Summary: | This review concerns the factors influencing a clinician's preference for therapeutic orientation, i.e. the theoretical frameworks used by practitioners of psychological therapy to guide formulation of a client's difficulties, and intervention. Despite the predominance within training institutions of a "school" approach to the teaching of psychological therapies, and the current Zeitgeist within clinical psychology of selecting the treatment for a particular clinical problem which is scientifically validated, little is known about how individuals arrive at a preferred way of working. Literature on the following factors related to preference for orientation is reviewed: 1) the personality of the therapist, 2) their philosophical standpoint, 3) professional experiences and 4) life experiences. The review concludes with a summary of methodological issues, suggestions for future research, and a discussion of the implications of this area of research in terms of training, model integration and acceptance of evidence-based treatments.
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