Tom Caplan

Tom Caplan is a Canadian, Montreal-based Marriage and Family Therapist. He is an adjunct professor in the School of Social Work at McGill University, clinical director of the Caplan Therapy Centre and the Montreal Anger Management centre, and consultant to the McGill Domestic Violence Clinic, having had research affiliations with McGill University, Douglas Hospital, and Concordia University. He is also a designated expert in domestic violence for the Quebec court system. Tom Caplan is a licensed psychotherapist.
Caplan does clinical work with forensic populations, is the clinical director of the Caplan Therapy Centre and is the founder and supervisor of the Montreal Anger Management Centre. He is on the editorial board of Social Work with Groups, is a certified marriage and family therapist and a certified marriage and family therapy supervisor, works for the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay and is a member of the Professional Order of Social Workers of Quebec.
Caplan's signature therapeutic model is the Needs ABC model of therapy.
Academic background
Caplan received a master's degree in chemistry From the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and a master's in counselling psychology from the Adler School of professional Psychology and later studied under Annette Werk and Judy Magill, among others, at McGill University, with an initial focus on the theory and practice of delivery of therapy in a group environment to men involved in domestic violence. There he received a master's degree in social work.
Caplan's focus has historically been on group therapy and his model has been extended to encompass couple and family work, which can be considered as a subset of group therapy, with the couple and/or family seen as a "small group".
Needs ABC; a psychotherapeutic model
Needs ABC is unique in that it distinguishes itself by its focus on client relational needs and the emotions they predict, rather than on specific client behaviors. The primary caveat of the model states:
*1. It is the NEED (as described in the theme of a client’s narrative) that DRIVES the EMOTIONS.
*2. It is EMOTION that DRIVES the BEHAVIOR.
*3. MEETING THE NEED - through appropriate behavior - will result in EXTINGUISHING the inappropriate BEHAVIOR.
Three important goals govern the Needs ABC:
* Safety: The facilitator should help the clients to connect to the setting and to the process of therapy. This helps participants to begin experiencing a sense of safety that can lead to greater participation and self-disclosure;
* Ownership: Once a sense of security has been developed, the next goal is for the client to take responsibility for his problem and collaborate with the leader and other participants in the development of appropriate strategies;
* Understanding: The facilitator should assess and illuminate a client’s relational needs and emotional states during the therapeutic process and:
** (1) help the client to understand how and why they have these relational needs.
** (2) help them to understand how these needs predict these emotions.
** (3) help them to understand why they behave in the dysfunctional ways that they do.
Needs ABC is an integrative model within the larger umbrella of cognitive behavioral therapy.
Relational Needs
PRIMARY
Reliability (Availability)
FEAR: abandonment, conditional relationship.
THEME: lonely.
NEED: emotional connection, constancy (consistency) & predictability.
Loyalty (Trust)
FEAR: being taken advantage of.
THEME: betrayal.
NEED: trust, allegiance.
Respect (Self-Worth)
FEAR: being irrelevant or marginalized.
THEME: invisible, unimportant, objectified.
NEED: acknowledgement, value.
Competence (Self-Efficacy)
FEAR: not being good enough, failure.
THEME: inadequacy, incapable.
NEED: adequacy, proficiency.
SECONDARY
Intimacy (Closeness/Distance)
FEAR: too much or too little emotional/physical space.
THEME: suffocated, disconnected.
NEED: closeness or distance.
Power (to Get Needs Met)
FEAR: loss of control, powerlessness.
THEME: helpless, hopeless.
NEED: control of one’s environment.
Responsibility (for the Problem)
FEAR: blame, culpability
THEME: environmental control
NEED: safety, security
Grief/Loss (a “Time-Out”)
FEAR: change, acknowledgement.
THEME: paralyzed, stuck.
NEED: acceptance, recognition.

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