Time, Complexity, and the Meaning of Help: A Systematic Review of People's Experiences of Single-Session Therapy

Abstract

Single-session therapy (SST) is an approach to service delivery, based on the precept that the power for psychological change rests with the client. The following is a systematic review of the qualitative literature that considered the question, what are people's experiences of single-session therapy? Ten papers were selected for review. Analysis draws on Curt's (1994) concept of critical polytextuality, in which “texts” can be read to create multiple meanings. Findings suggest that what clients find helpful about SST matches what people find helpful about psychotherapy more generally. Unlike “more traditional,” longer-term psychological therapy however, SST is valued in terms of being available at the point of need (as opposed to the point at which someone reaches the top of a therapy waiting list). Analysis focuses on issues relating to time in therapy, what help means to different people, and how the complexities of people's lives may guide these meanings.