Was the Death of Clinical Romanticism by Murder, Suicide, or Natural Causes? The Standardization View

Abstract

Psychotherapy guidelines, which include manuals and protocols, are proliferating rapidly and are threatening to obliterate that part of therapy that is humanistic. Unfortunately, both those advocating the standardization of treatment and those lamenting the decline in psychology of clinical romanticism take the position that these are mutually exclusive and inherently antagonistic views. To the contrary, these are complementary, and both are needed in psychotherapy. The difficulty lies in when one or the other is the most appropriate intervention. Clinical romanticism needs to stop complaining and, instead, define its rightful place in the healthcare arena. This includes such mundane issues as justification for inclusion in third party (insurance) reimbursement.