It was that radical journalist H.L. Mencken who once said something to the effect that for every problem there is a solution that is quick, easy, obvious- and wrong!
Of course, that doesn't stop us from opting for the simplest solution, does it? I know a woman (ahem!) who walked around for several days taking stomach remedies before she checked with a doctor and found she had appendicitis! Sometimes we just don't want to deal with reality, and would rather put up with all the pain and inconvenience rather that face what we fear.
So clients come to me and are frustrated because their problem is not cured in just one 45-minute session. Maybe it is because people are used to going to their medical doctor and walking out with a prescription that will make them all better. Or it may be us clinicians under the sway of money-conscious insurance companies who feel we have to settle everything within the limited number of sessions given us.
Now, even Freud realized that psychotherapy did not tie up everything in a neat package with no loose ends; he talked about people reaching the level of a "livable neurosis." But he was not pretending to have the Answer in just 10 brief sessions. Nor should we think that a treatment plan holds the keys to life, the universe and everything.
Maybe it is time to stop confusing Brief Therapy with being more focused and efficient and admit we are simply encouraging people to deal only with the Crisis of the Week rather than the deeper issues causing the problems. It leads to Serial Therapy, with clients returning over and over like someone stuck in a revolving door. It actually encourages dependency on the therapist who can make everything better, rather than treating clients as adults who are able to live the full lives they want.
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