Single Session Therapy can be integrated in different ways within professional practice. One of these is to use it for particular problems.
So far we have dealt with how to integrate TSS into professional practice, starting first with the description of the method and the theoretical principles underlying it, then exploring the possible areas of intervention, up to experiencing it in the therapeutic context.
We took a first step in this direction, for example, when we proposed to apply it to replace the first free interview or as an alternative to a second consultation.
The goal of this article, therefore, is to continue to give application ideas, offering the professional another way to experience it.
Applications of Single Session Therapy
If our aim still remains to include TSS in professional practice, another step we can take is to identify which problems we find ourselves most often dealing with, or for which problems we consider ourselves more experienced and specialized and, starting from here , begin to take the first steps to experiment with the technique.
We have already said that TSS is a transversal method to different therapeutic approaches (cognitive-behavioral, systemic-family, strategic, solution-oriented, hypnotic, psychodynamic – read here) and that it can be applied in many different ways and areas of intervention ( public or private health contexts).
With what problems is Single Session Therapy suitable
One of the most recurring questions of professionals who want to approach TSS is this: with which problems or disorders can a TSS be considered most effective? Or with what type of patients?
We have already dedicated several articles on the subject (see, for example, Who is TSS for and Where to practice TSS). In summary, research has shown that Single Session Therapy is suitable for a wide range of problems, from the most serious and limiting ones to the less complex ones.
The difference, in fact, is above all the person. Only at the end of the meeting will we be able to say if it will be a Single Session or if other sessions will be needed. But, above all, here we must remember a fundamental point: the goal of the Single Session Therapy is to maximize the effectiveness of each individual session, which helps to reduce the overall duration of the therapy.
That said, the question is: what’s a good way to decline TSS?
Single Session Therapy for Specific Problems
The therapist might think of using TSS always and in any case, an absolutely valid application used in the majority of clinics that provide this service. However, there is also another possibility, which probably mainly – but not only – interests freelancers.
It is a question of proposing TSS as a method of intervention for specific problems.
The therapist can in fact propose TSS as a specific service for certain problems, an intervention that responds to specific needs of the person, on the one hand, and to the specific skills of the therapist, on the other.
For example, the therapist who has favored specialized training with anxiety disorders, could propose Single Session Therapy specifically, or even solely, for these problems. He could, for example, propose a first interview using the TSS methodology for all those situations in which the person brings a problem of an anxious nature.
This formula can be declined in different ways or, in other words, for the problems that the therapist prefers. By way of example, we could identify different situations, such as:
– situations in which the patient presents a decision-making and relational difficulty (e.g. job choices, pathological doubts, family problems)
– situations in which the patient presents specific problems (e.g. phobias, obsessive behaviors)
– complex situations in which a more structured pathology may appear in the background (eg: eating disorders, personality disorders, depression)
The decision rests solely with the therapist.
In these terms, of course, we are talking about Single Session Therapy especially in its meaning of… single session! That is, the TSS used to try to solve the problem presented in a single session (obviously giving the possibility to continue if this is not enough).
TSS ethics for specific problems
We asked ourselves if this could raise an ethical question: is it ethical, that is, to propose TSS in one’s practice only for certain problems and not for others? The answer, in our opinion, is that this choice reflects the therapist’s skills, tendencies and professional preferences.
If he believes that he has a wealth of skills such as to be able to obtain excellent results in certain areas, then TSS becomes a way to increase its effectiveness in the same.
In another perspective, the therapist could choose to do so because certain problems occur more frequently in his case series, and TSS can allow him to reduce the waiting list, or to respond more efficiently to a given request.
Conclusions
In conclusion, the possibility of applying Single Session Therapy specifically for certain problems, difficulties or ailments, seems to us an opportunity that the therapist can seize to make their service more effective and efficient, responding with an ad hoc methodology to the requests received.
Flavio CannistrĂ & Angelica Giannetti
Psychologists, Psychotherapists
Founder & Trainer of the Italian Center
for Single Session Therapy
Bibliography
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Hoyt, M. F., Rosenbaum, R. L. & Talmon, M. (1992). Planned single-session psychotherapy. In S.H. Budman, M.F. Hoyt & S. Friedman (eds.), The First Session in Brief Therapy (pp. 59-86). New York: Guilford Press.
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