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The Therapist’s Assistant Audiotherapy Tape Series
By Micheal S. Broder. Edited by Albert Ellis. Philadelphia, PA: Media Psychology Associates, 1999, Two volumes with six programs each, $69.95 (per volume)
The Therapist’s Assistant Audiotherapy Tape Series, written and narrated by psychologist, Michael Broder, and edited by Albert Ellis, is an interactive program designed to assist clients in between psychotherapy sessions in short-term psychotherapy. The goal of this program is to emphasize the progress made in the psychotherapy sessions by encouraging clients to incorporate effective techniques and strategies into real-life situations in their lives. This program is a powerful tool for clients because it provides them with the option of working on difficult issues on their own and is available to them all day, all week long. In addition, this program makes psychotherapists’ jobs easier by assisting in the standardization of treatment and by providing an easy way to teach clients the process of resolving their issues outside of psychotherapy sessions. This is extremely beneficial when the client is only able to attend a limited number of therapy sessions due to financial, transportation or other reasons. An additional benefit of this program is that the audiotapes are extremely easy to use and can be listened to in the client’s home, in the car, while exercising, or anywhere the client has access to an audiotape player. One drawback of the program is that depending on the population a clinician is working with, some clients may not own an audiotape player and therefore would be unable to use the audiotape portion of the program.
The Therapist’s Assistant is such a useful tool for psychotherapists because it allows flexibility in that the psychotherapist can determine for each individual client which aspects of the program to utilize based on that client’s particular needs. For each topic there is a separate audiotape addressing that issue and providing exercises that will assist the client in overcoming their difficulties in this area. In addition to the audiotapes, this program also provides worksheets that can be utilized when listening to the tapes. These worksheets can also be used without the audiotapes as they have the explanation and directions of the assignment written directly on them. This is very helpful for clients who do not have access to audiotape players or who may have hearing difficulties. Similarly, the audiotapes can be used without the worksheets and the clients can simply carry out the exercises on their own paper or in a journal. Once again, this is useful for clients who cannot afford the additional cost of the worksheets, cannot read or write or who may have difficulty reading. Additionally, the program provides an exercise manual for the clinician that contains all of the exercises that are mentioned in the audiotapes so that reviewing the audiotapes and exercises in the next therapy session can easily be accomplished.
In Volume I of The Therapist’s Assistant, Dr. Broder addresses the following issues: Making Critical Choices and Major Life Changes, How to Devleop Self-Confidence and a Positive Self Image, How to Manage Your Stress and Make it Work for You, Overcoming Your Anxiety, Overcoming Your Depression, and Overcoming Your Anger. Throughout this series, Dr. Broder provides a variety of exercises that include visualization exercises, breathing exercises, relaxation exercises, the writing of lists, and journaling. Each of these exercises is designed to challenge the client’s thinking and provide them with more effective strategies in dealing with their difficulties. Each audiotape provides a combination of different types of exercises that clients can do while listening to the audiotape or they can listen to the whole audiotape and then at a later time complete the exercises. For instance, in the audiotape entitled ‘Making Critical Choices and Major Life Changes,’ exercises include making lists of crucial life decisions clients have made, crucial choices the client is happy s/he made, and life choices the client is now considering and what the ideal outcomes to these life choices would be. For the audiotapes entitled ‘Overcoming Your Anxiety,’ ‘Overcoming Your Depression,’ and ‘Overcoming Your Anger’ exercises include having clients make a list of what triggers their anxiety/depression/anger, having the client keep a journal of their feelings regarding their particular area of difficulty, imagery and breathing exercises.
In Volume II, the following issues are addressed by Dr. Broder: How to Find a New Love Relationship, How to Develop the Ingredients for Staying Together, How to Enhance Passion and Sexual Satisfaction in Your Relationship, Can Your Relationship Be Saved?, Letting Go of Your Ended Love Relationship, and The Single Life: How to Make It Work for You With or Without a Relationship. These audiotapes incorporate some of the same techniques as the first volume of the series; however, because this volume addresses issues of relationships it incorporates additional exercises that can be used with couples. For instance, the audiotape entitled ‘How to Develop the Ingredients for Staying Together’ incorporates listening exercises and having clients set goals for their relationship with their partners. While some exercises can be used with couples and individuals, there are also exercises that were designed specifically for individuals such as list making, visualization, and thought-stopping exercises.
At the conclusion of each audiotape Dr. Broder stresses how important the clients and their progress are and encourages them to let him know how they are doing. Dr. Broder’s concern throughout the series is evident through his tone of voice and his willingness to disclose personal information and use examples of clients he has worked with in the past in order to display to those who are listening to the audiotapes that they are not alone in their difficulties and struggles. The Therapist’s Assistant is a useful tool because it can be assigned to clients regardless of the psychologist’s particular theoretical orientation. These audiotapes and accompanying written exercises challenge clients to think critically about their areas of difficulty and create possible solutions to these issues on their own. Therefore, these assignments would be beneficial because they require clients to do a lot of work on their own and in turn demonstrate to their psychologist the amount of time and level of dedication and motivation they have toward their treatment and recovery. It is important to note that Home Study Continuing Education Credits are awarded to psychologists who successfully complete The Therapist’s Assistant Volume I or II Self-Study Packet. This program includes The Therapist’s Assistant audiotherapy tape series as well as a supplemental home study program that costs $35 plus the cost of the program and can be obtained by contacting Media Psychology Associates. This program has been approved for seven credits per volume by the American Psychological Association.
This program can be incorporated into therapy in a variety of ways. One option is for a clinician to prescribe a particular, relevant program to a client to complete. Then during the next therapy session the client can discuss with the clinician what s/he learned as well as review the completed assignments. Another possibility is for a clinician to assign a program to a client and allow the client to determine which exercises s/he will complete. An additional variation would be for a clinician to encourage clients to listen to the audiotape numerous times a week or have them review their completed exercises and continue to think about them.
In conclusion, The Therapist’s Assistant is strongly recommended to practitioners who can only meet with clients a limited number of times or for those practitioners who are looking for assignments their clients can utilize outside of the psychotherapy session. This program is believed to be a strong supplement to ongoing psychotherapy regardless of psychologists’ orientation and approach to therapy. Dr. Broder’s knowledge of the topics discussed as well as psychological interventions is evident throughout the series of audiotapes. The only recommendations that would be made would be to record this series on compact discs so that they can be utilized with clients who may prefer or only have access to this means of technology.