The Therapist Skills Data

The therapist skills data also indicate that SP/SR leads to the development of a valuable meta-cognitive skill for therapists, therapist self-reflection. As Wills and Sanders and others have pointed out, therapist self-awareness is becoming increasingly important for cognitive therapists in the context of working with clients with long-standing complex problems. As a meta-cognitive skill within the clinical context, it enables therapists to reflect-on-action (after sessions) and to reflect-in-action (during sessions), develops their perceptual skills. Schön’s work on competence in the professions has made a distinction between two kinds of knowledge: rational-technical knowledge, and what he terms ‘‘professional artistry’’. This distinction may be helpful in conceptualizing the effects of SP/SR. He suggested that while rational-technical knowledge may be acquired through traditional teaching techniques such as didactic learning, professional artistry is acquired through reflection.