Although it is well established that psychotherapy is remarkably effective, the change process in psychotherapy is not well understood. Psychotherapy is compared with medicine and cultural healing practices to argue that critical aspects of psychotherapy involve human processes that are used in religious, spiritual, and cultural healing practices. A model of psychotherapy is presented that stipulates various aspects that involve uniquely human characteristics. Central to this model is patient acquisition of an adaptive explanation of his or her difficulties. Finally, the research evidence for this model is presented.
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