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In order to provide ethic, responsible and effective treatment, it is important to elicit the voices of

the clients and to listen very carefully to what they say about their experience in therapy. The

information and the concerns addressed in this book highlight very important questions about thetherapeutic practices. It is in response to these issues that new models of therapy are being

developed. One of which is The Collaborative Approach, pioneered by Anderson and Goolishian

at the Houston Galveston Institute in Houston, Texas.

Based on Postmodern and Social Constructionist ideas, Collaborative Therapies provide the

opportunity to develop a different framework for the psychotherapeutic experience. Beginning with

the first session, the client and the therapist set therapeutic goals and develop a workingrelationship based on the clients specific and current needs, where the client chooses the topics of

the conversation .Through the use of conversational questions and statements the therapist isconstantly checking if the conversation addresses the clients dilemmas in a way that is respectful,relevant and useful.

The client is in the center of stage and is the one in charge of deciding the frequency of themeetings. In fact, each session is conceptualized as a single consultation, at the end of which the

client and the therapist decide together if they will meet again, when that meeting will take place

and for what purpose. The therapy is designed as a public place where the client can invite relevantpeople in her life to participate in the conversation as needed, at the same time the therapist, withthe clients permission can invite other voices to visit the therapy, such as a reflecting team or a

visiting therapist. Therapy remains connected to the clients reality as it suggests activities and

ideas to be tested in the clients actual world. The conversation provides a springboard to exploreresources, networks and strengths as well as the opportunity to develop multiple possiblemeanings to the experiences that shape the clients reality. These meanings are negotiated within

the conversation, for the client to choose the ones that fit his worldview.

Sylvia London is a private practitioner in Mexico City. Co-Founder and Faculty at Grupo Campos

Eliseos, a private independent postgraduate institute affiliated to the Houston Galveston Institute(HGI) in Houston, Texas. Faculty at HGI in Houston and Universidad de las Americas in Mexico

City.