Citation

Field N. Br. J. Psychother. 1992; 9(2): 139-147.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1752-0118.1992.tb01212.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

It is entirely admirable that we should aim to become better psychotherapists. But where this becomes an obsession with the correctness of therapeutic technique it may prove counter-productive. Too great a striving for perfection on the part of the psychotherapist does not help the patient; it only re-enacts the compulsion to perfection from which the patient himself very likely suffers. Not only is it human to err: error itself, and the capacity to recover from it, can provide both therapist and patient with unique opportunities for insight and personal growth.