... I discovered that many [adult LD clients] had quit therapy prematurely and that most felt that they had not benefited significantly from the experience. Typically, they felt that their problems were either dismissed or misinterpreted. As a result, therapists were charged with "not really listening" and "not really hearing what I'm saying." Further conversations with other learning disabled adults verified that unsatisfactory counseling experiences extend beyond the college years and suggested that their reasons for quitting were not entirely defensive. These adults reported that they gained a measure of relief from the immediate crises that led them to therapy, but quickly reached a plateau and thus either stopped therapy or were referred elsewhere. This book provides insight into why this happens and what therapists can do about it.
The book is not a manual or a research text, however. Jay and I have not tried to write an "A to Z" of learning disabilities, diagnostic evaluation, or psychotherapy, since most readers will have some familiarity with most of these topics. Nevertheless, we have tried to include enough material to orient those who are unfamiliar with any of these topics. We provide guidelines and suggestions both for diagnostic assessment and for therapeutic intervention, but we do not espouse a specific theoretical approach to therapy, since both experience and research have shown that the personality of the therapist is far more important than her theoretical approach. Our point is that, whatever the therapist's personal approach to treatment, she can only be of very limited assistance without a working knowledge of the nature of learning disabilities and how the disability has affected the patient's life....
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