Common Therapeutic Change Principles as Sensitizing Concepts: A Key Perspective in Psychotherapy Integration and Clinical Research

In this article, we discuss the role of common therapeutic change principles in psychotherapy practice and clinical research. Elaborating on a recent debate between Hoffart and Hoffart (2014a, 2014b) and Goldfried (2014) in the Journal of Psychotherapy Integration regarding the scientific status of general therapy change principles, we discuss focal questions of psychotherapy integration, addressing (a) the relationship between general change principles, specific techniques, and clinical theory, and the status of scientific evidence in the realm of psychotherapy integration; (b) the function of clinical theories; and (c) the ideal of unification and consensus versus embracing diversity and complexity in therapeutic integration. We argue that common therapeutic change principles, coined by Goldfried (1980), may function as sensitizing concepts, alerting us to crucial research-based questions and issues, and as such, play the role as organizing principles for therapists in the therapeutic encounter, and for researchers when facing the empirical world. Implications for training are discussed.