Supportive Psychotherapy: A Step toward Eclecticism

A review of the literature and a reflection about supportive psychotherapy is presented in this paper. The authors describe supportive psychodynamic psychotherapy before proceeding to examine more eclectic tendencies in this field. They go through supportive techniques and strategies, those whose effects are supportive or those whose aim is to provide support. They discuss the links between support and the therapeutic alliance, support and the psychotherapeutic relationship. They also convey some information about goals and indications for supportive psychotherapies, and their combinations with psychopharmacotherapy. From their institutional standpoint, they consider this approach as an eclectic form of psychotherapy. The authors attempt to illustrate the interdependancy between specific and non-specific factors, and some of their interactions, pointing out various meanings of the concept of support in psychotherapy.