R135: Masters of Psychotherapy

This Reading Course presents the “Top Ten” therapists of the last 25 years, chosen by the respondents to our survey, with essays about the figures themselves, their approaches, and the practitioners whom they influenced. Jay Lebow lays out the Top Ten most meaningful research developments of the last quarter-century, and what they mean for today’s practitioner. Jay Efran, et al. provide a note of caution, pointing out that, in spite of 500 different therapy techniques available, there’s still no evidence that the overall effectiveness of therapy has improved. Is it possible we still don’t understand the fundamental nature of psychotherapy? Mary Sykes Wylie takes a look at Jay Haley, one of the pioneers of strategic therapy and a highly influential systems therapist. Wylie also considers the life and work of feminist trailblazer, master teacher, and charismatic personality Marianne Walters, who had a lasting impact on many family therapists, including Networker editor Richard Simon, who describes the time he spent as a Walters’s supervisee in her Washington, D.C., therapy center.

Course Readings

The Ten Most Influential Therapists of the Past Quarter-Century by Psychotherapy Networker

Defining Psychotherapy: The Last 25 Years Have Taught Us That It’s Neither Art Nor Science by Jay Efran et al.

A Look at the Evidence: Top 10 Research Findings of the Last 25 Years by Jay Lebow

The Accidental Therapist: Jay Haley Didn’t Set Out To Transform Psychotherapy by Mary Sykes Wylie

Larger than Life: Marianne Walters Was Family Therapy’s Foremost Feminist by Mary Sykes Wylie

Force of Nature: A Former Supervisee Recalls a Master Therapist at Work by Richard Simon

Learning Objectives

1. Identify the 10 most influential therapists of the past 25 years.
2. Discuss 3 of the top 10 research findings in therapy over the past 2 ½ decades.
3. Describe the influence of Jay Haley on the formal establishment of family therapy.
4. Discuss the influence of Marianne Walters and the Women’s Project in Family Therapy on the evolution of field of family   therapy.