Scott D. Miller (1) (1958–)

Scott Miller represents an interesting blend of empirical research and relationship-oriented therapist. Together with colleages Barry Duncan and Mark Hubble, he has analyzed the research on what leads to lasting changes in therapy, and concluded that the actual techniques practitioners use are relatively unimportant when compared to other factors. The latest research, for example, has shown that the method used contributes at most 8 percent to success. Far more important are clients' and therapists' positive expectations, the quality of the relationship, and the client's own resources and motivations -- the last two accounting for the bulk of the change in successful therapy. What this means, according to Miller, is that the best kind of therapy established a relationship that harnesses the client's own ideas, recuperative powers, support sustems, and inner resources.

In a series of carefully researched books, Miller, together with Duncan and Hubble, have combined humanistic, relationship-oriented approaches with the efficiency of brief therapy. Their best known works include The Handbook of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy; Escape from Babel; Psychotherapy with Impossible Cases; and The Heart and Soul of Change, which reviews the latest research on what works best in clinical practice.

In his most recent book, The Heroic Client, Miller together with Duncan continue their research and theory building related to the client's self-recuperative powers.

In addition to his work on the essential ingredients of therapeutic change, Miller has long been involved in work with disadvantaged populations (including the poor and homeless). The Institute for the Study Therapeutic Change is the base from which he does therapy, conducts workshops, and continues his investigations. [from The Mummy at the Dining Room Table, by Jeffrey A. Kottler and Jon Carlson (2004)]