By Rich Simon As therapists, many of us practice in two different worlds. In the first, we see polite, well-behaved, articulate clients with solid values. They engage fully in therapy, talk cogently about their problems, listen attentively to our responses, make reasonably good-faith efforts to follow our suggestions, and sooner or later get better. No wonder we genuinely like these people! 
By Rich Simon A thousand years ago, during the palmy days of generous insurance reimbursement, therapists could maintain the illusion that, since therapy was paid for by an unseen hidden hand, clinical practice was somehow untouched by the tacky subject of money. Even the style of therapy reflected this disjunction: 
CE Credits: 2 • Price: $29The rest of us might become highly competent professionals, but we will probably never acquire that magical “X” quality that separates the great from the merely very good. This Reading Course explains that, in fact, the best therapists, with success rates at least 50 percent better than the average, all engage in certain simple practices that virtually guarantee success. Scott Miller, Barry Duncan, and Mark Hubble investigate why some therapists are different from other, less successful, therapists (it’s not training, experience, theory, personality style, or even talent!) and what they do that gives them superior results. In another article, they describe explain how using a few simple feedback measures—plus paying close attention to your failures—can make you a better therapist. Cynthia Maeschalck and Rob Axsen demonstrate that using these same feedback techniques can even be therapeutic, helping to transform “impossible” clients into clinical success stories.
Course Readings
Supershrinks: What’s the Secret of Their Success? by Scott Miller et al.
How Being Bad Can Make You Better: Developing a Culture of Feedback In Your Practice by Barry Duncan et al.
But Will It Help “Those” Clients? by Cynthia Maeschalk et al.
Learning Objectives
1. Describe what is meant by the term “supershrink.”
2. Discuss the qualities of “supershrinks” that make them more successful than other therapists.
3. Understand how paing attention to feedback can make you a more effective therapist.
4. Explain how evidence-based practice can help a therapist.
© 2013 Psychotherapy Networker