Customising Therapeutic Approaches
Category: Training Guides Video duration: 4:55 Reading time: ~4 min
Overview
This guide accompanies the Customising Therapeutic Approaches video. It covers how to configure your therapeutic approach defaults in settings, use the approach selector in the script intake wizard, and understand how your selection shapes the generated output.
1. Setting your default approach in settings
Open Settings (gear icon in the top navigation) and select the General tab. Here you can set:
- Primary therapeutic approach — Required. This is applied to every new session unless you override it.
- Secondary approach — Optional. Enables integrative session design where two styles are blended.
- Audio format and quality — Set your preferred output format for audio exports.
You can also configure your Disciplines from the Disciplines tab — a separate but related setting that establishes which therapeutic disciplines you practise. The approach selector will flag an "outside your disciplines" warning if you choose an approach that falls outside your configured disciplines, though you can still use it.
Available approaches include:
- Ericksonian / indirect suggestion
- Direct suggestion
- CBT-integrated
- Solution-focused
- NLP-based
- Mindfulness / acceptance-based
- Relaxation-focused
- The Three Principles
- And others shown in the selector
2. The approach selector in the intake wizard
When building a new script, the therapeutic approach step in the intake wizard shows:
Primary approach — Always required. Your workspace default is pre-selected.
Secondary approach — Optional. Click Add secondary approach to add a second style. A swap button lets you switch primary and secondary positions if needed.
Tertiary approach — Optional (only available once a secondary is set). Click Add tertiary approach.
Each approach card displays:
- The approach name and a Primary/Secondary/Tertiary badge
- A short description of the style
- A Language bar — from Conversational to Formal
- A Metaphors bar — from Minimal to Rich
These bars help you see at a glance how two approaches compare stylistically, which is useful when choosing a secondary that complements rather than conflicts with your primary.
An Override badge appears if you select an approach outside your configured disciplines — a reminder, not a block.
3. How your approach choice affects the generated script
Language patterns — Each approach has distinct vocabulary, sentence structure, and rhythm. Ericksonian style uses embedded commands and presuppositions; direct suggestion uses clear instruction; CBT-integrated language includes psychoeducation elements. The generated script reflects the selected approach throughout, not just in labelled sections.
Module selection — Not all modules exist in all style variants. Selecting an approach filters the module library to variants with appropriate language, producing a stylistically coherent script.
Transition language — The bridging text between modules is also adapted to the selected approach, maintaining a consistent voice across the whole session.
4. Saving and reusing customisations
If you edit a module's text and want to reuse that version in future sessions, you can save it to your personal module library. On future scripts using the same approach, your saved version will appear as an option alongside the default library version.
This builds up a personalised module bank over time, increasingly aligned with your voice.
5. KYODO and therapeutic approach
The KYODO assistant (KYODO Lite on Pro, Full KYODO Script Builder on Studio) is context-aware. When you ask KYODO for technique suggestions, module recommendations, or help designing a session, it takes your configured therapeutic approach into account and frames its responses accordingly.
See KYODO assistant for how to use KYODO effectively.