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Different Patients, Different Therapies has a great deal to offer and includes elements that will stimulate the thinking of mental health trainees and seasoned practitioners alike. The authors, Deborah Cabaniss and Yael Holoshitz, put forth a concise framework for guiding conceptualization and treatment selection, which they refer to as differential psychotherapeutics (DP). The wisdom of these practitioners and educators is evident as they provide a methodology for understanding patients and engaging treatment planning that is clear and accessible across orientations and experience level.
The text is organized into three parts. Part 1 lays out the steps in the DP method. Part 2 provides an introductory overview to 23 different psychotherapies from five different overarching orientation groupings. Part 3 consists of 12 patient vignettes, each of which is followed by write-ups by three experts with different therapeutic orientations using the DP method to discuss the case.
In Part 1, the DP method or cycle is laid out as a systematic, jargon-free approach to understanding a patient's needs and what treatment theoretically appears well positioned to meet that need. The DP steps are learning, thinking, matching, and discussing. The learning step of the DP cycle is devoted to gathering information to promote an understanding of the patient's “current issues and life story” and “internal and external resources.” The authors also encourage reengaging the “focused learning” that often typifies initial sessions as needed throughout the working relationship. They lay out cues that treatment may be off course and that reactivation of the DP cycle is advisable.
The thinking step in the DP cycle references the synthesis of gathered data into an organized package, commonly termed a formulation or conceptualization. These authors organize and focus the process of thinking by posing three basic questions: What's wrong? Why is it happening? and What needs to change?
In the matching step