Jacqueline A. Sparks & Barry L. Duncan 
The Heroic Client 
A Revolutionary Way to Improve Effectiveness Through Client-Directed, Outcome-Informed Therapy

In this controversial book, psychologists Barry Duncan and Scott Miller, cofounders of the Institute for the Study of Therapeutic Change, challenge the traditional focus on diagnosis, ‘silver bullet’ techniques, and magic pills, exposing them as empirically bankrupt practices that only diminish the role of clients and hasten therapy’s extinction. Instead, they advocate for the long-ignored but most crucial factor in therapeutic success-the innate resources of the client. Based on extensive clinical research and case studies, The Heroic Client not only shows how to harness the client’s powers of regeneration to make therapy effective, but also how to enlist the client as a partner to make therapy accountable. The Heroic Client inspires therapists to boldly rewrite the drama of therapy, recast clients in their rightful role as heroes and heroines of the therapeutic stage, and legitimize their services to third-party payers without the compromises of the medical model.

Table of Content

Foreword to the Revised Edition ix
Bruce E. Wampold

Foreword to the First Edition xii
Larry E. Beutler

Preface xvii

1 Therapy at the Crossroads 1

2 The Myth of the Medical Model 21

3 Becoming Client Directed 49

4 Becoming Outcome Informed 81
with Lynn Johnson, Jeb Brown, and Morten Anker

5 The Client’s Theory of Change 119
with Susanne Coleman, Lisa Kelledy, and Steven Kopp

6 The Myth of the Magic Pill 147
with Grace Jackson, Roger P. Greenberg, and Karen Kinchin

7 Planet Mental Health 178

Epilogue: A Tale of Two Therapies 201

Appendixes

I A First-Person Account of Mental Health Services 213
Ronald Bassman

II Consumer/survivor/ex-patient Resource Information 217
Ronald Bassman

III Five Questions About Psychotherapy 219

IV Outcome Rating Scale and Session Rating Scale; 221

Experimental Versions for Children

References 229

About the Authors 249

Name Index 254

Subject Index 261

About the author

Barry L. Duncan is cofounder and codirector of the Institute for
the Study of Therapeutic Change and in private practice in Coral
Springs, Florida.

Scott D. Miller is cofounder and codirector of the Institute for
the Study of Therapeutic Change, in Chicago, Illinois.

Jacqueline A. Sparks is assistant professor of marriage and
family therapy, Department of Human Development and Family Studies,
at the University of Rhode Island.