Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 Setting the scene: Why we need a theory for change

Chapter 2 What is therapeutic change?

Chapter 3 Motivation to change

Chapter 4 Individual differences in ability to change: Personality and context

Chapter 5 Conditioning: Changing the meaning and value of events

Chapter 6 Contingencies: Therapy is learning and unlearning

Chapter 7 Response relationships: The dynamics of behavioral regulation

Chapter 8 Cognition: Changing thoughts and fantasies

Chapter 9 Self-influence

Chapter 10 Social mediators and the therapeutic relationship

Chapter 11 Culture as behavior change

Chapter 12 Conclusions: How and why people can change and be changed


References

Index

About the Author

Reviews

"Evans is one of a regrettably small number of clinical researchers and theorists who argue for the importance of principles of change rather than treatment packages for putatively homogeneous disorders. In this lucid and beautifully written book, he makes the case with scholarliness and clear-headed thinking and will, I hope, help to reset the scientific and applied agendas in the quest for evidence-based assessments and interventions." -- Gerald C. Davison, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, University of Southern California and Past-president, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies "How and why people change are two extremely complex, but imperative, issues that mental health professionals have been wrestling with for centuries. Evans addresses these topics head-on in a commanding, thorough, thoughtful, comprehensive, and user-friendly manner. Moreover, he brings us closer to having answers. If you only have time to read one new book this year, this should be the one."-- Arthur M. Nezu, Ph.D., ABPP, Distinguished University Professor of Psychology, Drexel University and Editor, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology "With an extraordinary depth and breadth of scholarship and a wide range of clinical experience, Evans provides the highest level of an integrative theoretical account of behavior change. Proponents of recent evidence-based psychotherapies will particularly appreciate his sensitive and effective use of formal principles for creating an emotionally positive therapeutic context for children as well as adults. It is highly recommended to all therapists."-- Junko Tanaka-Matsumi, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Integrated Psychological Science, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan, and Associate Editor of the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology "In this book, Evans seeks to shift the focus of much of contemporary, evidence-based psychotherapy from prescribing what therapists should do to how their efforts translate into universal change processes. Firmly grounded in the empirical literature, his focus on understanding and assessing change places the therapist in charge of deducing what specifically will work best, even how to develop novel treatments, for each particular patient."-- Stephen A. Lisman, Ph.D., SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor and Director of Clinical Training, Department of Psychology, Binghamton University (SUNY) "Evans distils the common elements of psychotherapeutic change across theoretical approaches, client populations, and treatment goals to identify the foundational principles of how and why people change. This scholarly volume begins with a thought-provoking treatise on therapeutic change that wends its way through the evolution and devolution of therapeutic approaches based on sound theory and basic science in the absence of the foundational principles of change. It proceeds with compelling illustrations of the foundational principles applied to disparate treatments for children and adults, integrating current knowledge from learning theory and the social sciences throughout. Seasoned clinical psychologists from all schools of thought will find the analyses of change fascinating -they may find their approach to case conceptualization indelibly changed." -- Sheila Eyberg, PhD, ABPP, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida