The End is in the Beginning

Abstract

Brief psychotherapy is characterized from the beginning by its focus on the end of the therapy. The short time-frame is a potent factor in such therapy. Brief therapy is often denigrated and undervalued, since time is traditionally considered essential if deep and lasting change is to be achieved. This is to misunderstand the nature of change, which is of the instant, and the capacity of the unconscious mind to transcend time. The potential of brief therapies is explored, with clinical illustrations to support the author's experience.