within…

The Metatherapeutic Current in Pluralism

March 31, 2022 Arts therapies Co-production Critiques Integrative and Eclectic Practices Metatherapeutic communication Person-centred Preferences Therapeutic approaches Training 5 Comments

Nicola Blunden, BSc Person-Centred Pluralistic Counselling, Metanoia Institute, London Terry Eagleton, one of my favourite philosophers, has written that, ‘For much of the time, our intellectual and other activities bowl along fairly serenely, and in this situation no great expenditure of theoretical energy is usually necessary. But there may come…

The Creativity Gathering

March 24, 2021 Arts therapies Information and Updates Networking Online Practice Strengths and Resources Therapeutic approaches No Comments

Janie Keddie – 3rd Year MSc student, studying pluralistic counselling at Abertay University Janie mooted the idea of Creativity Gathering in 2020 as a way of bringing together people who are passionate about creative approaches to therapy. When we entered lockdown a little over a year ago, I never anticipated…

Focus: Finding my Strengths in Pluralistic Practice

October 30, 2020 Critiques Person-centred Personal Practice Therapeutic approaches 3 Comments

Darren Hopgood BA(Hons) MBACP MNCS, Academic Researcher (Counselling Tutor) and Private Practice (Chiron Counselling Support) I have been practising for a short time now, two and a half years, not long at all. When I qualified as an integrative counsellor, I focused on person-centred, Gestalt, and cognitive behavioural therapy. Whilst…

Shaping the Future of Pluralistic Therapy

May 26, 2020 Research Therapeutic approaches Training No Comments

Julia McLeod, Lecturer in Counselling, Abertay University, Dundee Over the last few weeks, there’s been a lot of activity going on behind the scenes to create an online therapist survey on pluralistic practice. The survey has now been published, and is open until the 8th June 2020. You can access…

Bread and Jam and Sparkling Wine? Can I be Person-Centred and Pluralistic?

May 12, 2020 Arts therapies Person-centred Personal Philosophy Practice Therapeutic approaches 11 Comments

Ani de la Prida, creative arts counsellor, psychotherapist, founder of the Association for Person Centred Creative Arts, and lecturer at the University of East London I have been a passionate person-centred therapist and trainer for many years. A couple of years ago I attended the pluralistic conference in London, and…

Arguing the Difference While Rome Burns: Perhaps Pluralism Can Help?

April 29, 2020 Personal Philosophy Practice Therapeutic approaches 4 Comments

Andrew Reeves, Associate Professor in the Counselling Professions and Mental Health, University of Chester Like many others working in the psychological therapies I have, over my 30-plus years of being a practitioner, been immersed in the diversity of therapeutic approaches. Humanistic, psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioural – to name the loose umbrella headings…

Pluralistic therapy and William James’s A Pluralistic Universe

February 26, 2020 Critiques Policy Practice Therapeutic approaches 3 Comments

Jay Beichman, Counsellor/Therapist, Brighton. Pluralistic therapy seems—so far—to have had a tendency towards emphasising quantitative research and a desire to gain ‘scientific’ credibility. The 2nd International Conference of Pluralistic Psychotherapy and Counselling in 2019 matter-of-factly stated that they were ‘pleased to inform [me] that the scientific panel’ had accepted my…

Reflections on the Pluralistic Influences in Compassion Focused Therapy

January 27, 2020 Therapeutic approaches 1 Comment

pluralistic influences in Compassion Focused Therapy Hannah Gilbert, The Compassionate Mind Foundation I recently visited Edinburgh’s Royal College of Psychiatry’s exhibition Moonstruck, which explores 500 years of mental health. There are so many ways in which we have tried to both make sense of psychological suffering, and provide forms of…

The pluralistic framework builds on pre-existing integrative approaches

March 7, 2019 Philosophy Therapeutic approaches No Comments

By John Mcleod The pluralistic model can be viewed as a kind of meta-perspective or meta-theory. There already exist many therapy theories/approaches (e.g., CBT, psychodynamic, person-centred, etc). A pluralistic framework offers a navigation system for finding a way through these existing models. For anyone new to pluralistic practice, it can…