When it comes to the science of therapy we must not forget the art

There's one thing that remains consistent as I work with folks toward their healing, everyones' path will be unique. If you know about evidence-based therapy, then you might know that they are therapies that have been tested to treat certain conditions, and that are widely used to treat these conditions, due to the validity of the testing. Now, what you might not know, is that these therapies are instructed to remain as authentic to the protocol as possible, many of these therapies will dismiss any other strategy implemented into the therapy as invalid from that point onwards. From a science point of view, I get it, and I do use evidence based therapy in my practice. However, therapy is not just a science, it is also art, it is human connection, human pain and human healing. As a therapist I have often struggled with this, especially when I worked in a hospital setting. Recently I was reminded of why I struggle with this. A client expressed that the therapy we had been using was not helping them, and in that session, we discussed and brainstormed how we might move forward together. I was reminded that this is exactly why we cannot use a, "one glove fits all" approach. We must attune to the individual, their strengths, their unique pitfalls in the therapy process - and this is where the art comes in - we must start to think outside of the box as therapists, so that, together, with the client, we can find a way forward. Finding that way means finding a new direction, maybe clearing a path, or going down a path we decided to not go down earlier in the journey, or maybe even building a path from scratch. We must combine both the evidence to support our work and the very human experience of the individual sitting across from us.