An integrative psychotherapist is trained in more than one therapeutic model and combines them deliberately, choosing whatever suits the particular person in front of them rather than applying a single method to everyone who walks through the door. A course of therapy with an integrative practitioner might draw on psychodynamic thinking to understand where a pattern first began, cognitive behavioural techniques to interrupt it in daily life right now, and a person-centred way of relating throughout the work.
Not improvisation
It is worth being clear that integration is not the same as improvisation. Training in an integrative model normally takes around four years and covers, in real depth, the theory of how different therapeutic models fit together and when each has something to offer, rather than simply picking techniques at random from different traditions.
Who benefits most
This approach tends to suit people whose difficulties do not sit neatly under one diagnostic heading, or who have tried a single-model therapy before and found parts of it helpful without it addressing everything. Because the therapist is not committed to one framework, the work can shift and adapt as understanding of the person's situation develops over time.