When I’m talking about Brief Therapies I sometimes hear the comment: “It’s just a sticking plaster”. The idea that therapy has to be long and drawn out to be effective is a myth, but it’s a tenacious one.
Brief therapies are evidence-based. The is no link between duration of therapy and effectiveness; long or short all approaches have about the same rates of customer satisfaction, according to research. How long therapy should last is generally decided by the way the therapist has been trained (her of his preferred way of working), rather than clinical suitability.
Likewise, some clients want regular therapy sessions over an extended period, and some prefer just a few sessions. My post Brief Therapy vs Counselling explains more about this.
I cut my finger recently and I covered the wound with a sticking plaster. Because it was an awkward cut, not deep but likely to be easily disturbed if I removed the plaster, I left it covered for a few days. When I did take the plaster off – surprise, surprise – the wound had almost completely healed!
So what’s wrong with sticking plaster anyway?
