Supportive therapy: the other therapy.

Abstract

Nurses have a long history of caring for clients with chronic mental illness. A primary treatment modality used with these clients is supportive psychotherapy. Often this approach is not well understood, even by those who purport to practice it. While supportive therapy tends not to enjoy the prestige associated with other forms of individual psychotherapy, the author contends that supportive psychotherapy can be an interesting and challenging treatment modality for working with clients with chronic mental illness.