Providing Information and Involving the Patient in the Therapeutic Process

Specific conceptualization of each clinical case is crucial to provide a framework for understanding the patient’s maladaptive behaviors and modifying dysfunctional attitudes. The therapist should formulate the case at an early stage, preferably during the evaluation process (or assessment stage); the formulation can be modified at any time whenever new information is collected. After the assessment phase, the therapist should be in a position to provide the patient with a preliminary formulation of the problem. This would include a brief description of the current problem, an explanation of how the problem has developed, and a summary of the contributing factors. As the treatment is based on this formulation, it is important that patients are asked for feedback on its accuracy and for their opinions about it. Sharing this conceptualization with the patient can also help the data-gathering process and the assessment stage since it provides a guide to the patient as to which aspects to focus on, and what interpretations and underlying beliefs to identify. After testing new material, the patient and therapist can then add it into the preliminary formulation. As new data are collected, the therapist can reformulate the case on the basis of these new data.