The Human Elements of Psychotherapy

The dominant paradigm in psychotherapy is the medical model, which views therapy as a clinical treatment rather than a healing interpersonal connection. Words like patient, diagnosis, symptoms, treatment, and modalities reflect this medically oriented view of therapy.

In this book, David Elkins cogently argues that while the medical model remains widely accepted, science shows it to be inappropriate. A wealth of evidence suggests that healing occurs through human connection and social interaction, not modalities and techniques.

Elkins presents a nonmedical model of psychotherapy — one that places common factors, particularly human factors, at the center and moves modalities and techniques to the periphery. In this concise volume, he summarizes the supporting evidence from various fields, including clinical psychology, attachment theory, social relationships research, neuroscience, and evolutionary theory.

All of these fields show that humans are evolved to develop, maintain, and restore our emotional well-being through human connection and social interaction. Thus, psychotherapy can best be understood as an expression of social healing. After presenting this model and its vast supporting evidence, Elkins then discusses important implications for clinical research, training, and practice.

David N. Elkins, PhD, is a Professor Emeritus of psychology in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University, where he has trained clinical psychologists for nearly 30 years. As a licensed psychologist, Dr. Elkins has worked in hospital, community mental health, and private-practice settings. He is a Fellow of APA and has served twice (1998–1999 and 2011–2012) as president of Division 32 (Society for Humanistic Psychology).

Dr. Elkins is the author of two previous books and a contributor to the current debate in clinical psychology regarding the determinants of effectiveness in psychotherapy. He has written numerous articles and given many professional presentations on the topic. The Human Elements of Psychotherapy: A Nonmedical Model of Emotional Healing is grounded in Dr. Elkins's experience as a clinician, professor, and author.