Future-oriented therapy

Future-oriented therapy (FOT) and future-directed therapy (FDT) are approaches to psychotherapy that place greater emphasis on the future than on the past or present.

History

The term future-oriented therapy was first used in an article by psychologist Walter O'Connell in 1964, after which the term was used as the title of an article by psychiatrist Stanley Lesse in 1971. Psychiatrist Frederick T. Melges also used the term in his writings in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 2000s, psychiatrist Bernard Beitman, inspired in part by Melges, wrote about future-oriented formulation and about how emphasis on the future is a common factor among different approaches to psychotherapy and is a basis for integrating psychotherapies. Future-directed therapy, an intervention with a similar emphasis on the future (developed independently of the previous future-oriented therapies), was first tested by psychologist Jennice Vilhauer and colleagues in 2011, and in 2014 was the subject of a self-help book that aimed to help readers "overcome negative emotions, identify what you want in life, transform limiting beliefs, take action, live ready for success".

Lesse's approach

Stanley Lesse's approach, published in 1971, stressed the need for all future psychiatrists, psychologists, social scientists, and political scientists to understand the relationships between sociodynamics and individual psychodynamics. Lesse viewed discussion of the future as a prophylactic (preventative) technique and guided patients over a relatively brief number of sessions to consider their role in the future in order to prepare for the impending stresses and challenges.

Melges's approach

In 1972, Frederick T. Melges published a paper about a future-oriented intervention, which he referred to as FOT. A decade later he wrote a book chapter describing the intervention. Melges's FOT is based on a psychodynamic model and was intended to be an adjunctive intervention, not a treatment for psychiatric disorders. Melges described it a "useful adjunct to past- and present-oriented therapies" to help patients with issues such as low self-esteem and identity diffusion.