Do you have clients who do not want to be helped? Clients who don't trust you, your profession, or your service. Clients who don't want to change, despite needing to and despite your best efforts.
Then No Bullshit Therapy (NBT) is for you! Most simply, NBT is about being authentic.
Many people are cajoled, pressured, or mandated to see therapists, counsellors and other helpers. Hence, they are reluctant, suspicious, and resistant to being helped. This puts professionals in the difficult position of trying to help someone who does not want to be helped. To make things worse, there are few practice models designed to engage people who don't want to be engaged.
No Bullshit Therapy (NBT) creates a context for mutual honesty and directness in working relationships. Most simply, it is about being authentic. Creating a context for mutual honesty and directness can be refreshingly effective, especially with people who are suspicious of counselling or distrustful of the counsellor. When combined with warmth and care, honesty and directness can enhance co-operation, connection, and trust, especially if the practitioner avoids jargon and acknowledges constraints to the work. NBT is ideal for working with people who:
- Don't like therapy or the idea of therapy (even if they've never had it)
- Don't trust warm fuzzy 'do-gooders' or 'psychologisers'
- Are suspicious of services because they have experienced trauma, have had abusive institutional experiences, or unsatisfactory treatment in the past
- Don't see themselves as a client, don't agree with the referrer's description of them or their problems, and appear to not want to change
Practical and engaging, this book is an essential guide for therapists, counsellors and other allied-health professionals who are looking for a more effective way to connect with any client and ensure they get the support they want. It may also help you create more robust relationships at work and in the home.
About the Author: Jeff Young is the Director of The Bouverie Centre and Professor of Family Therapy and Systemic Practice, La Trobe University. He is a clinical psychologist and family therapist and has worked, published and presented in the area of Mental Health for over 25 years.
