briefcounseling and short-term therapy approaches (Nugent, 1994; Steenbarger, 1992). Short-term therapyand counseling have consistently proven to be a powerful, efficient, and effective approach forresolving human emotional and behavioral problems, and it is a major force in the field ofpsychotherapy and counseling today (Saposnek, 1984).Although the overwhelming emphasis on brief counseling/therapy in the mental healthsystem is a relatively recent phenomenon, the concept itself is at least as old as Freud. Freudoriginally viewed psychoanalysis as a research tool that had powerful therapeutic applications.Although he tried to limit his early analysis to six to twelve months, he had hoped that in time itwould be superseded by more efficient methods (Saposnek, 1984; Nugent, 1994; Phillips, 1985).According to Small (1979), Historically, it is clear that Freud first sought a quick cure; when hebegan he could not foresee the developments that would lengthen the psychoanalytic process. Whowould have believed that Freud would have preferred a brief therapy over the open-ended, time-unlimited therapy process that classical psychoanalysis had become. Social changes brought on by the pressures of World War II led to a great demand for short-term interventions. The stress-related emergencies of World War II necessitated the developmentof early forms of crisis intervention aimed at symptom reduction, strengthening of copingmechanisms, and prevention of further breakdown (Saposnek, 1984). Brief therapy had found aniche and was made accessible by government funding through the Veterans Administration. Oneof the ironies of war is that it often creates large market niches and economic boon at the expenseof humanity.In 1963, due to an increasing need for services, President Kennedy and the Congress passedthe Community Mental Health Centers Act. This Act required an emergency service in everycommunity mental-health center and increased the demand for ...
