| Sumario: | Part of a special section on supportive psychotherapy. Supportive therapy involves specific techniques that are not derived from an overarching theory of personality or mental disorder. These techniques function with various theoretical orientations. In the past, supportive therapy has not been taught in training programs because there was no organized body of knowledge to teach. However, the techniques and rationales of supportive therapy have now been articulated and can be taught along with the techniques and rationales of expressive therapy. Supportive therapy, even with the most impaired patients, should be experienced by the student as a chance to improve therapeutic skills, not as a chore to be carried out while waiting for patients who are suitable for expressive therapy. Treatment for the majority of patients requires some blend of both forms of therapy, and education to carry out this treatment must include mastery of both supportive and expressive techniques.
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