2021 Volume 33 Issue Special_issue Pages 271-278
Beutler and his colleagues have been developing an evidence-based method named Systematic Treatment Selection (STS) since 1990. This model serves as a psychotherapy system as well as an optimal treatment planning and delivery method, which is consistent with established scientific evidence across theories. Notably, STS posits that therapists can assess clients’ trait-like dispositional qualities and individually tailor their treatment to improve the outcome. Moreover, Beutler and his colleagues concluded that the efficacy of the two distinct treatment models could be predicted by clients’ relative reliance on one of two coping styles, externalizing or internalizing. Clients with externalizing coping styles are likely to benefit from behavioral and symptom-focused approaches, whereas those with internalizing coping styles are prone to benefit from interpersonal and insight-based approaches. These coping styles and their mechanisms are discussed through psychotherapy and neuroscience research. However, the potential role of coping styles in psychotherapy varies. Therefore, further evidence on STS between Western and Eastern cultures, especially regarding the mechanisms of internalizing coping style in communal cultures, is required in the future.
