Like many psychotherapy researchers, I have been fascinated by the role of “specific” and “nonspecific” (or common) factors from the beginning of my career. For a long time K was erroneously believed that nonspecific factors required no skills on the part of the therapist whereas specific factors were equated with specialized training and expertise. Eventually, my fellow researchers at Vanderbilt and I concluded that the two terms are misnomers that have beclouded rather than clarified the basic issues. In the end, I became convinced that therapists’ skills contribute materially to the outcome of therapy and that these skills, rather than being specific techniques, are much more accurately described as the ability to manage the complex human relationship that is the essence of psyc