EXPERTISE IN PSYCHOTHERAPY - INHERENT LIABILITIES OF BECOMING EXPERIENCED

The properties of problem representation among experts working in well-structured problem spaces are distinguished from those working in the poorly structured and more complex domain of psychotherapy. The implications of forward and backward causal reasoning, the absence of a consensually sanctioned, canonical domain knowledge, and the reigning confusion about what constitutes a relevant clinical database in a psychotherapeutic relationship are drawn out. A number of normative characteristics of expert performance are examined in view of the manner in which they constitute liabilities for those working in fuzzy problem spaces.