• DOI:10.1097/HRP.0000000000000155
• Corpus ID: 3812244

A Fourth Wave of Psychotherapies: Moving Beyond Recovery Toward Well-Being.

@article{Peteet2018AFW,
  title={A Fourth Wave of Psychotherapies: Moving Beyond Recovery Toward Well-Being.},
  author={John R. Peteet},
  journal={Harvard Review of Psychiatry},
  year={2018}
}

• J. Peteet
• Published 1 March 2018
• Psychology
• Harvard Review of Psychiatry

As psychotherapies have proliferated, a number of authors have recently distinguished three waves of approaches, based on historical, theoretical and practical considerations. First-wave therapies, which include psychodynamic therapy, aim at enhancing autonomy and mastery through insight, and rely on the therapist as expert. A second wave of therapies, including cognitivebehavioral therapy (CBT), gestalt therapy, and family systems theory, are more present and problem focused. They are also more theory driven than third-wave therapies, which focus more on solutions and conscious action, and are heterogeneous in technique. Third-wave approaches include acceptance and commitment therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, behavioral activation, schema therapy, and mindfulness-based CBT. These three waves, while often enhancing resilience through learning social and emotional skills, are primarily directed at correcting deficits responsible for dysfunction. By comparison, many of the newest and most novel mental health interventions can productively be characterized as a fourth wave. This group of approaches, built on the legacy of existential psychotherapy and related humanistic approaches, aims beyond insight, mastery, and problem solving toward the achievement of positive well-being. These valueand virtueoriented approaches include positive psychology interventions, loving-kindness and compassion meditation, and dignity-andgratitude-promoting, meaning-centered, forgiveness-oriented, and spiritually informed therapies. They overlap with traditional religious/spiritual practices that utilize prayer, scripture study, sacraments, and supportive communities to help individuals achieve valued ideals and to flourish. Although the diverse group of approaches categorized here as fourth wave raise challenging conceptual, as well as practical and ethical, questions for clinicians regarding