Dr. Matt

Causality and Epistemology

2011-01-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

1. Your client, Jane, comes to her second session with you highly distraught. Two nights previously she arrived home early from work and found her loving husband of 10 years cheating on her with her younger sister. She states repeatedly, through heaving sobs, that she can’t understand how this could happen, that their marriage was a “good” marriage. She asks repeatedly “Why would he do this?”
a. What caused Jane’s husband to cheat on her?
i. Is his cheating behavior healthy or unhealthy?
1. How do you know you’re right?
b. What is causing Jane’s distress?
i. Is her distress healthy or unhealthy?
1. How do you know you’re right?

2. Your client, Robert, is coming in for his 33rd session with you, as gloomy and as apathetic as he’s always been. He reports the same feelings and experiences he’s reported for the previous 32 sessions. He feels worthless, like he wants to die. He’s spent every day over the past 33 weeks in bed hating himself, lacking even the energy to commit suicide.
a. What is causing your clients behavior?
i. Is his behavior healthy or unhealthy?
1. How do you know you’re right?

3. The mother of your 8 year-old client comes into your office shortly before your session with him. She appears highly distraught and explains to you that she found her son torturing puppies in the backyard of their neighbor’s home. When she confronted her son about his behavior and grounded him to his room, he promptly lit his bed on fire.
a. What is causing your client’s behavior?
i. Is his behavior healthy or unhealthy?
1. How do you know you’re right?
b. What is causing the mother of your client to feel so distressed?
i. Is her behavior healthy or unhealthy?
1. How do you know you’re right?

4. One night, while visiting your family, you note that your uncle, who has always been a part of your life, is not present at the family gathering. You ask your family about where your favorite uncle is, and nobody responds to you. After a few distressing minutes of this, your grandmother pulls you aside and tells you that your uncle is in jail for molesting his children, your cousins.
a. What caused your uncle’s behavior?
i. Is his behavior healthy or unhealthy?
1. How do you know you’re right?

Assumptions Have Implications

Theories in psychology have unspoken assumptions and implications
The “from whence” and “to whence” of the theory
Assumptions are the fundamental ideas about the nature of reality that must be true for the theory to work
Implications are the consequences that logically follow from the assumptions: If ___ then ____
Example: Assuming we’re biologically determined
1. I’m a therapist that holds fast to an evolutionary model of behavior. I assume that all of human behavior is “hard-wired” and genetically determined. I read an article of a woman proclaiming the evils of adultery and how infidelity is “destroying today’s families”.
A. What would be my reaction to this article?
B. I’m a marriage counselor for a couple with one spouse is unfaithful, much to the distress of the other member of the marriage. How does my assumption that all behavior is “hard-wired” imply whether or not I should intervene with the unfaithful spouse?
C. If I choose to intervene, how would I intervene, given the assumption that all behavior is “hard-wired”?
Example: Assuming “it’s all good”
1. I’m a therapist that holds fast to a postmodernist model of behavior. I assume that all human behavior is morally relative, and that any dogmatic worldview (political, religious, or individual) is inherently harmful. I have a client in my office for an initial consultation who feels she has “sinned” and is greatly depressed, ashamed, and guilty for her behavior. I learn that by the standards of her deeply-held religion, she did indeed violate certain tenets of her faith.
A. Given my postmodern position, what would my reaction be to her shame, guilt, and grief?
B. How might I intervene with her, given that I feel that “it’s all good” and that dogmatism is inherently a problem?
Example: Assuming behavior is caused by unconscious forces
1. I’m a therapist from an analytic tradition. I assume that all of human behavior is due to unconscious processes (factors outside of our awareness over which we have no control). I’m meeting with a client who is greatly angry at his father. He feels his father betrayed his family by leaving his mother for a younger woman and moving suddenly to another state.
A. Given my analytic position, would I agree that the father is morally responsible for his own behavior?
B. If the father is not morally responsible, are my clients feelings rational or irrational?

Assumptions and Implications are rarely discussed
Themselves embedded in other assumptions and implications

Assumed Yet Overlooked: Agency
Agency = the ability to do otherwise, all things remaining equal
A HUGE assumption in our daily lives
Love, anger, shame, guilt, joy, often built on agency
Morality is not possible without agency
No choice = “good” and “bad” cease to make sense
If I have no agency (no choice) I cannot help what I do, hence it cannot be “bad” or “good”
Free will (utterly unconstrained behavior) seems impossible
We do have history, context, bodies
Understanding of contextualized agency
Critically examining what people can do, and what they cannot
Constraints not determinism

Standards for Critical Thought:
Clarity
You need to speak or present in a way that is clear and that the listener can understand
Accuracy
What you say really needs to be true (checkable empirically, qualitatively, etc.)
Precision
Giving precise enough details is very helpful and a good sign
Relevance
The statement should be relevant to the topic, to the issue, to the question
Breadth
There may be other ways of looking at the topic that need to be addressed
Logic
What you are saying now needs to follow directly and sensibly from what you said before

A theory is a series of two or more ideas that have a meaningful relationship
The relationship between them can be
1. Hypothesized
2. Presumed
3. Factually demonstrated
Basically: Theory = thought and theories are fallible

Responses to Fear of Thinking and Theorizing
Eclecticism
No escape
Nihilism
Work ceases
Denial
No improvement
Fighting familiarity
Fear Not! You can Theorize too!
Necessity of a “meta – theory” or a way of theorizing about theory
The nature of the relationship between ideas in a theory varies
Finding categories of the various ways ideas relate can be helpful
One such meta – theory is examinations of causality

1. The four causes
a. Material
i. What causes the thing is what it is made of
(1) What are you “made” of? Your biology causes your behavior
b. Efficient
i. What causes the thing are events that led up to it through time
(1) What is your history? It is your history that causes your behavior
c. Formal
i. The context of the thing, internally and externally
(1) What is your current context? Your context causes your behavior
d. Final
i. The end to which the thing or behavior exists
(1) What is your goal? Your goal causes your behavior
(a) Also called telos, study of purpose is teleology
2. Thought Exercise #1
a. There is a chair sitting in the middle of the room
i. What is the material cause of the chair?
ii. What is the efficient cause of the chair?
iii. What is the formal cause of the chair?
iv. What is the final cause of the chair?
3. Thought Exercise #2
a. John Smith has just been convicted of murdering 16 people in 5 states
i. What is a material cause for John’s behavior?
ii. What is an efficient cause for John’s behavior?
iii. What is a formal cause for John’s behavior?
iv. What is a final cause for John’s behavior?
4. Thought Exercise #3
a. Paula Purge sits across from you seeking treatment for her eating disorder
i. What is a material cause for her disorder?
ii. What is an efficient cause for her disorder?
iii. What is a formal cause for her disorder?
iv. What is a final cause for her disorder?
5. Thought Exercise #4
a. What forms of causality are assumed in the following vignette?
i. Genetic Causes of Depression
(1) Twin Studies
(a) Much of what we know about the genetic influence of clinical depression is based upon research that has been done with identical twins. Identical twins are very helpful to researchers since they both have the exact same genetic code. It has been found that when one identical twin becomes depressed the other will also develop clinical depression approximately 76% of the time. When identical twins are raised apart from each other, they will both become depressed about 67% of the time. Because both twins become depressed at such a high rate, the implication is that there is a strong genetic influence. If it happened that when one twin becomes clinically depressed the other always develops depression, then clinical depression would likely be entirely genetic. However because the rate of both identical twins developing depression is not closer to 100% this tells us that there are other things that influence a person's vulnerability to depression. These may include environmental factors such as childhood experiences, current stressors, traumatic events, exposure to substances, medical illnesses, etc.
(b) Research has also been done with fraternal twins. Unlike identical twins who have the same genetic code, these siblings share only about 50% of their genetic makeup and do not necessarily look alike. Studies have shown that when one fraternal twin becomes depressed, the other also develops depression about 19% of the time. This is still a higher rate of depression when compared to overall rates for the general public, again pointing towards a genetic influence in the development of clinical depression.
(i) (both vignettes from http://www.allaboutdepression.com/cau_03.html)
6. Your assumptions about causality imply some treatments and not others
a. If I assume that my client’s issues are caused by their biology, what treatments would I use?
i. Which treatments would I NOT use?
(1) Consequences?
b. If I assume that my clients issues are caused by their past, what treatments would I use?
i. Which treatments would I NOT use?
(1) Consequences?
c. If I assume that my clients issues are caused by their context, what treatments would I use?
i. Which treatments would I NOT use?
(1) Consequences?
d. If I assume that my clients issues are caused by their mistaken goals, what treatments would I use?
i. Which treatments would I NOT use?
(1) Consequences?
7. Dealing with the whole person
a. In psychology, we tend to value just two causes, efficient and material
i. Most measurable, and hence most “scientific”
b. Two consequences to that value
i. It removes volition/agency
(1) A therapist that attends to your past, not to you
(2) A therapist that attends to your biology, not to you
ii. It removes moral responsibility
(1) Sometimes a good thing, sometimes not
(a) Good when behavior truly is a-volitional
(b) Bad when behavior is truly volitional

Causality, however, has direct implications for epistemology (how knowledge is "caused")

Epistemology
a. Epistemology is our theorizing about our ways of gaining knowledge
i. Episteme = theoretical knowledge
ii. Gnosis = experiential knowledge
iii. Oida = knowledge from books
(1) Different theories about ways of knowing
(a) Critical for science
(b) Critical for therapy
(c) Yet another meta-theory
b. Valuable for your first paper (potentially)
i. How do people know what they know?
ii. How does such knowledge come about?
iii. Why do some people know some things, while other people know other things?
iv. Can problems occur in the process of knowing/learning?
v. Can we know anything learned without our physical senses?
2. Lockean Epistemology (Empiricism)
a. Empiricism: From “experience” in Latin
i. Common, unquestioned
(1) Born “tabula rasa”
(a) We derive knowledge from two things:
(i) Sensation (from our seven senses)
1) Sensation is the outside world effecting our senses
(ii) Reflection (remembering that which we have sensed)
1) Reflection is developed through our experience with the outside world helping us categorize our behavior
(b) Ultimately, external forces impinge upon our senses causing sensation directly, which is then remembered
(i) What we know is at the mercy of what we sense
(ii) Our knowledge is strictly A Posteriori
ii. If my assumptions about human knowledge were predominantly empirical as a therapist, how would that affect my treatment of my clients?
(1) What sorts of interventions would I provide?
(2) What sorts of interventions would I not provide?
3. Kantian Epistemology (Rationalism)
a. Rationalism: From ratio “reason” in Latin
b. Less common, often unconsidered
i. Descartes: The use of skepticism
(1) Doubting (even doubt) = reason
c. Socratic dialogue
d. Einstein’s gedanken
i. Recognized as a scientist, but breakthroughs were non-empirical
e. Mathematics
i. No empirical referent
f. Immanuel Kant: A priori knowledge & categories of understanding
i. A priori means “before experience”
g. Division between noumenal and phenomenal realms
i. Noumenal = world as it is apart from our understanding of it
ii. Phenomenal = world as we actually experience it
h. Categories of understanding exist a priori
i. Rose colored glasses: phenomenal structuring noumenal
(1) Time, space, shape, size
(2) Ultimately, knowledge is caused by our structuring of the world
(a) We are disturbed not by events, but by the views which we take of them
(i) Epictetus
i. If I were a therapist who assumed that what people know is predominantly how they habitually construct their external and internal world, what sorts of interventions would I provide?
i. Which interventions would I not use?
4. Exercise! (But without the sweating and panting)
a. You’re seeing a client, and you assume that the client’s disorder comes from past experience. (They had a pathogenic environment)
i. What epistemology are you assuming?
b. You’re seeing a client, and you assume that the client’s disorder comes from their unconscious mind interfering pathologically with their world
i. What epistemology are you assuming?
5. Don’t we just need ONE epistemology for crying out loud?
a. Empiricism limited in its explanatory power
i. Things can be meaningful without empirical referent
(1) Mathematics, statistics, religion, virtue, duty
b. Rationalism is limited in its explanatory power
i. We cannot change our categories of understanding
(1) True creativity limited
(2) Explaining fundamental differences in understanding is problematic
c. Search continues for the “best” epistemology
6. Alternative 1: Social Constructionism
a. The process of understanding is no longer within a given individual
i. Understanding occurs within relationships
b. Humans are fundamentally language using creatures
c. What is known is constructed through language and interaction
d. Problem: Everything known is socially constructed
i. Truth, lies, right, wrong, etc. all constructed
(1) (we’ll talk about degrees of relativism next week)
7. Alternative 2: Modes of Engagement (Hermeneutic Interpretivism)
a. Fundamental assumption: We are engaged or embedded in our world to varying degrees
i. Empiricism and rationalism posit separation between self and world = subject/object distinction
ii. Constructivism makes crucial concepts items for ironic play in discourse (relativizes fundamental realities of being)
b. Hermeneutics (interpretive) partially dissolves subject/object distinction, furthers understanding
i. Present-at-hand (Present-ness) = Detached, reflective mode of experimentation and math. Subject & object separate, leads to skewed (constructed) understanding
ii. Ready-to-hand (Occurrent-ness) = Active engagement, practical knowledge and learning less skewed by culture
(1) All of this knowledge is contextualized knowledge
iii. Treating a map as a real city = treating experimental results as immediately applicable in lived existence
(1) Studying “objectively” is to study an abstraction
(2) Subjectivity/objectivity fused into “the lived world”
iv. No unbiased interpretation, “interpretations are always and already interpretations of something”
(1) We understand the world both according to what it is, and what we make of it
(a) Yup. Both, at the same time
(2) We are “thrown” into a world of language, meaning, history, morality
(a) Our thrown-ness informs our interpretation of the world
(b) As does our engagement with the world
(i) Do we have time to talk about the hermeneutic circle?
c. Exercise time!
i. Often, wrapping our heads around constructivism and interpretivism can be challenging, but we’re up for it!
(1) If I’m a therapist who assumes that all knowledge is socially constructed in relation to others, what sorts of interventions would I use with my clients?
(a) Which would I not use?
(2) If I’m a therapist who assumes that all knowledge is interpreted knowledge of ourselves and our world around us grounded in our own context, what sorts of interventions would I use with my clients?
(a) Which would I not use?

Our assumptions in terms of causality and epistemology also have implications for our ethical and moral view.

Moral and Ethical Assumptions in Counseling
a. Principle ethics
i. The belief that you have to strictly codify “right” and “wrong” behavior
(1) Usually what gets codified is a socially constructed understanding that itself draws from commonly held general principles in the population
ii. Ethical codes are written very broadly, specific situations are mentioned only rarely, which can be frustrating if you need help with a particular ethical issue
(1) Scene in the Simpson’s Movie “There’s no answers here!”
(a) Same problem with ethical codes, they present a mindset, general rules for ethical behavior
(b) In essence, the ethical codes are necessary (they form a base) but not sufficient (they are necessarily broad and imprecise)
iii. Ethics specify behavioral guidelines for a given group of people
(1) Club membership
(a) You can break ethics sometimes without breaking the law
(2) Law specifies what you can’t do legally
(a) Goes for everybody, can land you in jail if you break them
(3) You know you’re in legal trouble if:
(a) Legal proceedings have been initiated
(b) Lawyers are involved
(c) You are in danger of having a complaint of misconduct filed against you
iv. Sometimes the law and the code don’t get along
(1) What you are ethically bound to do may be legally problematic
(a) Consult a lawyer (hate to say it, but it’s true)
(i) Issues due to counseling minors, ethics vs. law
(2) Some ethics codes (like APA) specify that if there is a contradiction between the law and the code, obey the law in a manner to best approximate the ethical code
b. Principle ethics is a philosophical orientation towards “right” behavior
i. Establishing a set of obligations and the methods to meet said obligations
ii. Using said method to solve a dilemma/dilemmas
iii. Use the framework to solve future dilemmas
(1) It’s very “rule-focused”
c. Virtue ethics are aspiration-al
i. Four philosophical core virtues:
(1) Prudence
(2) Integrity
(3) Respectfulness
(4) Benevolence
ii. Here’s a sample list of virtue ethics in psychology
(1) 1. Autonomy
(a) Self-determination, freedom to choose
(i) We shouldn’t interfere with that
1) But often we do
(b) This is one of the reasons why it is so important to be aware of one’s own values
(c) We won’t know we’re pushing a moral agenda unless we know we have one
(i) Always present clients options, even if you don’t like some of them
(2) 2. Nonmaleficence
(a) Avoid doing harm (actively or passively)
(i) Vindictiveness disturbingly common in our field
1) “I’m giving them what they deserve”
2) Fine line sometimes between tough love and just petty meanness
a) Be aware of cultural differences when diagnosing
i) “White man’s clinic”
(3) 3. Beneficence
(a) Promote “good” for others
(i) Defined as “dignity and welfare”
1) Loaded with assumptions . . .
(b) Note that this particular virtue is PRO-active
(i) Have you done any good in the world today?
1) Be aware of the client’s context and what “good” is for them
2) Don’t dismiss your own “good” but try to find a middle ground with them
3) One culture CAN positively inform another culture
a) What I learned about the value of extended family
(4) 4. Justice
(a) Be fair to everyone, don’t have double-standards
(i) Justice is an issue when interventions don’t work, or are harmful with certain populations
(ii) Justice is an issue when assessments work for one group, but not another (yet are claimed to be valid)
(iii) Justice is an issue when you have a double-standard in your pro-bono work
(iv) Justice is an issue when you give certain clients the benefit of the doubt and not others . . .
(5) 5. Fidelity
(a) You make a promise, you keep that promise
(i) Your word becomes FACT
(ii) You are LOYAL to your clients
(iii) You need to live up to your end of informed consent
(iv) Clients need to trust the therapeutic relationship
1) My own experience with counseling
a) My counselor no-showed to 50% of our sessions
(6) 6. Veracity
(a) Closely related to fidelity
(b) Be truthful with your clients
(i) Lies of commission vs. lies of omission
(ii) Painful honesty is sometimes required of us
(iii) Clients need to know that they can trust what you say
(iv) “I’m going to speak to medical to see if we can get you an appointment sooner”
1) By golly, you’d better go and chat with medical
2. Ethics do not arise in a vacuum
a. They are themselves philosophical ideas, loaded with assumptions
b. Note that ethical virtues (and ethical principles) focus around helping an individual, usually to feel better or behave more productively. This is a fundamental assumption of counseling theory
c. We, as a society, very much value such worthy ideas as individual freedom, happiness, and the inherent rights of the individual
i. This has HUGE positive benefits
(1) Freedom from oppression, repression, and arbitrary authority
(2) Both individually and socially
(3) The ability to choose one’s own destiny
(a) Counseling both mirrors society and magnifies it
(i) We help perpetuate both the positive and negative of these values
d. Psychology furthers the modern ethos of the importance of individual rights, freedoms, and pursuits of happiness
i. The individual, however, is seen as a “bounded, masterful self”, its own source of happiness and misery (Cushman)
ii. A “punctual” self, a singular point of consciousness, radically disconnected from other points of consciousness (also Cushman)
(1) Denies the power of relationality
(2) Denies powerful moral obligation, responsibility, etc.
(a) “Only you can make you happy”
(i) WHAT?????
e. Pursuit of individual happiness and the good life are certainly worthwhile goals
i. Possible unfortunate side-effects of this:
(1) People looking out for themselves and their own benefits first, without concern to greater societal needs
(2) Greater disconnection with others as people increasingly look within for meaning
(3) Go to psychotherapists to ameliorate the necessary anomie that accompanies this
(4) Only to have it perpetuated by individualistic therapy
f. Another effect of the individualistic nature is the centrality of meaning in the self
i. The individual knows, subjectively, what the source of his or her individual happiness is
ii. Given that happiness is the ultimate goal, and only the individual knows what will make them happy, the individual is the ultimate arbiter of what is “best”
(1) All individuals differ - what is ultimately best differs
3. The issue of Relativism
a. Constructionists object to the individualism of psychology
i. Posit instead that meaning is not located within a given individual, but rather within the meanings created by society
ii. We are, rather than completely, ontologically, separated from others, we are instead co-constructed by society, fundamentally inseparable from others in society
b. Although constructionism does a lot to explain our engagement with society and meaning, there is still a problem: If moral meaning comes from society, and societies differ, morals are relative to societies
i. Where do individual cultures end?
(1) Countries, states, counties, religions organizations, fraternities, families, even individuals
ii. Different approach, same ultimate problem
c. Disadvantages of relativism
i. It allows us to treat crucial moral concerns as items for “ironic play” in our counseling
ii. We have to treat them as serious to respect the clients, but they can’t really be serious because everything is relative - ironic
iii. Cultural clashes are inevitable
(1) “I’ll only see the counselor if she’s Catholic” (Mormon, Baptist, Buddhist, etc.)
(a) “Will he respect my values, even though the culture of psychology denies the validity of values?”
(2) “Men’s milk” – you would be legally obligated to report abuse
(3) Relativism is inconsistent
(4) Could it be that we don’t feel values are fundamentally relative?
(a) When we feel strongly about things we do not feel that our emotion is invalid or stupid
(i) If everything is relative, why fight, why advocate, why change?
1) Why is happiness “good?”
a) Why would anyone want to perpetuate happiness except for very relativistic (and ultimately invalid) reasons?
(5) Illogical “the ultimate truth is that there is no truth”
(a) The ultimate in living truthfully is to live as though truthful living was impossible . . .

Dr. Draper Recommends

2010-03-03T13:20:00.000-08:00

Draper Recommends these Restaurants (in no particular order)

Spice Grill: Indian fusion served by very friendly people. It's an experience. 163 North University Ave in Provo
Pantrucas: Chilean cuisine, amazing sandwich bread (North canyon road provo)
Four Seasons Hot Pot: Traditional northern chinese, try the dumplings! (University Avenue in Provo)
Se Llama Peru: Peruvian food (Center Street in Provo)
La Carreta: Peruvian behind Sizzler on State Street by University Mall. Try the Ceviche!
India Palace: Best Indian I've had in this state (Center Street in Provo)
Lidna Maria's: Tons of food for a reasonable price (8th North in Orem)
The Jerk Shack: Jamaican - ask for the extra jerk sauce if you like it spicy! (Center Street in Orem) NOW OUT OF BUSINESS
Ginger's Cafe: The only vegetarian place I've found that I like (Main Street in Springville)
Kranky Franks: Hotdogs served by very un-cranky people. Ask for the Big Mike (Main Street in Springville)
T-Bone: This is NOT "good" food, but going there is an experience, like ordering fried rice with your chicken friend steak (South State Street Springville)
Demae: Sushi fresh and for a good price (Center Street in Provo)
Five Guys Hamburgers: The only burgers I've found that I can recommend (North of University Mall in Orem)
La Casita: Try the carnitas if you're really hungry (Main Street Springville)
Thai Drift: Best thai food I've had since moving to Utah. 16th North in Orem off State Street.
Los 2 Potrillos: South Spanish Fork. Although the fare is standard, the Albondigas en Caldo (Mexican Meatball Soup) is one of the best soup dishes I've had in a while.
Model A Cafe: Mapleton. Classic Americana. If you go, order a "Flat Tire" with butter, cinnamon, and sugar. Trust me.
I'll add to the list if anything else comes to mind.

Gestalt Therapies

2008-11-20T10:44:00.000-08:00

Gestalt Theory
Key Terms:
Experiential Epistemological Relativism Field
Field Theory Experience Here-and-now
Field Relativity Paradoxical Theory of Change Organismic self-regulation
Contact Conscious Awareness Experimentation
Figure/Ground Awareness Cycle Undifferentiation
Figure Focus Figure Sharpening Scanning
Action Anchoring Contact Interruptions
Deflecting Proflecting Retroflecting
Projection Introjection Confluence
Contact Cycle Contact Intimacy
Confluence Isolation Withdrawal
Discussion Questions:
1. What types of epistemology do you see in Gestalt theory?
2. What types of causality do you see in Gestalt theory?
3. What contradictory elements do you see in Gestalt theory?
4. What are the limitations of Gestalt theory?
5. Is Gestalt theory morally relativistic or dogmatic?
6. What are different “experiments” you could do to increase client’s contact with their experience?

Fundamental Assumption 1: Experience is relative.
Fundamental Assumption 2: We exist in a context comprised of culture, language biology, and history.
Fundamental Assumption 3: We are holistic creatures in that we are inherently growth
oriented, self-regulating, and only comprehensible in our contexts.
Fundamental Assumption 4: Only the present affects our behavior. Past and future are
irrelevant. It is only our understanding of them and our feelings about them in the
present that matter.

Experiential: The nature of Gestalt therapy is inherently experiential. It is not about offering insight into a client’s unconscious dynamics, but rather helping them attune themselves to all that they are experiencing. When we fully experience, we are better aware and more informed about how we should be living. It is all about the expansion of awareness.

Epistemological Relativism: Therapists in Gestalt do not interpret or “objectively” view a client’s situation, because reality is relative to the observer (eraser or the religious symbol of an obscene god). Instead, relativists try to understand the nature of their client’s reality and respect that reality. But, that reality is theirs, not ours, and we have no position by which we can assume that our reality is “better” or “more realistic” than theirs.

Context is very important in gestalt theory.
1. Gestalt theory is very Formal-Causal
a. Two faces or a vase?
b. A desk or a table?
c. Sexual harassment or joking between coworkers?
2. Experience occurs in context and is sensible in context
a. These contexts are called fields
b. Fields are defined as a combination of mutually interdependent elements that are so interconnected that the slightest change in one leads to a change in the whole.
1. Society is a field
2. A family is a field
3. A therapy context is a field
4. An individual is a field
A. Our understanding of our past and present is greatly influenced by our current context.
B. Field theory postulates that there are fields in fields in fields, mutually contextualizing and “causing” each other. You cannot understand an individual without understanding their context as completely as you can.
1. Born of philosophy, but only tested by science . . .
C. Experience is very important, because it is the experience, or the subjective thoughts and feelings that exist in the present moment which are informative and therapeutic. Hearing a person’s story of their past does not inform about the past, but rather informs their experience of the past in the present moment. As the context of the present changes, so does their experience of their past.
D. Experience takes place in the here-and-now, the present absolute moment that cannot be transcended. Our understandings are determined by the field in the here-and now. All of our experiences are then relative to our field, and all of our fields differ.
3. Paradoxical Theory of Change: The more one tries to become what one is not, the more one stays the same. (Existentialism anyone?) This perpetuates fragmentation of personality and disorders of thought and mood.
4. Organismic self-regulation: Knowing and owning what our experience is. We must identify with what we sense, feel, emote, observe, need, want, and believe. True growth starts with conscious awareness of our experience, both in terms of how people effect us and how we effect others. This growth is furthered by being in contact with what is really happening, and being honest with yourself about what you will do and what you won’t. (For absolutely relative reasons.)
A. Living in the “should be” or “might be” or “better be” distracts from the immediacy of being and hampers growth. One isn’t aware of where one is, one is elsewhere. Quote from Yoda?
1. Gestalt therapy aims at self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and growth by immersion in current existence, aligning awareness, and experimenting with what is actually happening in the moment.
5. Gestalt therapy emphasizes Contact, conscious awareness, and experimentation.
A. Contact is being in touch with what is and what is emerging here and now, moment by moment, experiencing it more fully or deeply.
B. Conscious Awareness: All that we are aware of in an explicit way in the here and now. All that we are in touch with and “know” in a conscious way.
1. Awareness is our focused attention to a situation we are already conscious of. This typically happens interpersonally, when contact occurs, we focus our awareness on that contact, what is going on, and what our experience is more fully.
a. My wanting to strangle BJ. Feeling the frustration, focusing on the feeling, increasing contact with it, my awareness of old habits surfacing again after so many years, furthering my growth, understanding, and need to clarify with him.
b. Feelings of anxiety, distance, anger, aggression, all need to be focused on so that contact with them is possible and awareness can be fostered (especially with therapists).
C. Experimentation: The techniques we use to further our awareness, trying something new to feel or experience more fully. We may be doing something we’re not aware of, unable to articulate a feeling coursing through us, or snap into a response habit (aggression) that we need to be aware of. So, the therapist helps us experiment to increase our awareness of them.
D. Figure/Ground: The figure becomes that which we’re aware of in the ground (background) that contextualizes it.
1. Singer/Schacter study on epinephrine: The feelings of increased heart-rate, respiration, emotional upset, and sweating was the figure. The ground was the context of who the participant was sitting with. If they were sitting with a calm person, they interpreted the feeling in terms of anxiety. If they were sitting with an angry person, they attributed their own feelings to anger. The ground contextualizes the figure in terms of thought, emotion, and bodily processes.
E. Clients and therapists can become more aware of what is going on (can make better sense of the figure) if they go through what is called an awareness cycle. Many clients are stuck somewhere in the awareness cycle, and as counselors we need to help them through the process.
1. Undifferentiation: No problem present, everything’s kosher, you’re fully engaged in the “ground”
2. Figure Focus: You’re aware that there might be a problem, and you begin to focus on it so it stands out from the ground.
3. Figure Sharpening: You define the problem and your awareness of it, so the problem become “figural” i.e. it stands out more sharply from the ground.
4. Scanning: You scan the environment for solutions to the problems or resources to meet your needs.
5. Action: You find a solution to the problem or a resource to meet your need and you act upon it.
6. Anchoring: You enjoy the feeling of having met your needs, having solved the problem, and you disengage with the figure.
7. Undifferentiation: Then you’re back engaged in the “ground”
F. One of the issues that happen is contact interruptions, or those things that we use to block our awareness from unpleasant or intense affect. These are particularly noticeable in the interpersonal realm.
1. Deflecting: Disengaging from, and pushing away the full meaning of an event or the weight of the affect associated with an interaction.
a. Refusing a compliment, laughing at a tragedy
2. Proflecting: Doing for yourself what you wish others would do for you, but you won’t ask.
a. Taking care of yourself, giving yourself gifts or soothing compliments
3. Retroflecting: Doing for others what you wish others would do for you, but you won’t ask.
a. Taking care of others, serving others, soothing others, feeding/nurturing others, with the subtle wish that others would do the same for you.
4. Projecting: Just like the psychoanalytic term, you interpret other’s thoughts and behaviors in terms of your own issues, desires, and motivations.
a. Avoid contact by viewing others as hostile, weak, etc.
5. Introjecting: Absorbing what others have to say without critical reflection or responsibility. This could be issues of identity, morality, or culture
a. Those that go to the same church their parents did without ever thinking about doctrines.
b. Those that swallow other’s definitions for them and live accordingly
6. Confluence: Paradoxical over-contact that involves the dissolution of two or more egos into one another.
a. There can be no contact if two egos are undifferentiated.

G. Many clients go through what is called the Contact Cycle that the counselor would be
well advised to help them break. It perpetuates interpersonal difficulty both for the
therapist as well as in the lives of the client.
1. Contact: This is where there is a meaningful and affect-laded moment
connecting two (or more) people
a. “From the moment I met her, we felt so strongly about each other we
knew we were soul mates”
2. Intimacy: The intensity of the contact and affect-laden togetherness increases,
and each member of the dyad/group share ever increasing intimate activities or
information and become far closer
3. Confluence: This is where the problem starts to come in. Both/all parties
begin to dissolve into one another, losing their personal identity feeling what the
other feels, thinking what the other thinks (or trying to)
a. The “undifferentiated ego mass”
4. Withdrawal: This is where the confluence becomes overwhelming and the
organismic processes rebel at the subsumption of identity.
a. Usually there’s lots of sparks and nastiness here
5. Isolation: Post-relationship loneliness with the feeling “it’s better to be alone
than to go through rejection/drama like that again”
a. It never seems to last very long . . .

2008-11-07T10:29:00.000-08:00

Existentialism
Key Terms:
Transcendence Being Alienation Authenticity
Will-to-power Nothingness Activity Bad Faith Anxiety/Dread/Despair Absurd Being-in-the-world Umwelt Miltwelt Eigenwelt Atemporality
Death Freedom Responsibility Willingness
Impulsivity Compulsivity Decision Isolation Meaninglessness

Thought Questions:
1. Existentialism comes from the writings of Hegel, Husserl, Nietzsche, Jaspers, Heidegger, and Kierkegaard. What problems may have surfaced in translating philosophy into a system of therapy?
2. If the responsibility is to “be oneself” then can we have legitimate moral understanding beyond “Do whatever is true to you?”
3. What about the assumption that our feelings of the truthfulness of our behavior are “absurd”? What about the assumption that our being is itself absurd?
4. What about existentialist’s assumptions about love? Is that an adequate definition? Are you comfortable with the implications?
5. Are death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness really existential realities potent enough to cause disorders in mood, thought, or personality? Why or why not?
6. What do you think of the idea that there is no truth, and that everything is subjective, yet schizophrenics are viewed as “irresponsible” because they are denying their existential freedom and refuse even to be responsible to themselves? Do you see the conflict between “no truth” and “irresponsible”?
7. How do you feel about Yalom using “Betty” to confront his own issues? Is this an ethical reason to engage in therapy?
8. What are existential theorists’ primary assumptions in terms of causality?
9. What are existential theorist’s primary assumptions in terms of epistemology?
10. What are existential theorist’s primary assumptions in terms of morality?

Fundamental assumption 1: People have choice about who they are, what they do, and what they mean.
Assumption 2: People can transcend their past, present, and future assuming normalcy.
Assumption 2: We both learn the meanings of society, and can use those meanings in new ways.
Assumption 3: Because we learn and further these meanings and can use them in our own ways, we are responsible for what we do and what we create.
Assumption 4: There is no absolute truth.

Philosophy: (From the Rychlak text)
Being: Being is the subjective realization of one’s experience, one’s experience of being alive. This is a core idea in existentialism, positing that we exist, we are, and we are beings.
To whit: Alienation. Alienation is the process by which the ideas we create become foreign to us, and lose their legitimate power over us. For example, both Kierkegaard and Nietzsche criticized religious dogma, because people mindlessly nod their heads at dogmatic principles in agreement to religious principles they never understood. The religion ceases to be a living force in their lives, and they are alienated from it.
There is an extension to this: Any time we parrot the thinking of others (like psychological theorists) without doing the hard thinking we need to do, we are alienated from our own capacity to reason.
This alienation can also be demonstrated in how we twist words.
Man in a gang-rape trial “I’m not a rapist”
Authenticity: We are inauthentic if we let the group or culture define who we are, without doing the hard work of finding out who we are and expressing it. In other philosopher’s eyes, authenticity is also fulfilling one’s possibilities. Some posit that because we can never be free of group pressures we need to find out the way of being that is most accurate to who we are, given the constraints of society/family/group.
Will-to-power: The human person’s fundamental capacity to be self-creative and hence authentic. We must base our lives on what we are, the entirety of our being.
The consequence to this is that guilt occurs, not when we do something wrong, but when we do not assume our responsibility for being but let others define who we are.
Nothingness: Approaching human beings objectively, like objects of scientific study, takes the subjectivity out of life. When we treat ourselves and others objectively we rob them of their subjectivity, so everything they are and everything they think they’re doing becomes nothing. We’re mindless ants on the treadmill of life. (Something-ness requires meaning, the rich affect-laden inherently subjective process of being human. If you take away that meaning, you take away the very thing that makes humans human.)
Activity: A fundamental characteristic of human beings is activity. It takes deliberate and constant effort to become a subjective self. When we face the fact of becoming human is when we feel alive. It is a hot and risky endeavor. Merely being without becoming is a dead, flavorless existence. (This echoes a little bit of Adler. Who you are is more important than who you were, who you will become is more important than who you are.) Never have an end-spot for becoming. If you become what you have planned and hope for nothing else, you will be disappointed when you arrive at your destination.
Bad Faith: This is a way of living by which we let ourselves down by not really fulfilling the possibilities open to us in life. If we choose to do nothing or to blame another’s behavior we are acting in bad faith because we have already chosen. The individual is responsible for their activity, and if they act in bad faith they are not living up to their responsibility. “There is no escaping the existential predicament of having to be.”
Anxiety/Dread/Despair: These are all the consequences of ceasing to be active, of failing to be authentic. Anxiety is “sickness unto death” resulting from alienation and in- authenticity, of failing in one’s will-to-power. Sometimes rather than depression or anxiety an inauthentic life manifests as boredom. We demand that life entertain us rather than going forward and creating the world we want. We are not malleable to the world, the world is malleable to us. We can latch on to other things in an effort to escape the emptiness and confusion in our own lives (clubs, organizations, religions), but we only further our anxiety and dread if we fail to face the emptiness of our lives head-on (which may explain why some people join then jettison religions, clubs, organizations or breathlessly preach the word of the religion while failing to live the principles).
Absurd: Two notions of absurd, the positive and the negative.
Absurd put positively: We have to believe something as true in order to have rational reasons for doing and thinking as we do. But, because everything is ultimately subjective and relative, our adherence to truth is absurd.
Absurd put negatively: Human life and existence is and of itself absurd. Our death, the destruction of the highest creation of nature, the wars people fight in the name of “right” and “wrong”, the absurdities of the partitioning of wealth, etc.

Assumption: The human world is the structure of meaningful relationships in which a person exists and in the design of which he or she participates (from the Corsini chapter). Because we are part of the world we are already and always constituting the world, designing it, being-in-the-world. We are part of the world and it is part of us in a way that is inseparable.

From the Corsini text:

Three types of world:
Umwelt: The objects around, the natural world. This is the world of our being to which we must adjust, the natural environment around us and the natural environment that constitutes us. We all have biology, we all have genes, hormones, hunger, the need to breathe. We all live, we will all die. These are all aspects of being that we must deal with every day, a deterministic aspect of our creation we must take into consideration, but understand it as a finite and limited aspect of our being that does not determine the whole of our being.
Eigenwelt: This is our “own world”, our self-relatedness and our self-awareness. It is the “for me-ness” of reality. Our subjective experience of our own thoughts, world, meaning.
Love: Now we have a model of love wherein people can intend and to mean their love for another. However, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche assume that the only real love is the love that is unfettered by the outside world in order for it to be true. You must be a fully authentic being for love to be real.
Miltwelt: This is our being with one another, the world of social engagement, social understanding, social contact. This is the world of culture, a world of words, touch, conversation, and engagement.
Atemporality: One of the big things that the existentialists put on our plate is freedom from “clock time”. So much of what goes on in our lives that is meaningful has nothing at all to do with time, or does not fit in with a model of linear time. The power and strength of my love, the depth of my devotion, the strength of my courage, the passion of my beliefs can in no way be adequately captured by linear assumptions of time; the brief instant of intense feeling for another, the split-second sacrifice of self for another, all are powerfully meaningful events that escape linear time. The image of a loved one framed in the sun can have a powerful influence on us years after they were standing in a sunbeam. When we lose ourselves in a conversation, a movie, or a therapy session, this is atemporality in action. We transcend time, as it is understood by our limited thinking.

Thinking in terms of therapy:
Death: We are all living unto death, and we are terrified of it. Death is the ultimate end of being, the end of everything we are and everything we could have been. Because death is so terrifying, we erect defenses. A big defense is to deny our fear of death. Many personality disorders have their roots in the fear of non-being, the fear of death.
Freedom: The human being is responsible for, and the author of his or her own world, own life design, and own choices and actions (from the Corsini text). There is no one to blame our behavior on but us. We must confront the limits of our existence, and accept the limitations of our being. Freedom is terrifying because we need structure in life, a reason to be, and there is nothing authentic out there that will provide it for us. We are forced, due to existential freedom, to construct a world for ourselves, to determine our own subjectivity.
Responsibility: Because we are ontologically free, we are also responsible for what we make out of life. We cannot blame our feelings or behavior on anyone else. Even thought disorders are seen in responsible terms, in the sense that schizophrenics are overwhelmed by the terrible freedom of existence and retreat into psychoses as to avoid being responsible even to themselves.
Willingness: To be willing is to move from knowledge of responsibility to action, to see that we can change and to actually take steps to make the change a reality. However, facing the freedom to choose is terrifying, so many people suffering from symptoms lose the ability to even wish for change.
Impulsivity: Impulsivity avoids wishing by failing to discriminate among wishes, instead the individual acts on all wishes in a disorganized way, irresponsibly failing to make a consistent change.
Compulsivity: Compulsiveness is characterized by not acting proactively, instead one is trapped by internalized standards that are exacting and absolute. They irresponsibly fail to change because they hold to outside standards.
Decision: Once faced with the reality of a wish, and once the wish is felt, the person is faced with a decision. They can either choose to act on the wish they feel so clearly, or they can choose to do nothing. The second the wish is known, a choice is made. They may try to abdicate the responsibility to choose by having their therapist, parent, spouse, friend choose for them. It can create a great deal of anxiety to make a decision to change.
Isolation: Isolation is the reality that we constitute others and that we can never fully share a consciousness with another. This is a terrifying experience because everything we are, everything we feel, and everything we think we do so alone. We fundamentally have a wish to be connected to another, to the larger whole of reality, but we are instead isolated specks on the backside of reality. We are fundamentally alone, and we can panic and latch onto others in hurtful ways, using them for their companionship, sex, protection, or comfort, without relating to them as an individual being. Only when we face the dread of isolation can we truly relate to one another in a healthy way.
Implication for counseling: Dissociative disorders occur when individuals are experiencing overwhelming existential isolation. They have are unmerged with another, so they “check out” and must feel something to bring them back into their bodies. Many of these people also attempt to fuse with another human being, to become part of them, so that the terrible feeling of isolation is ameliorated. This fusion occurs in an inappropriate, non-consensual way. Fusion can also happen in a more healthy way when two people honestly love each other when we have faced the existential reality of isolation. Regardless, nothing protects us from the fact of isolation.
Meaninglessness: We construct our own being, or own realities. There is no purpose for being other than what we create. Under the thin veneer of our subjectivity is the abyss of meaninglessness. Unfortunately, humans appear to require meaning, contrary to the fact of their existence. We arbitrarily adopt values to give us a blueprint for life to tell us why and how to live, but ultimately we must embrace the meaninglessness of reality and accept our values as ironic or absurd.

CBT and REBT

2008-10-31T09:25:00.001-07:00

Cognitive –Behavioral and Rational Emotive Therapies: Beck and Ellis
Key Terms:
Schema Cognitive Shift Cognitive Vulnerability
Primal Mode Conscious Mode Collaborative Empiricism
Guided Discovery Cognitive Model Core Belief
Intermediate Belief Automatic Thoughts Cognitive Triad
Cognitive Distortions Arbitrary Inference Selective Abstraction
Overgeneralization Magnification/Minimization Personalization
Dichotomous Thinking
Innate Suggestibility Innate Irrationality Demanding/Desiring
Emotional Disturbance Activating Event Belief
Consequence Grandiosity Perfectionism
Musturbating Awfulizing Shoulding
rB iB

Thought Questions:
1. What are the implications regarding morality/agency given these forms of causality and epistemology?
2. Is there tension in the theory regarding determinism (the formation of schemata) and the “non-determined determiner” of the therapist?
3. Does the therapist know better than the client?
4. When the therapist is indoctrinating the client, who’s philosophy is being taught?
5. Can things actually be terrible, awful, horrible in a rational way?
6. Are there times when we (or our clients) should be ashamed? Is shame always bad?
7. Can people change their irrational beliefs without a therapist?
8. What assumptions do you see in this theory in terms of causality?
9. What assumptions do you see in this theory in terms of epistemology?
10. What assumptions do you see in terms of morality?

CBT
Schema - A schema is a cognitive, behavioral, affective and motivational structures stored in the brain. Schemas are caused by evolution, development, genetics, and experience. These schemas control our perception of ourselves, others, and our world in every temporal dimension, past, present, and future. Schemas, ultimately, are only changed by the environment. Cognitive theorists posit that we can change our schemas, but when we ask them how, they respond that “something in your environment caused you to change your schema in that way.” So, what we think and what we do is determined by our schemas, which in turn are determined by evolution (genetics) and past experience (personal history). So, although CBT looks like a panacea (it is an excellent and consistent theory), it is just as deterministic as behaviorism, only the determinism applies to the mind as well as empirically observed behavior.
Cognitive Shift - Sometimes, people have schemas that cause them to interpret the world in a consistently skewed fashion because of experiences they have had. They might perceive others as hostile or the world as a hopeless unsafe place. Their whole way of thinking has shifted in one direction.
Cognitive Vulnerability - Cognitive vulnerabilities are those problems in thinking which leave us prone to cognitive shifts. If we can’t handle loss, or if we’re desperately terrified of death, we overreact to the vicissitudes of life. Such reactions can become characteristic cognitive shifts. What causes people to have cognitive vulnerabilities? You guessed it: genetics and past experience.
Primal Mode - A network of cognitive, affective, motivational and behavioral schemas that are universal and tied to survival. These modes are stimulus-response modes that occurred due to evolution to help our species survive. These are genetically pre-programmed and cause our responses in a hard sense. These are “unconscious” in a sense, in that they are not in our awareness but influence our behavior greatly.
Conscious Mode - A network of cognitive, affective, motivational and behavioral schemas that are part of our everyday conscious life. When we put ideas together that we read or hear, when we daydream to ourselves as we walk across campus. What causes these thoughts when we’re in conscious mode? The interplay of various schemas, each caused by evolution or past experience.
Collaborative Empiricism - The assumption that both the counselor and the client are empirical scientists, in other words, that the only “real” reality is what can be seen objectively. They work together collaboratively to find out where the mis-perceptions lie. Intuition, wisdom, compassion, are all epiphenomenal to the real curative agent: getting in touch with “objective” reality.
Guided Discovery - Both client and counselor weave a narrative together that articulates the patterns of a client’s beliefs that are hurting them. Much more interpretive and engaged, but contradicts the assumptions above. How can we “weave a narrative” if our interplay of schemas are determined?

Big Question: How can we re-work CBT to fit with such cherished ideas as agency, morality, meaning, or spirituality?

Beck Handout

Cognitive Model involves examining core beliefs, intermediate beliefs, automatic thoughts
and the emotional consequences to those thoughts. In a nutshell: “The situation itself does not directly determine how they feel; their emotional response is mediated by their perception of the situation” (Beck, 1995).

Core Belief: These are the most basic and fundamental beliefs that people have. These beliefs
Become problematic when they are global, rigid, and over-generalized.

Automatic Thoughts: What people think when they’re actually in the situation, they’re very context-specific and involve words and images regarding the situation they’re in. Beck considers this to be the most superficial level of cognition, what “pops to mind” without analytic or careful thought.

Intermediate Belief (also known as conditional assumptions): Intermediate beliefs are those beliefs that mediate between the core belief and the automatic thought. These generally take the form of rules, attitudes, and assumptions that the patient has about matters of import, usually about parts of the cognitive triad. These usually take the forms of shoulds, musts, oughts, or catastrophizing statements.
Cognitive Triad: This consists of people’s core beliefs about themselves, their world and their future. If any of these become rigid and over-generalized, problems may occur.

The model:

Core Belief
l
V
Intermediate Belief
l
V
Situation  Automatic Thought  Emotion

Cognitive Distortions

Arbitrary Inference: ------------- Drawing a specific conclusion without supporting evidence or even in the face of contradictory evidence. An example of this is the working mother who concludes after a particularly busy day, “I’m a terrible mother.”

Selective Abstraction: ------------ Conceptualizing a situation on the basis of a detail taken out of context, ignoring other information. An example is a man who becomes jealous upon seeing his girlfriend tilt her head towards another man to hear him better at a noisy party.

Overgeneralization: -------------- Abstracting a general rule from one or a few isolated incidents and applying it too broadly and to unrelated situations. After a discouraging date, a woman concluded, “All men are alike. I’ll always be rejected.”

Magnification/Minimization: -- Seeing something as far more significant or less significant than it actually is. A student catastrophized, “If I appear the lease bit nervous in class it will mean disaster.” Another person, rather than facing the fact that his mother is terminally ill, decides that she will soon recover from her “cold.”

Personalization: ------------------ Attributing external events to oneself without evidence supporting a causal connection. A man waved to an acquaintance across a busy street. After not greeting him in return, he concluded, “I must have done something to offend him.”

Dichotomous Thinking: -------- Categorizing experiences in one of two extremes; for example, as a complete success or a total failure. A doctoral student stated, “Unless I write the best exam they’ve ever seen, I’m a failure as a student.”
Rational-Emotive Therapies
RET = Rational Emotive Thinking
REBT (Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy) is a much later adaptation, even though the theory remains the same.

Fundamental human process:
1. Perception
2. Emotion
3. Action
4. Reasoning
a. The example of an odd brown object
All of these processes are always happening. Ellis does not fall into Bandura’s trap of linearizing them, instead, they happen concurrently. They are also always inextricably intertwined. A change to one of them affects the other three concurrently.

Interestingly, due to the legacy of modernity (technologism, spiritual distancing, etc.) human beings have less need for perception and action (which was incredibly important 2000 years ago when we were competing against animals for survival) and instead have become increasingly disabled in terms of emotion and reason, which is where Ellis sought to intervene.

Ellis described how people live emotionally troubled lives in our modern times, and proceeded to describe how it is that emotions (in general) occur.
1. Biologically (hypothalamus, autonomic nervous system)
2. Perception and motion (sensorimotor systems)
3. Desiring and thinking (conation and cognition)
a. Interesting implications for intervention. You could (as Ellis describes) intervene at any of these three levels at any time.
i. Chemicals, electricity, physical contact
ii. Exercise, ecological and aesthetic variables
iii. Psychological intervention (later spiritual, bizarrely enough)
A. Seen as superior – creates independence
B. The sources of feelings are not “unconscious” in a Freudian sense but “preconscious” in a Freudian sense. We can backtrack our own thinking to clarify our “preconscious” thoughts.
C. Emotions and thoughts go together. “Emotion is not unthinking, and thinking is not unemotional”. However, by clarifying your thinking while you’re emotional you can reach a better outcome than refusing to think while you’re emotional
1. Small spot of mold on the bread and you’re hungry. What to do?
D. Emotion is a motivating force, but it is coupled with survival.
1. They assume that everybody wants to survive. Everyone makes goals in the act of surviving, and feelings can motivate us to survive and feel happy or unhappy while surviving.
2. Emotion is defined as “(1) a certain kind of forceful thinking – a kind of strongly slanted or biased by previous perceptions or experiences; (2) intense bodily responses, such as feelings of pleasure or nausea; and (3) tendencies toward positive or negative action in regard to the events that seem to cause the strong thinking and its emotional concamitants” (Ellis, 1962, p. 24).
3. Emotion, if spontaneous, is natural and can exist without thought. Thinking, however, can often exacerbate, deflect, extend or even make emotion problematic.
E. There are such things as good feelings and bad feelings
1. Feelings that help us survive and feel happy = appropriate feelings
2. Feelings that serve to block basic goals (living and happiness) = inappropriate feelings
F. Likewise, rational thinking “assists you (1) to survive and (2) to achieve the goals or values you select to make your survival pleasurable, enjoyable, or worthwhile” (Ellis, 1962 p. 23)
1. How we think is up to us.
i. “Men feel disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of them.” Epictetus
ii. “There [exists] nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so” Shakespeare, Hamlet
G. “The main barriers to effective thinking and emoting include these: (1) Some people have too much stupidity to think clearly. Or (2) They possess sufficient intelligence to think straight, but just do not know how to do so. Or (3) they have enough intelligence and education to think clearly but act too disturbedly or neurotically to put their intelligence or knowledge to good use . . . [N]eurosis essentially consists of stupid behavior by nonstupid people” (Ellis, 1962, p. 37).
H. Big assumption here is that rationality leads to happiness, and that what makes an individual happy is their goal in life
i. Individualism and moral relativism

Ellis holds that people are fundamentally biological creatures with the innate abilities to construe themselves and to construct their world in a meaningful way. This sounds wonderfully agentic and creative, but quickly we see a potential problem. Ellis holds that we, as children, have innate suggestibility, meaning that we quickly learn and adopt (and take as “real”) the beliefs of others who are important to us. Because of this (in part) we are also innately irrational, meaning that we hold irrational (or illogical beliefs) and that we are as much self-defeating as self-actualizing. These self-defeating behaviors come from several sources. One is our confusing desires with demands (“I want this” versus “I have to have this” or “I would like to be this way” versus “I have to be this way”). The greater the demand, the greater the emotional disturbance, or emotional upset, that results.

It happens like this: Something happens in our lives, an activating event (he called “A”). We have certain beliefs about “A”, and he called these beliefs “B”. These beliefs about “A” have certain emotional and behavioral consequences, called “C”. B is the problem in this chain. Problematic beliefs occur when people are taught values which they then make rigid. This rigidity leads to fragile feelings of grandiosity, or the feeling that they are wonderful, godlike, or that they should be wonderful and godlike. This is also accompanied with feelings of perfectionism, or the feeling that perfection is demanded of us, that we must always be the best in everything. Because of this grandiosity and tendency towards perfectionism, people tend to musturbate, awfulize, and should all over the place. Such statements as “I must get a good grade in this course” or “It would be awful and unbearable if she broke up with me” or “I should be perfect at all times” are examples of these statements.

From Ellis’ perspective, people upset themselves by the way they talk to themselves about point B, their beliefs about a particular event. If they are perfectly rational about that event, then they will not feel the level of emotional upset that they would otherwise. An intriguing notion in early RET is that we can be rational in our misery (a perspective emphasized by R. Harper, a student of Ellis and early co-author), but that rational misery is not as intense or overwhelming as irrational misery.
1. Grief at the loss of a loved one
a. Neurotic response
b. Rational response
2. Loss of a job
a. Neurotic response
b. Rational response
3. We can diagnose our own thoughts in terms of rational beliefs and irrational beliefs
a. “I hope I do well on this exam, I’d better study and do my best because I would like a good grade”
i. This is an example of an rB, a rational belief
b. “I hope I do well on this exam. But the material is so hard and complex I don’t know if I can stand it. I’ll probably flunk this test. I’m such a loser”
ii. This is an example of an iB, an irrational belief
4. As counselors, we can help dispute irrational beliefs
a. A useful exercise would be to write down the iB’s as they surface or become clear
i. A woman who felt terrible after having gotten a divorce from a miserable marriage
A. “Married people should stay married”
B. Who says so? Objective laws of nature? God? Your mother? (Direct questioning is a primary technique in RET)
1. If the client did say that one of these entities said so, a follow-up question might be, “Who says that your mother is always right?”
5. Once the iB’s are acknowledged, disputation must continue, but some clients are too stupid to get it. The therapist is required to try until it would be irrational to continue.
6. Often, however, clients obtain a degree of insight. Ellis identified three types of insight.
a. Insight 1: “the fairly conventional kind of understanding first clearly postulated by Freud: knowledge by the individual that he or she has a problem and that certain antecedents cause this problem” (Ellis, 1962, p. 40).
b. Insight 2: “consists of seeing clearly that the irrational ideas we create and acquire in our early lives still continue, and that they argely continue because we keep indoctrinating ourselves with these ideas – consciously and unconsciously work fairly hard to perpetuate them” (p. 41)
c. Insight 3: “Now that I have discovered Insights No. 1 and 2, and fully acknowledge the self-creation and continue reinforcement with which I keep making myself believe the irrational ideas that I have believed for so long, I will most probably find no way of eliminating my disturbances than by steadily, persistently, and vigorously working to change these ideas” (ibid).

Ellis, however, in his early writings offers a window to change that few therapists of his time would: people can become rational on their own. He acknowledges that some people do need help, but it does not always hold true. “. . . [I]mprovement can occur as long as a troubled person somehow undergoes significant life experiences, or learns about others’ experiences, or sits down and thinks for himself, or talks to a therapist who helps him reconstruct his basic attitudes toward himself and others” (Ellis, 1962 p. 5 emphasis in original).

It is up to the therapist to actively challenge these irrational tendencies. Ellis went so far, in fact, as to state that without therapy it is impossible for people to become rational, contradicting his earlier writing. It is up to the rational therapist, who himself has been through therapy, to make others rational as well. In other words, it is up to the therapist to teach the client how to think rationally, and such rationality is defined by the therapist. Although the latter part of this (rationality determined by the therapist) is consistent, the earlier part (people needing therapy) is contradicted by his own theory.

Behaviorist Therapies

2008-10-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

Behaviorist Psychotherapy
Key Terms:
Behavioral Shaping Unconditioned Stimulus Unconditioned Response Conditioned Stimulus Conditioned Response Operant Conditioning
Positive Reinforcement Negative Reinforcement Positive Punishment
Negative Punishment Removal of Reinforcement Extinction
Shaping Chaining Token Economy
Base Rates Nonverbal Operant Response Verbal Operant Response Self-Monitoring Behavioral Observation Assertiveness Training
Self-Control Procedures Implosion Therapy Flooding w/Response
Reciprocal Inhibition Systematic Desensitization

Thought Questions:
1. Is behaviorist theory Lockean, Kantian, or Constructivist in epistemology?
2. What forms of causality do behaviorists assume?
3. What forms of causality does their theory not account for or actively theorize against?
4. What forms of meaning exist in behaviorist theory?
5. What forms of reasoning exist in behaviorist theory?
6. What does it mean to you that we are inherently products of reinforcement?
7. Are you comfortable viewing clients in terms of their reinforcement history?
8. Would you feel comfortable if someone understood you strictly in terms of your reinforcement history?
9. Are warm and positive feelings between counselor and client “real”, or simply reinforcers, or simply epiphenomenal?
10. In your opinion, what disorders are explained most simply by behaviorists?
11. How can you see yourself applying behaviorist techniques?
12. According to behaviorist theory, is morality “real”?
13. According to behaviorist theory, are there “adaptive” and “maladaptive” behaviors?

B. F. Skinner on theorizing: “An effort to explain behavior in terms of something going on in another universe, such as the mind or the nervous system” (Evans, 1968, p. 88).

Objectives:
1. To review basic concepts of behaviorist theory
2. To discuss basic concepts of behaviorist theory
3. To practice applying behaviorist theory to a case
4. To discuss techniques of behaviorist theory
5. To critically think about behaviorist theory starting with thought questions

Don’t dismiss behaviorist theory; don’t turn off your brain too quickly
Story about B.F. Skinner as told by Carl Rogers:

“A paper given by Dr. Skinner led me to direct these remarks to him: From what I understand Dr. Skinner to say, it is his understanding that though he might have thought he chose to come to this meeting, might have thought he had a purpose in giving this speech, such thoughts are really illusory. He actually made certain remarks on paper and emitted certain sounds here simply because his genetic makeup and his past environment had operantly conditioned his behavior in such a way that it was rewarding to make these sounds, and that he as a person doesn’t enter into this. In fact if I get his thinking correctly, from his strictly scientific point of view, he, as a person, does not exist.” In his reply Dr. Skinner said that he would not go into the question of whether he had any choice in the matter (presumably because the whole issue was illusory) but stated, “I do accept your characterization of my own presence here” (Rogers, 1963, pp. 271 – 272).

What do you think about this?

Fundamental assumption: We are biological organisms genetically programmed for survival. As such, any behaviors we emit are behaviors that should further our chances of survival and/or the survival of our offspring. We are genetically predisposed to seek out pleasant or life-giving stimuli and to avoid unpleasant or life-destroying stimuli. However, the environment does not always offer stimuli in a consistent manner, and problems can occur.

One of the primary ideas offered by behaviorist theory is that of Behavioral Shaping. Behavioral Shaping is the process by which reinforcers and punishments are applied to an organism to gradually and consistently elicit the behavioral response desired.
Two examples:
1. Junior and the mini-wheats
2. Teaching Jotham how to dress himself

But first, let us review some terms:
Unconditioned Stimulus: A stimulus that elicits a response physiologically and naturally, without learning having to take place.
Unconditioned Response: The natural physiological response elicited by the unconditioned stimulus without learning taking place.
Conditioned Stimulus: A conditioned stimulus is one that is paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit the same response that the unconditioned stimulus did.
Conditioned Response: A conditioned response is one that is elicited by the conditioned stimulus to demonstrate that learning has taken place. It is identical to the unconditioned response, only elicited by the conditioned stimulus.
1. Pavlov’s dogs
2. Nausea-inducing drugs to fight alcoholism (US = drug, UR = vomiting, CS = alcohol, CR = aversion)

But what about the gradual shaping of behavior that we talked about earlier with Junior and Jotham? For that we need to look at operant conditioning. Operant Conditioning in Skinner’s terms is the study of what used to be dealt with by the concept of purpose. The purpose of an act is the consequences it is going to have. These consequences are established by the environment in the past. Behavior is caused by the stimulus of the environment, not by any interior goal or felt intention. Another way of saying that is: “Operant conditioning focuses on the response and asserts that responses followed by reinforcers are likely to be carried out again, and the more we reinforce these responses (the operants) the more likely they will be to appear. This ties in with a fundamental assumption of behaviorist theory: People are not insane, nor are they bad, their environment merely taught them maladaptive behaviors and it is up to us to cause them to learn adaptive behaviors.
1. Anti-teleological argument

The process of operant conditioning: Operant conditioning relies on reinforcers and punishments to shape behavior. Behavior is shaped by what Skinner called “the method of successive approximation”. You encourage the behavior you want by reinforcing the behavior that approximates it. You then reinforce the behavior that better approximates it still. This is also known as shaping.

Do not confuse shaping with chaining. Chaining is the process by which entire behaviors are reinforced together to make an entire chain of behavior. For example, when driving you could shape someone to turn the wheel the appropriate amount to make a turn, and then chain that with all the other behaviors (clutch, gas, signal) so they could drive to Indianapolis safely. Shaping and chaining can take place apart or separate.

You do this by the application of reinforcements and punishments, defined as follows:
Positive Reinforcement: The application of a pleasant stimulus to encourage behavior.
Negative Reinforcement: The removal of an unpleasant stimulus to encourage behavior
Positive Punishment: The application of an unpleasant stimulus to discourage behavior
Negative Punishment: The removal of a pleasant stimulus to discourage behavior

One of the things that will happen if there is a removal of reinforcement in the environment is extinction. Extinction occurs when the behavior is no longer reinforced, so the organism no longer emits that behavior. A quick example: Children not saying “please” when they wanted something – response: ignore them.

Small Group Work
1. Think of a client suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder. Your client, Betty, exhibits the following behaviors in the comprehensive treatment clinic where you work. First, she “splits” the staff, which means that she idealizes whichever staff member she’s with (tells them how wonderful they are), while at the same token telling that staff member how “bad” the others are. She has even made hints about improprieties made by other staff members. This has the staff up in arms and fighting at staff meetings. Her other behaviors entail self-cutting “to distract from the pain” and repeated late-night calls to the on-call pager has resulted in two hospitalizations.
2. What are some reinforcers or punishments that you might try as a therapist? What behaviors would you want to extinguish by not reinforcing?

Now let’s talk about particular techniques used by behaviorist therapists.

1. Token economies: This usually takes place in residential treatment. The therapist designs a particular token and enlists the personnel of the entire staff. The staff then gives patients tokens based on their appropriate behaviors. In some places, staff even takes tokens away if the clients do not behave adaptively. The tokens are traded in for pleasant things that the patient might want. Something as simple as watching TV, getting chocolate from the hospital store, or even purchasing the opportunity to go on a field trip. In order for this to work, and end goal must be established, and base rates computed. Base rates are the measure of the frequency of a particular behavior before the token economy was established. As the token economy is implemented over time, the rates of change in behavior are compared against the base. If no change is occurring, then the system needs to change.
a. Example of work detail

2. What about talk therapy? Behaviorists have a distinct use for talk therapy as well. They distinguish between nonverbal operant responses and verbal operant responses. Nonverbal operant responses operate on the behavioral environment in some way, such as when we put a glass of soda to our lips because we are thirsty. Verbal operant responses, on the other hand, are “behavior reinforced through the mediation of other persons”. Verbal operant responses operate on the behavior of another person. For example, our putting a soda to our lips because we were thirsty is nonverbal, but us saying “Hey, grab me a soda” is verbal, because then your friend tosses you a soda. You emitted that verbal behavior and you were reinforced for it. Meaning or intention has nothing to do with this process. Verbal statements are under the control of the effects they have on other people, which is another way of saying the consequences of the verbal statements are to be noted in interpersonal behavior.
a. When you’re in the therapy room, the behaviorist counselor manipulates the verbal statements. The therapists are not the originators of this control any more than the clients are. The therapist, by behaving in an adaptive fashion, naturally responds positively to the adaptive verbal behaviors of the client, while punishing or removing reinforcement for the maladaptive verbal behaviors of the client.
i. How? By saying “mm-hmm” or “good” when the client says something that you would like to hear, such as “I think I can do this”. Behaviorist researchers have demonstrated that you can elicit certain verbal behaviors by doing this.

3. Another behaviorist technique entails both self-monitoring and behavioral observation. Self-monitoring is the process by which the client keeps meticulous track of certain behaviors as well as the context and what led up to certain behaviors. This is then followed by behavioral observation on the part of the treatment team or psychologist, who carefully tracks the patient’s behaviors. The psychologist then manipulates the environment or the behavior of the staff to elicit appropriate behaviors from the patients.
a. Inpatient obesity control program. Self-monitoring alone was effective as well as the manipulations of the psychologist.

4. Assertiveness training is another form of behavioral therapy. The therapist starts out by modeling assertive behavior, breaking it down in terms of eye contact, voice inflection and volume, as well as posture. They therapist then reinforces the client for successive approximations of assertive behavior. This works particularly well in groups where someone can get different models and different degrees of feedback from the other participants.
a. Social-skills training with someone who is socially avoidant

5. Self-Control procedures. This process is one in which the clients themselves monitor their own behavior and change their behavior when they’re away from the psychologist. The psychologist is an important ingredient for conditioning, but a good deal of the conditioning can happen outside of the therapist’s office. Self-control procedures are ones in which the client is given very detailed and very specific guidelines and even charts to monitor their behavior. Very specific goals are established for the behaviors, and charts are kept comparing the behavior of that moment to the goal by the client. For example, of someone is in an outpatient drug rehabilitation program, a specific goal might be set with the psychologist that the client will not take any illicit drugs. The client then keeps track of how they do in regards to this specific goal, and write down how well they did.

6. Implosion therapy. In the case of phobias, someone has learned that a particular stimulus creates overwhelming anxiety in them. So, they do whatever they can to avoid that stimulus. Implosive therapy requires that the client covertly expose themselves (imagine) anxiety-provoking stimulus, then interpret the stimulus psychodynamically. Seems to work more based more on extinction than interpretation.

a. Daryl, obsessively checking the clock 50 times a night to make sure that it was not turned on. If it were left on, he feared he would perish horribly in flames. He is instructed to imagine himself going home and leaving the radio on all night and to imagine that he is dying horribly in the resultant fire. This would then be psychodynamically interpreted.
7. Flooding with response prevention: This is the technique-of-choice for agoraphobia, and some would argue, for OCD. This is the process by which you expose your clients to a feared stimulus, and you prevent any response they might have to that stimulus. The conditioned stimulus (the feared object) floods them with anxiety (the unconditioned response). However, they are not allowed to leave the feared stimulus, thereby extinguishing the conditioned response (leaving).
a. Therapy for those afraid of snakes, heights, and the dark.

8. Systematic desensitization: Assumed by Wolpe’s reciprocal inhibition model which states that two incompatible responses cannot exist together (relaxation and tension, for example). In this procedure, an anxiety-provoking stimulus is paired with a relaxation response. Rather than pairing the actual stimulus with the relaxation response from the outset (which would be more like implosion therapy). Instead, the therapist pairs increasingly anxiety-provoking stimuli with the relaxation response. For example in the case of an arachnophobe, the therapist would induce a state of relaxation in the client, then show them a picture of a spider. Later, the therapist would show them a plastic model of a spider, then elicit the relaxation response. Then, still later, the therapist would have them hold the plastic spider, while inducing a relaxation response. The end goal would be to have the client hold an actual spider while perfectly relaxed. The process is one of desensitizing the client in a systematic way, making an anxiety provoking stimulus no longer salient.

Roger's Humanistic Psychotherapy

2008-10-13T09:21:00.001-07:00

RogerianPerson-Centered Theory

Key Terms:
Phenomenology The Phenomenal Field The Self-Concept
Self-Actualization Organismic Enhancement Congruence/Incongruence
Positive Regard The Client-Centered Hypothesis Process Equation
Insight Transference Psychotherapy
Therapy Ingredients Therapized Individual Evolutionary Ethos
Non-Directive Techniques Basic Encounter Group

Thought Questions

1. What is the goal of life?
2. Is altruism possible? Does the idea even make sense from this perspective?
3. Do you feel comfortable accepting everything a client does? What if you’re working in prisons with killers and rapists?
4. Are people responsible for what they do and how they do it?
5. Do you think that people just become congruent on their own when somebody shows them positive regard?
6. Is “congruence” good? Can you justify your response one way or the other?
7. What epistemology does Rogers assume?
8. What forms of causality are evident in Rogers thinking?
9. Does Rogers assume/assert free will?
10. What forms of moral relativism and moral absolutism are found in Roger’s theory?

Phenomenology - Kant’s distinction between the noumena (the world as it actually is) and the phenomena (our experience of the world). Phenomenologists argue that we can never know the noumena, all we can know is the phenomena. All we ever have access to is our own subjective understanding of reality. When we want to know why people are the way they are, we must understand their subjectivity, the world how they see it and how they understand it. It does not (and cannot) exist objectively. When we think of how we are thinking, we are attending to our own subjectivity. The body still operates, we’re not just bodiless minds floating around, but we can observe our own processes, whether they be psychological or physical (we’re the only creatures that we know of who can do that). We can transcend our immediate phenomenological experience to observe it in a different subjective way. We can observe our own observations. Husserl called this “transcendental phenomenology”.

What does this have to do with Rogers? Rogers was very much a phenomenologist. He believed strongly in subjectivity, and how our experience of our world, even if not empirically verifiable, is real to us. What the world means to us is far more important than what the world objectively is, which doesn’t matter at all (because we have no access to it).

This comes into focus when it comes to his understanding of the unity of mind and body. We cannot have a subjective understanding of the world without those two. They are united in that our bodies are the locus of our minds, yet our minds lend meaning to the world. The sum total of what the whole of being means to us is called the “phenomenal field”. This is the sum total of our subjective reality. To quote Rogers “Man lives essentially in his own personal and subjective world, and even his most objective functioning, in science, mathematics, and the like is the result of subjective purpose and subjective choice” (Rogers, 1959, p. 191). Behavior is always goal-oriented, organized by the phenomenal field (what life means to us) and carried out in that context.

The “Self” to Rogers is actually the “self-concept” or how we define ourselves. As we go through living our lives we are not aware of who we are until we are asked or until we think about it. Then we define who we are in our phenomenal field, we focus just on our own subjective impressions of who and what we are, which is understood in the context of the rest of the phenomenal field. We all are constantly growing and learning, and we naturally do this in a positive direction. This process is called “self-actualization” when we try to become all we can be.

So why does anybody do anything? Because we have fundamental needs as human beings. Our primary need is (of course) a unified psychological/physical need that is driven by evolution. It is the need that all of us have to enhance our phenomenal field by enriching its range, articulation, and differentiation. This motivational construct is called “organismic enhancement”. The more “evolved” a creature is, the greater the ability it has to enhance its phenomenal field. People naturally grow in this positive direction. Keep in mind that although we have certain physical needs (like the need to eat), but what is specifically need-generating in our lives is influenced by our unique experiences and personal understandings. Hunger is horrible to one, sanctifying to another, and a symbol of rage to a third.

Self-concept can clash with our tendency towards organismic enhancement. How we think we should be can be diametrically opposed to the need we have for organismic enhancement. Some people feel that they should live pious constrained lives, yet the need for organismic enhancement specifies that we should get as varied experiences in life as possible.

Congruence/Incongruence: Congruence is the way I would like to be. Whatever feeling or attitude I am experiencing would be matched by my awareness of that attitude. This is when what we think and how we feel agree with each other. Incongruence is when our self-actualization and organismic actualizing tendency are at odds with each other. We go along with parental values without ever really engaging with them, and we do things that don’t feel right. We go along with peer pressure to do things we feel are morally wrong, yet we ignore the guilt and keep doing them.

Positive Regard. In order for incongruence to be done away with, we must experience positive regard. We must first experience it for others before we can experience it for ourselves. This is the feeling of “I am worthy” and “I can be what I feel myself to be without shame or apology.” Positive regard entails not only accepting who and what people are, but also showing acceptance for all they do, no matter how immoral, destructive, or irresponsible. Morals are relative, and we must strive to help people be congruent

The Client-Centered Hypothesis: “The individual has a sufficient capacity to deal constructively with all those aspects of his life which can potentially come into conscious awareness. This means the creation of an interpersonal situation in which material may come into the client’s awareness, and a meaningful demonstration of the counselor’s acceptance of the client as a person who is competent to direct himself” (Rychlak, 1981, p. 599).
The person of the counselor becomes bracketed, stands back from and apart from the person of the client to the point that the counselor becomes a warm, accepting mirror of the client that they then perceive in the person of the counselor. “[T]he relationship is experienced as a one-way affair in a very unique sense. The whole relationship is composed of the self of the client, the counselor being depersonalized for the purposes of therapy into being ‘the client’s other self.’ It is this warm willingness on the part of the counselor to lay his own self temporarily aside, in order to enter into the experience of the client, which makes the relationship a completely unique one, unlike anything in the client’s pervious experience” (ibid)
Hence, from a truly Rogerian frame, there is no evaluation, diagnosis, probing, interpretation, or confrontation. By “warmly” entering the client’s experience, we help them reopen communication between their organismic and self-evaluations about what are important and what is right. It is the task of the Rogerian therapist to help the client be as natural as possible, and they will then grow in responsibility for who they are and who they are not. We help them accept themselves as themselves . . . As Roger’s thought developed, however, he found that if a counselor is truly 100% congruent, how could they NOT express strong feelings that come up naturally in the counseling relationship? As his writing and thinking matured, Rogers became highly expressive of is own feelings in group counseling (below) although he remained steadfast in the therapist bracketing themselves to warmly enter the client’s experience in individual therapy.

The Process Equation: “The basic idea that one person in a relationship – be it therapeutic or simply social – intends that there should come about in another person ‘more appreciation of the latent inner resources of the individual’” (Ryclak, 1981, p. 600). To Rogers, Life = Therapy, and Therapy = Life. Therapy, like life, is a relationship, and all therapists are is skilled relationship facilitators.

Insight: “The perception of new meaning in the individual’s own experience” (p. 601). Clients must find their own reasons why they suffer psychological maladjustment, and they must become responsible for what happens in their phenomenal fields. Insight is merely the phenomenon of their realizing the cause and effect of their own behavior in their lives (whether that behavior is overt or covert, thought or action). Given that insight can be subtle, and very hard to put into words, Rogers placed emphasis on the fact that new experiences in the therapeutic relationships lead to insight (new meaning) even if the client cannot articulate their new experience.

Transference: Rogers argued that he rarely, if ever, saw transference take place in the manner Freud describes. Rogers stated that infantile attitudes are not transferred to the therapist who presents themselves on equal status to the client. Basically, dynamic therapists pull for transference by taking the expert role while never allowing their client to see that they’re human too. (Which is exactly the point to a dynamic therapist, while Rogers would offer the rebuttal that such transference is artificial in the relationship, and hence artificial in the lives of the clients.)

Psychotherapy: “Psychotherapy deals primarily with the organization and functioning of the self. There are many elements of experience which the self cannot face, cannot clearly perceive, because to face them or to admit them would be inconsistent with and threatening to the current organization of the self.” Therapy entails the counselor having the appropriate attitude (as opposed to the appropriate skill or knowledge). This attitude is one of accepting and warm regard, and when that attitude is consistent and congruent the counselor becomes a positive and accepting alter-ego to the client, which frees the client up from fear of evaluation and allows them to become a more consistent, more real, self. It is only when we are truly accepted that we can change, paradoxically enough. The power of that acceptance allows us to re-configure our phenomenal field (who we are and what things mean to us) without threat of emotional/relational injury.

Therapy Ingredients: 1. Contact (the client and counselor must communicate). 2. Client must be incongruent while the counselor must be congruent (the thoughts/feelings of the client must not match up in some way, causing anxiety or depression, while the counselors thoughts/feelings/behaviors must all line up). 3. The counselor must experience positive regard (all of the clients thoughts and feelings are worthy of positive regard). 4. The therapist must feel genuine empathic understanding and must be able to see things from the client’s perspective.

Therapized Individual: A therapized individual demonstrates a more willing, honest, and open acceptance of whatever their feelings indicate. They lose their self-consciousness while demonstrating self-awareness. They may be defensive from time to time, but the recognize defensiveness as such, and has a sense of when such defensiveness is appropriate/congruent. Such people are very aware of themselves and very accepting about who they are and how they feel. “[T]o be the self that one truly is” is to be an aware, congruent, therapized individual.

Evolutionary Ethos: “Instead of universal values ‘out there’ or a universal value system imposed by some group – philosophers, rulers, priests or psychologists – we have the possibility of universal human value directions emerging from the experiencing organism. Evidence from therapy indicates that both personal and social values emerge as natural, and experienced, when the individual is close to his own organismic valuing process. The suggestion is that though modern man no longer trusts religion or science or philosophy nor any system of believes to give him values, he may find an organismic valuing base within himself which, if he can learn again to be in touch with it, will prove to be an organized, adaptive, and social approach to the perplexing value issues which face all of us” (p. 608). The contradiction of the evolutionary ethos: As a psychologist Rogers is imposing a value system, one that is still dominant in this field today. He argues that pro-social values are good, and only come about when people become intensely self-focused. The paradox is this: People become more pro-social when they become more self-focused.

Non-Directive Techniques, from Most Common to Least Common
1. Recognizes in some way the feelings or attitude the client just expressed
2. Interprets or recognizes feelings or attitudes expressed by general demeanor, specific behavior, or earlier statements
3. Indicates topic of conversation but leaves development to the client
4. Recognizes the subject content of what the client has just said
5. Asks highly specific questions, delimiting answers to yes, no, or specific information
6. Explains, discusses or gives information related to the problem or treatment
7. Defines the interview situation in terms of the client’s responsibility for using it.

Basic Encounter Group: The premise and core involves freedom of expression for both the therapists and the clients. Rogers felt that the group together was wiser than he was as the facilitator, so he had great faith that the group would go to good places. In such encounter groups (be they once for an hour or a week-long power-marathon). Often times care and acceptance is expressed during such groups, but at other times members confront one another so the masks come off, and congruence becomes more probable.
It is the role of the facilitator to demonstrate acceptance for all members of the group, which provides for psychological safety. Most importantly, however the counselor encourages genuineness on the part of the participants (Rogers was known to walk out of group when the clients were being superficial.) Rogers would focus on the ongoing behaviors of the group members, but was loathe to make group process comments, noting that it tended to slow down real, genuine interaction because it made group members feel evaluated and hence self-conscious. Role-playing, bodily contact, and psychodrama have all been used by Rogers. He was very clear, however, that such activities should not be planned in advance, but should instead arise organically and congruently out of the encounter session. The whole goal is to get people to begin to express how it is they really feel. Such frankness and openness, however, can be very painful, but Rogers felt such risks were worth the benefit of helping people become more congruent. Most importantly, however, the group facilitator is part of the group (and hopefully a congruent one) and expresses his thoughts/feelings as a group member as opposed to remaining reserved and aloof (which Rogers thought was an indication of a lack of congruence on the part of the facilitator).

Adler's Individual Psychology

2008-10-02T07:20:00.000-07:00

Key Terms:

Psyche Locus of Movement Lifestyle
Law of Movement Complete Goal Fiction vs. Counterfiction
Basic Inferiority Compensation Overcompensation
Inferiority Complex Striving for Superiority Social Interest
Mistaken Goals Faulty Assumptions Birth Order
Family Constellation Encouragement Life Style Assessment
Confrontation Future Autobiography Humor
Game of Probabilities Acting “as if” Task setting
Dreams Multiple Psychotherapy Inerpretation
“Spitting in the Soup” Placing in Perspective Creating Images
The Question

Thought Questions

1. Adler's view of human nature focuses on internal determinants of behavior such as values, beliefs, attitudes, goals, interests, striving for perfection and meaning. It also stresses the social determinants of personality. How does the Adlerian model differ from the Freudian model, and what are the implications for therapeutic practice?

2. How does a "teleological" explanation of striving differ from a view of behavior being determined by drives, instincts, and past behavior? What are some of the implications of viewing people as "teleological" rather than other ways?

3. Do you think that all behavior is purposeful? If so, what do you think are some of the main purposes for behavior?

4. Do you think that most people have a sense of inferiority? What are some of the ways that people may express that inferiority?

5. What's the most important, "how life really is" or "what individuals think life really is?"

6. To what degree should counselors encourage "social interest" in their clients? Does good therapy outcome depend on the ability of clients to experience increased social interest?

7. Do you think there are fairly stable birth order differences that can be used to help understand our clients?

8. What assumptions does Adler have about causality? What forms of causality can you see in his theory?

9. What assumptions does Adler have about epistemology? What forms of epistemology does he assume?

10. What assumptions does Adler make in terms of individualism/relativism? Does he make any?

11. Is meaningful agency possible in Adler’s theory? Why or why not?

Adler’s classic statement: “We cannot think, feel, will or act without the perception of some goal.”

Adler’s basic principles:
1. Psyche is a locus of movement set in the individual context and interpersonal relationships. It is a locus of movement in the sense that the psyche is the part of us that has will, that both sets goals as well as responds to the environment.
A. The psyche is the unique feature of humanity, genetically part of our species that gives us the capacity to go on the offense or on the defense in our environment, or formulate goals to respond to the environment.
2. The psyche engages with the world and chooses a style of life at about age three. This life style is a rough goal that the individual sets for living, what they want and need out of life, the behaviors they aspire to. This style of life consists of two parts. First, is their goal for being “Johnny wants to grow up to be a bad boy”. Second, is the relevant strategy to obtain that goal. Those two put together are called a complete goal of the style of life. Given that children at this age are generally not sophisticated verbally, the entirety of this style of life is unconscious. However, ever since the complete goal is decided upon, most behavior in life goes into meeting that goal.
A. The ego, in Adler’s terms, is the aspect of personality that the individual (and even outside observers) have picked up on, that arise from the person’s chosen lifestyle. “Johnny is a rebel”. Ego is the conscious part of the personality, whereas the unconscious is the part of the lifestyle that is subtle and hard to understand. It is often unexamined. The unconscious then, is understood strictly in terms of lack of understanding.
B. By age five, the child has practiced their style of life for a while and it begins to become less fluid. Adler called this the law of movement, a habitual pattern that the person will engage in along consistent lines of behavior from then on. It is not immutable, just habitual. Someone may not like the way their life is turning out, so they may change their behavior within certain constraints. We can change our habits, but it is unclear to the degree to which the constraints are immutable. Johnny goes from a “bad boy” to a “rebellious teenager” to a “nonconformist adult”.
3. The style of life is understood in terms of the prototype that each person remembers. The prototype is the rough, in-the-process making of the style of life. Basically, the prototype is our changeable road map for formulating goals and behaving, our habitual ways of viewing the world and of behaving. Adler also referred to these prototypes as fictions. Fictions can be such notions as “My country is the best in the world” or “My mother is the most loving person on the face of the planet” or even “All men are out to abuse me”. They can range from subjective but fairly reasonable, to very unreasonable.
A. Adler also posited counter-fictions which are the forces of non-subjective reality that challenge or make us change our fictions. For example, somebody with the fiction of “My country is the best one in the world” may find out that their country is using highly immoral means to accomplish it’s goals internationally. This would serve as a counter-fiction. If a woman who held the belief “All men are out to abuse me” and constantly ran across men who were non-abusive, these would serve as counter-fictions. The more readily someone holds on to their fictions in the face of counter-fictions the more neurotic they are and the more troublesome their behavior is. Another person’s fiction cannot serve as a counter-fiction to us. In this way, reality of the world is more important than what we’re told about it when it comes to dealing with problematic fictions.
1. (This is one of the ways in which Adler seems cognitive, because counselors can have their clients try new things in an effort to counter problematic fictions)
4. Where does the style of life and it’s resultant prototype come from? (In other words, where does the personality come from? What motivates behavior?)
A. Adler argued that, as children, we feel basic inferiority. We know where we’re at in life, and we certainly don’t want to stay there. So, we want to do something about it.
B. Adler took cues from biology, where he noted that when one organ system fails, another compensates for it. (A man loses his eyesight, so his hearing becomes extra sharp.) Adler argued that there is a parallel that we tend to strive for (built into the psyche). He called this the process of compensation. That’s where we try to make up for our perceived psychological/emotional/intellectual/behavioral deficits by compensating for them in some way. For example, a five-year-old sees how his life is going and how well his goals are being met. He sees that they’re not going according to plan, so he compensates in some way. He wanted to be “Johnny the bad boy” yet he’s not getting into trouble enough, so he compensates by acting out in school more.
C. Compensation also goes deeper than just goal-reformulating in terms of the prototype. Adler, again, taking a cue from biological growth, posited that humans strive to grow psychologically the same way that organisms grow physically. How people choose to grow is up to them, but the fact that they strive to overcome inferiority is universal. He called this process “striving for superiority” and argued that you can tell where people feel the most inferior by the ways in which they seek to compensate.
1. This can take many forms. A man feels inferior because he is short, so he makes up for that by wearing elevator shoes. But, it can also be more subtle. A man feels inferior because he’s short, so he compensates for that by becoming the smartest person he can be, or becoming the most brash, abrasive, and outspoken person he can be. We either make up for the ways in which we are inferior by working on those areas, or we compensate for them by working on another area. It is inherently flexible.
2. Striving for superiority can also entail not just striving to be better than someone else, but to be different or better than we are now, in our own terms. “I’d like to learn more about physics, because it interests me, and I don’t know anything about the field currently.”
a. “To feel inferior is to be human”. - Ain’t nobody perfect. But he also posited that this is one of the fundamental motivating forces for people.
2. People can also feel themselves in the throes of overcompensation, which occurs when someone sets an unrealistically high goal for themselves. For example, a teenage boy who is a skinny weakling might go on a spartan routine of weight lifting and exercise to the exclusions of other responsibilities (and to the exclusion of his health). That boy would be seen as having an inferiority complex which occurs when we lack the usual flexibility in compensation, and overreact according to our perceived inferiority. It tends to be rigid and compulsive.
D. Feelings of inferiority often come in conflict with what he called “social feeling” or “social interest”. Feelings of inferiority are fundamentally selfish. When we’re feeling inferior we’re not worried about how other people are doing.
1. As a counter force to this, Adler noted that we all have the capacity to care for one another and to empathize with each other. It may indeed be my style of life to be an abrasive S.O.B., but I am also born with the capacity to see how my prototypes affect other people. Adler understood this as another fundamental motivating force for humanity, but with the force of obligation behind it. We not only tend to have social feeling, we ought to behave according to those social feelings as well.
a. To quote Adler “Social interest means feeling with the whole, under the aspect of eternity. It means striving for a form of community which must be thought of as everlasting, as it could be thought of if mankind had reached the goal of perfection” (Rychlak, 1981, p. 137).
1. We are all in the process of fulfilling or becoming together. Adler saw humanity as in the process of continually doing better and accomplishing more, and sought to further that process.
2. Because we psychologists are members of the elite, we are morally obligated to continually work to undo any force that causes hopelessness, stagnation, or regress of society. (Whether that be war, unemployment, unjust laws, or even simple starvation.)
2. It is through social feeling that we can see how mistaken goals can come about. Mistaken goals are the goals we make while under faulty assumptions.
a. A boy raised by an abusive alcoholic father is under the faulty assumption that all men are that way. So, his goal (which works into his style of life) is to become so mean and tough that no man can ever abuse him again. He finds later in life, thanks to social feeling and the capacity to empathize with and understand others, that many men are compassionate and gentle, and don’t need to be beaten up. He then revises his mistaken goal, and reformulates a style of life.
1. So, life experience with others can act as a counter-fiction.
b. A man embezzles money constantly from his employer, overcompensating for his poverty. Because of his social feeling, he becomes aware of the error of his ways, and turns himself in.
E. Adler had a great deal of moralistic overtones to his theory, which is ironic considering that he is an evolutionist.
1. Adler was a non-relativist. He did not believe in sitting in judgement so much as calling things as they were. He described people’s behavior in terms of how it effected others, positively or negatively. If someone lived a life with no concern for others but an expectation that others meet their selfish demands, a psychologist would be wrong to not comment directly on this behavior and call it how it is.
a. Adler called people who live for personal satisfactions without concern for others “failures of living”because they in no way contribute to the well-being of the whole group.
1. People who live in completely individualistic ways are called cowards, looking out for their own interest without acknowledging the responsibility they have for others. This is due to errors in their thinking (harmful fictions they hold on to, whether wilfully or not), which prevents them from having courage, which in this case means the courage to relate to others and risk putting yourself out for the benefit of another or for society.
F. Adler also described defense mechanisms, although he interpreted them very differently than Freud did.
1. Repression to Adler does not imply or entail horrible thoughts that must be pushed out of consciousness, but rather a lack of clarity about how one is going about meeting their goals. This lack of clarity can manifest through dreams. A man working the best he can for his female employer does not realize that his excellent and efficient work is his striving to feel superior to her, so he dreams that his boss is the file clerk and that he constantly berates her. Upon awakening he realizes that he feels under appreciated at work, and that he wishes for an acknowledgment of all he’s done from his boss. Dreams are not unconscious material, but poorly understood material that we work through (in part) by dreaming. Keep in mind that to Adler, the unconscious mind is not that which is out of awareness, but rather that which we cannot currently put words to. We may have a sense of it, but we can’t articulate it. Another way Adler used the unconscious was in the term “wordless impressions”.
2. Identification is not a defense per se, but rather than coming about due to castration fears, Adler described them as coming about due to empathy and sympathy we have for others. A boy learns to be like his father by sympathizing with him, just as that same boy might take on characteristics of his mother by being sympathetic with her.
3. The big two are compensation/overcompensation which we have already talked about.
4. One way to determine the nature of the individual’s inferiority complex is by looking at their safeguarding mechanisms, or the ways in which they try to protect themselves from failure, rejection, or further feelings of inferiority. One safeguarding mechanism would be procrastinating a paper, while another might be over studying for an exam. A safeguarding mechanism in relationships would be trying to be the center of attention all the time to feel worthwhile in the relationship, or keeping others at bay so one’s inadequacies in relating cannot be seen.
5. Distance is another defense people use when their feelings of inferiority are too great. They exacerbate their feelings of inferiority by ensuring that their goals will never be met. Someone complains that they have no friends, but they constantly complain in front of others, distancing them.
6. Protest is another defense that occurs when an individual feels unprepared for a particular goal overreacts to their feelings by talking about the goal too much or trying in some way to carry it off anyway, despite their inability to meet the goal. Masculine protest is where this is seen most vividly, where men treat women as playthings or as inherently inferior. This disturbed Adler (who was very egalitarian when it came to gender roles), and he saw that those engaging in Masculine Protest were those who were those unable to live up to the task of being men. Women also engage in masculine protest when they behave like men, rather than like women with equal rights (a woman becoming domineering, cold, tough, and disparaging of women would be an example).
G. Family order and birth constellation is what Adler is probably most famous for. He argued that no two children are raised in the same family. That either their positions are different within the family or their interpretations of the family differ. How many siblings you have, what their sexes are, and what their positions are in the family he felt had a big impact on your style of life. Every family constellation (the relative position of the siblings in the family) differs, but Adler pointed out a few basic trends.
1. The eldest child is like a mini-parent. Most likely to have a conservative or conformist outlook, most likely to believe in the validity of authority. The pressure is on the eldest child
2. The second-born child can be in competition with the eldest sibling and can be completely eclipsed by them. They may either redouble their efforts to get attention and thereby attempt to surpass the eldest child, or they may rebel.
3. The youngest child and the only child are the most likely to be pampered. Adler worried that many of them would grow up to be selfish adults who expected to have everything handed to them in life.
2. So what do you do when clients are failures at living, have mistaken goals, or their style of life is faulty? There are a few techniques suggested.
A. First of all, the therapist must keep three things in mind. 1. How the client sees life. 2. Understand why the client sees life that way. 3. Helping the client discover what their prototypes are that lead them to interpret life the way they do.
1. Confront their mis-perceptions of reality caused by their mistaken style of life. Point to them a way to have a genuine life rather than living a lie (when the therapist confronted Roger about the question of care). Also, to confront the selfish superiority/inferiority mechanisms in place and foster social feeling. To do this, the therapist helps the client introspect and learn about their habits (insight), while also examining and helping them change their faulty assumptions about others, including the therapist (transference).
2. Adlerian therapy tends to be gently confrontational, with components of re-education built in. For example, in the case of Roger, the feedback process was explicit, and Roger knew what his therapist was thinking and feeling. The therapist fosters positive feeling towards her, then helps the client experience those feelings towards others outside of therapy.
3. Adlerian therapy assumes that transference is a two way street, with mostly positive effects. Clients and therapists feel warmly towards each other, that warmth helps foster social feeling. Adler argued that many analysts interpret things in sexual terms, and hence pull for a great deal of sexual material in the transference process. Adler stated clearly that such sexualized transference was to be avoided at all cost because it perpetuates feelings of inferiority (the client can never have the therapist sexually), and it may perpetuate understanding all relationships in sexual terms.
4. Further techniques (as defined in the end of the Adlerian case in the Corsini book)
Encouragement, Life Style Assessment, Confrontation, Future Autobiography, Humor, Game of Probabilities, Acting “as if”, Task setting, Dreams, Multiple Psychotherapy, Interpretation, “Spitting in the Soup”, Placing in Perspective, Creating Images, The Question

2008-09-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

Psychoanalytic Theory

Key Terms:

Libido Eros Thanatos
Id Ego Superego
Conscious Unconscious Anxiety
Repression Denial Ego-Defense mechanisms
Projection Displacement Reaction Formation
Rationalization Sublimation Regression
Introjection Identification Compensation
Ritual and Undoing Oral Stage Anal Stage
Phallic Stage Latency Stage Genital Stage
Oedipus Complex Electra Complex Castration anxiety
Penis envy Transference Countertransference
Free Association Interpretation Latent content
Manifest content Separation/individuation Psychosocial
Object-relations

Thought Questions

1. What is the goal of life?

2. Do you accept the Freudian view of human beings as being driven by aggressive and sexual instincts? Do you believe human behavior is influenced by irrational and unconscious forces?

3. Early childhood development is seen as having a critical impact on later personality development. Do you think that if a person had a very traumatic psycho-sexual(social) development period that this necessarily means that he or she will have personality disturbances later in life? Do you think that people's behavior is determined by the events of the first five years of life?

4. Do you see the adolescent years as being crucial to the same extent as the early childhood years?

5. Is it essential to explore the client's past if present change is desired? Why or why not?

6. Do you think that people can improve their level of personal functioning and make behavioral changes without gaining insight into the causes of their problems? How crucial do you see insight as being?

7. Discuss the concepts: transference and countertransference. While these concepts are basic to psychoanalytic therapy, some models of therapy eliminate such notions. Do you think that these concepts have relevance to a counselor or therapist, regardless of one's theoretical orientation? Why?

8. Think about Freud’s theory in terms of causality. Which of the four causes does Freud’s theory assume?

9. Think about epistemology. Is Freud Kantian, Lockean, or both?

10. Think in terms of agency. Does Freud allow for agency in his theory?

11. Think in terms of individualism and/or relativism. Is Freud’s theory demonstrate either? If so, how, and if not, what is your evidence?

12. Think in terms of meaning. Do our feelings, thoughts, desires mean what we think they do, or are they epiphenomenal to what’s really going on?Introduction to Freud and Psychoanalysis

The nature of humanity:
People are motivated by the pleasure principle
1. This motivation to find pleasure is called the libido
2. Later - Freud also talked about the motivation to die or to destroy others, which he called thanatos, which is programmed into our very being by evolution. This allows the perpetuation of the species and organic constancy
3. People are also motivated to live, and to perpetuate life. He called this motivation Eros and it is an evolutionary drive
4. The reason people are motivated by libido was based on Freud’s medical observations about homeostasis. Homeostasis means we have certain instincts in the body, instincts regarding eating and reproduction, for example. When we feel these instincts and imbalance occurs in the body, and we must do what we can to restore that balance. In other words, we must constantly be in the process of sating our libido, or we will be out of whack homoeostatically speaking, and there will be problems.

Three core constructs make up our psyche are
1. Id - animalistic, hedonistic, entirely amoral and incapable of making judgments about good/evil, right/wrong. This is the lair of raw instinct, the animal seeking pleasure and inflicting pain, permanently and completely out of our awareness
A. This existing out of our awareness Freud called the unconscious. It exists as the unknown and mostly unknowable content that drives our lives. The Id is too chaotic and too primal to be known, so we keep in safely hidden as the constant background to our reality. Id thinking is called primary process thinking. Primary because it is the most primitive, the form of thinking that came first.
2. Superego - the moralizer, the conscience, the voice of parent and of society. This is the voice of the “shouldn’t” and the “must not” and “you’re so bad”. It is the “ego ideal” giving us a constant standard by which to live, often unrealistic. Unlike the Id, we can have a great deal of awareness of our superego tendencies. The superego is formed out of fear - fear of destruction or castration by the same-sex parent.
3. Ego - the great compromiser, the conscious mind. The ego is the part of us that we think we think with. It is the part of us that can learn from the world, approach issues realistically. The ego acknowledges the needs arising from the Id (I’m hungry, I’m horny, gosh I need a hug).
A. The ego is our awareness, our conscious mind. It is the part of us that does the thinking we’re aware of, the part of us that does the explicit thinking we’re in tune with.
B. The ego serves three masters. First, it must meet the demands of the Id in some way. Second, it must meet the demands of external reality (you can’t kill your lousy neighbor because society frowns on that). Third, it must try to meet the standards of the ideal self, the superego. The ego can’t do it all, so it often fails. If it fails reality there are immediate reality consequences - jail. If it fails the Id, then the consequence is dammed libido which results in neuroses. If it fails the superego, the consequence is also neuroses, usually in the form of shame and guilt.

Already we can begin to see the source of some problems
1. Anxiety - there are three forms of anxiety.
A. Realistic - there’s a mugger holding a gun to your face
B. Neurotic - leftover id-wishes that have not been met or adequately forced from consciousness threaten to re-surface. “I wish my mother was dead”. The closer that gets to conscious thought, the more intense the anxiety and the more intense the symptoms
C. Moral - when we feel we’ve screwed up. This comes about due to castration anxiety which forms the template for our sense of morals. The form this anxiety takes is usually shame/guilt
1. Note that it’s the poor ego that has to feel the neurotic anxiety coming from the demands of the id, and the moral anxiety coming from the demands of the superego

Freud had some ideas about how the ego might protect itself against the unreasoning demands of the id and superego. He called these Ego Defense Mechanisms.
1. Denial - very common. The ego senses certain urges arising from the id, and it merely denies that they exist. This ranges from obvious (a man in an unhappy marriage thinking to himself, “I’d never kill my wife”, to subtle: People at a PETA rally in Austin protesting the eating of meat and the killing of animals while they wear their expensive leather shoes and jackets)
2. Repression - more subtle. This is not a defense mechanism per se, in Freudian jargon, but it is important for the ongoing functioning of the ego. Repression is the process by which the superego and the ego keep ugly things (rape, murder) in the unconscious. The closer the id can get can get to pushing that material into the conscious realm, the more likely there will be neurotic anxiety and symptomology.
3. Projection - putting your unconscious feelings onto someone else. The id prompts us to feel hostility towards a certain person, but the superego denies that we should do that, so the compromise is to assume that they feel that way about us. Same thing can work for attraction, aggression, etc.
4. Displacement - We put the true (unconscious) feelings about a person on a different person, creature, or event. I may hate my brother in law, but in my dream I will be a hunter chasing a bobcat I want to kill. You may be unconsciously feeling extreme anger at a professor, but you go home and take it out on friend or family.
5. Reaction Formation - Arguing for or showing favor towards an action or view that you’re unconsciously opposed to. Pregnant woman unconsciously feels terror about the prospect of having a child will profess out loud “I love my baby very much.”
6. Rationalization - The fact that a person often finds an acceptable reason to justify some action that is really prompted by a completely different (unconscious) motive. Woman avoids another woman in her social circle. Unconsciously, she wishes to kill this woman, but what she thinks to herself is “I’m too busy to talk to her”.
7. Sublimation - Changing the nature of the unconscious wish or desire, as well as the object that will fulfill the unconscious wish or desire so it’s more socially acceptable. A young man is fighting the temptation to fornicate (“dirty!” screams the superego), so he turns to art and becomes a very successful painter, and derives a great deal of satisfaction from that.

This is why Freud’s theory is called psycho-dynamic - the clash and compromise model of our psyche
Freud posited how as we grow our needs for libido fulfillment change. This is called psychosexual stages of development

1. The oral stage - birth to 1 year. The oral stage is one characterized by oral eroticism, and the infant lives in terms only of the pleasure principle. The source of pleasure is oral driven (the breast) as well as relieving itself through urination and defecation. The baby has an imagination that allows it wish fulfillment - the process of visualizing what it wants. This process is identical to the process of dreams.
A. The identification process starts here. This is the process by which we take in the behavioral styles, attitudes and belief systems of other people. It’s not completed until the phallic phase.
2. The anal stage - 1 year to 3 years. The anal stage is characterized by the beginning of a lifelong process of having to put up with privations and trying to live up to the prohibitions of elders who ultimately represent the values of the broader culture.
A. Central to this is bodily control - particularly control of the sphincter of the body and waste disposal. You screw up in self-control, punishments often follow
B. This stage is more aggressive and assaultive, with a distinct clash of wills between the child and the care giver going on
1. Anal personalities - aggressively up-tight
3. The phallic stage - 3 - 6. Heterosexuality begins to emerge. Both males and females discover the phallus as the source of libidinal pleasure, moving their attention away from the mouth and anus. Little girls deny or disavow their lack of a penis, and their psychology is irrevocably influenced by this fact. They suffer from penis envy, or the process by which they neurotically seek out ways to have power or have a phallus for themselves (including marriage). They already feel inadequate and castrated due to their lack of a phallus. It is their desire to have a phallus which manifests also in childbirth and rearing.
A. Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny: The life cycle of the individual represents and is a microcosm for the evolution of the species. Long ago in the first family, some boys got angry with dad, killed him, and ate him, desiring mom and other family females for mates. They had to do this, because if they stood up to dad, he would kill them or castrate them. They then ate him to absorb his power. But, they realized that the cycle couldn’t continue (or their kids would kill them) so they developed the ideas of chastity (only mating with their own wives) and exogamy (only seeking mates outside the family)
B. Male Oedipus Complex: In the third year of life we find the boys doing just what the primitive boys did in the first family: They lust after mom. But, if he seeks to become mom’s lover, then father will castrate him, because father has the instinct to protect what’s his (law of retribution, talion). This creates a great deal of castration anxiety in the son, keeping him in line with the father’s commands. Freud did not posit a parallel for women, and was quite puzzled about female sexuality. The “Electra Complex” wherein the little girl, desiring a penis, covets her father and feels aggression towards her mother was a later invention.
C. Introjection - the process by which people take in other people’s standards as their own, beginning with their introjecting of their father’s values to avoid being castrated by him
4. Latency Stage - 6 to as late as 14. Both sexes repress their parental Oedipal attractions, and their intense sexual interests gradually decline.

5. Genital Stage - Puberty onward. The sexes come together for monogamous and heterosexual satisfaction of their erotic needs. Any other forms of sexual preference or promiscuity were viewed as signs of neuroses.

Note that Freud’s theory is stage-based, and that we must pass through these stages, getting certain instinctual needs met in order to pass on to the next stage. If we do not get these needs met, the libido is then dammed up, trapping energy at the spot where our needs were unmet. This trapping of libido is called fixation. A little bit of fixation at each psychosexual stage is assumed, but if it is too much, problems will result. This leads to a repetition compulsion, or the ongoing desire to meet that need (unconsciously, of course). Personality is called back to the point of fixation, and a repetition compulsion is seen. A child who was frustrated in their oral stage would have oral compulsions (overeating, smoking, drinking too much), a child frustrated at the anal stage would be either very up-tight (‘anal’) or very destructively impulsive (setting fires, urinating in public, etc), a child frustrated at the phallic phase would be promiscuous, or suffer from a paraphilia. Someone fixated at the latency stage would be overly passive, potentially asexual. Fixations happen to everyone, period. The more the fixations and the greater the amount of fixation, the worse the problems.

Regression occurs when people’s libidos are frustrated as adults. They then begin to behave as they did during the phase of life when their libidinal needs were also frustrated. A co-worker gets yelled at by the boss, goes home and stuffs herself with twinkies - regressed to the oral stage, a time when mom didn’t meet her needs either.

Object relations are the internal memories of wishes involving other people. They can be unfulfilled wishes (“bad objects”) or fulfilled wishes (“good objects”). These internalized people form the client’s memories of when their needs were met or not, and what sorts of messages came with them (“No, I’m not going to give you a hug you terrible child”). Informs their view of themselves as an object. They may see themselves and the world as positive negative, or combinations of both based on their object relations.

So, we have all of these pent-up libidinal needs and the neuroses that come when they are fixated. Freud also offered explicitly ways we might treat these.
1. Transference - this is the process by which a client views the therapist in terms of the people they’re fixated on (those people who they wanted to meet their libidinal needs but did not). The process of transference allows the therapist to see where their fixations are, as well as the overall quality of their object relations. This only works if the therapist takes the blank screen approach, not doing anything to provoke certain reactions from the client.
2. Free Association - this is a technique where the therapist says a word or a phrase, and instructs the client to say the first thing that comes to mind. In this way, the therapist hopes to bypass the editing of the ego and superego to get a sense as to where the libido is frustrated - one argument for why the Rorschach and TAT work as projective measures.
3. The use of dream interpretation. Dreams have two levels of content. First, is the manifest content, or the content as it appears to be without interpretation. Back to the example earlier, when Frank is dreaming about hunting bobcats. That is the manifest content. The latent content is what the dream actually means, or what the id wishes or the superego edits. For example, Frank hates his brother-in-law but can’t admit it to himself due to family pressure to like this new addition. So, what the dream actually means is that Frank wants to kill his brother-in-law.
4. Countertransference - this is an identical process to transference, only it is the therapist projecting points of fixation (either erotic or aggressive) onto the client. This is why psychoanalysts need many years of analysis before they become analysts themselves.
2. Interpretation - this is the process by which the therapist, after long and careful deliberation, offers the latent content, points out the fixation of the client, or intervenes in their object relational structure. Once the ego is confronted with this information, the fixation is broken and the client is better. (De-cathexis, the process of all of that cathected (trapped) libido giving loose at once comes with a huge outpouring of emotion, and the client is no longer fixated on that point.)

GROUP WORK!

Group 1:
Analyze psychoanalytic theory in terms of causality. What forms of causality to you find, and what is your justification?

Group 2:
Analyze psychoanalytic theory in terms of epistemology. Which forms of epistemology do you find? What is your justification?

Group 3:
Analyze psychoanalytic theory in terms of moral and ethical assumptions. What assumed morals and ethics did you find? What is your justification?

Moral and Ethical Assumptions in Counseling

2008-09-12T12:00:00.001-07:00

Moral and Ethical Assumptions in Counseling
a. Principle ethics
i. The belief that you have to strictly codify “right” and “wrong” behavior
(1) Usually what gets codified is a socially constructed understanding that itself draws from commonly held general principles in the population
ii. Ethical codes are written very broadly, specific situations are mentioned only rarely, which can be frustrating if you need help with a particular ethical issue
(1) Scene in the Simpson’s Movie “There’s no answers here!”
(a) Same problem with ethical codes, they present a mindset, general rules for ethical behavior
(b) In essence, the ethical codes are necessary (they form a base) but not sufficient (they are necessarily broad and imprecise)
iii. Ethics specify behavioral guidelines for a given group of people
(1) Club membership
(a) You can break ethics sometimes without breaking the law
(2) Law specifies what you can’t do legally
(a) Goes for everybody, can land you in jail if you break them
(3) You know you’re in legal trouble if:
(a) Legal proceedings have been initiated
(b) Lawyers are involved
(c) You are in danger of having a complaint of misconduct filed against you
iv. Sometimes the law and the code don’t get along
(1) What you are ethically bound to do may be legally problematic
(a) Consult a lawyer (hate to say it, but it’s true)
(i) Issues due to counseling minors, ethics vs. law
(2) Some ethics codes (like APA) specify that if there is a contradiction between the law and the code, obey the law in a manner to best approximate the ethical code
b. Principle ethics is a philosophical orientation towards “right” behavior
i. Establishing a set of obligations and the methods to meet said obligations
ii. Using said method to solve a dilemma/dilemmas
iii. Use the framework to solve future dilemmas
(1) It’s very “rule-focused”
c. Virtue ethics are aspiration-al
i. Four philosophical core virtues:
(1) Prudence
(2) Integrity
(3) Respectfulness
(4) Benevolence
ii. Here’s a sample list of virtue ethics in psychology
(1) 1. Autonomy
(a) Self-determination, freedom to choose
(i) We shouldn’t interfere with that
1) But often we do
(b) This is one of the reasons why it is so important to be aware of one’s own values
(c) We won’t know we’re pushing a moral agenda unless we know we have one
(i) Always present clients options, even if you don’t like some of them
(2) 2. Nonmaleficence
(a) Avoid doing harm (actively or passively)
(i) Vindictiveness disturbingly common in our field
1) “I’m giving them what they deserve”
2) Fine line sometimes between tough love and just petty meanness
a) Be aware of cultural differences when diagnosing
i) “White man’s clinic”
(3) 3. Beneficence
(a) Promote “good” for others
(i) Defined as “dignity and welfare”
1) Loaded with assumptions . . .
(b) Note that this particular virtue is PRO-active
(i) Have you done any good in the world today?
1) Be aware of the client’s context and what “good” is for them
2) Don’t dismiss your own “good” but try to find a middle ground with them
3) One culture CAN positively inform another culture
a) What I learned about the value of extended family
(4) 4. Justice
(a) Be fair to everyone, don’t have double-standards
(i) Justice is an issue when interventions don’t work, or are harmful with certain populations
(ii) Justice is an issue when assessments work for one group, but not another (yet are claimed to be valid)
(iii) Justice is an issue when you have a double-standard in your pro-bono work
(iv) Justice is an issue when you give certain clients the benefit of the doubt and not others . . .
(5) 5. Fidelity
(a) You make a promise, you keep that promise
(i) Your word becomes FACT
(ii) You are LOYAL to your clients
(iii) You need to live up to your end of informed consent
(iv) Clients need to trust the therapeutic relationship
1) My own experience with counseling
a) My counselor no-showed to 50% of our sessions
(6) 6. Veracity
(a) Closely related to fidelity
(b) Be truthful with your clients
(i) Lies of commission vs. lies of omission
(ii) Painful honesty is sometimes required of us
(iii) Clients need to know that they can trust what you say
(iv) “I’m going to speak to medical to see if we can get you an appointment sooner”
1) By golly, you’d better go and chat with medical
2. Ethics do not arise in a vacuum
a. They are themselves philosophical ideas, loaded with assumptions
b. Note that ethical virtues (and ethical principles) focus around helping an individual, usually to feel better or behave more productively. This is a fundamental assumption of counseling theory
c. We, as a society, very much value such worthy ideas as individual freedom, happiness, and the inherent rights of the individual
i. This has HUGE positive benefits
(1) Freedom from oppression, repression, and arbitrary authority
(2) Both individually and socially
(3) The ability to choose one’s own destiny
(a) Counseling both mirrors society and magnifies it
(i) We help perpetuate both the positive and negative of these values
d. Psychology furthers the modern ethos of the importance of individual rights, freedoms, and pursuits of happiness
i. The individual, however, is seen as a “bounded, masterful self”, its own source of happiness and misery (Cushman)
ii. A “punctual” self, a singular point of consciousness, radically disconnected from other points of consciousness (also Cushman)
(1) Denies the power of relationality
(2) Denies powerful moral obligation, responsibility, etc.
(a) “Only you can make you happy”
(i) WHAT?????
e. Pursuit of individual happiness and the good life are certainly worthwhile goals
i. Possible unfortunate side-effects of this:
(1) People looking out for themselves and their own benefits first, without concern to greater societal needs
(2) Greater disconnection with others as people increasingly look within for meaning
(3) Go to psychotherapists to ameliorate the necessary anomie that accompanies this
(4) Only to have it perpetuated by individualistic therapy
f. Another effect of the individualistic nature is the centrality of meaning in the self
i. The individual knows, subjectively, what the source of his or her individual happiness is
ii. Given that happiness is the ultimate goal, and only the individual knows what will make them happy, the individual is the ultimate arbiter of what is “best”
(1) All individuals differ - what is ultimately best differs
3. The issue of Relativism
a. Constructionists object to the individualism of psychology
i. Posit instead that meaning is not located within a given individual, but rather within the meanings created by society
ii. We are, rather than completely, ontologically, separated from others, we are instead co-constructed by society, fundamentally inseparable from others in society
b. Although constructionism does a lot to explain our engagement with society and meaning, there is still a problem: If moral meaning comes from society, and societies differ, morals are relative to societies
i. Where do individual cultures end?
(1) Countries, states, counties, religions organizations, fraternities, families, even individuals
ii. Different approach, same ultimate problem
c. Disadvantages of relativism
i. It allows us to treat crucial moral concerns as items for “ironic play” in our counseling
ii. We have to treat them as serious to respect the clients, but they can’t really be serious because everything is relative - ironic
iii. Cultural clashes are inevitable
(1) “I’ll only see the counselor if she’s Catholic” (Mormon, Baptist, Buddhist, etc.)
(a) “Will he respect my values, even though the culture of psychology denies the validity of values?”
(2) “Men’s milk” – you would be legally obligated to report abuse
(3) Relativism is inconsistent
(4) Could it be that we don’t feel values are fundamentally relative?
(a) When we feel strongly about things we do not feel that our emotion is invalid or stupid
(i) If everything is relative, why fight, why advocate, why change?
1) Why is happiness “good?”
a) Why would anyone want to perpetuate happiness except for very relativistic (and ultimately invalid) reasons?
(5) Illogical “the ultimate truth is that there is no truth”
(a) The ultimate in living truthfully is to live as though truthful living was impossible . . .

Epistemology!

2008-09-08T10:52:00.001-07:00

1. Epistemology
a. Epistemology is our theorizing about our ways of gaining knowledge
i. Episteme = theoretical knowledge
ii. Gnosis = experiential knowledge
iii. Oida = knowledge from books
(1) Different theories about ways of knowing
(a) Critical for science
(b) Critical for therapy
(c) Yet another meta-theory
b. Valuable for your first paper (potentially)
i. How do people know what they know?
ii. How does such knowledge come about?
iii. Why do some people know some things, while other people know other things?
iv. Can problems occur in the process of knowing/learning?
v. Can we know anything learned without our physical senses?
2. Lockean Epistemology (Empiricism)
a. Empiricism: From “experience” in Latin
i. Common, unquestioned
(1) Born “tabula rasa”
(a) We derive knowledge from two things:
(i) Sensation (from our seven senses)
1) Sensation is the outside world effecting our senses
(ii) Reflection (remembering that which we have sensed)
1) Reflection is developed through our experience with the outside world helping us categorize our behavior
(b) Ultimately, external forces impinge upon our senses causing sensation directly, which is then remembered
(i) What we know is at the mercy of what we sense
(ii) Our knowledge is strictly A Posteriori
ii. If my assumptions about human knowledge were predominantly empirical as a therapist, how would that affect my treatment of my clients?
(1) What sorts of interventions would I provide?
(2) What sorts of interventions would I not provide?
3. Kantian Epistemology (Rationalism)
a. Rationalism: From ratio “reason” in Latin
b. Less common, often unconsidered
i. Descartes: The use of skepticism
(1) Doubting (even doubt) = reason
c. Socratic dialogue
d. Einstein’s gedanken
i. Recognized as a scientist, but breakthroughs were non-empirical
e. Mathematics
i. No empirical referent
f. Immanuel Kant: A priori knowledge & categories of understanding
i. A priori means “before experience”
g. Division between noumenal and phenomenal realms
i. Noumenal = world as it is apart from our understanding of it
ii. Phenomenal = world as we actually experience it
h. Categories of understanding exist a priori
i. Rose colored glasses: phenomenal structuring noumenal
(1) Time, space, shape, size
(2) Ultimately, knowledge is caused by our structuring of the world
(a) We are disturbed not by events, but by the views which we take of them
(i) Epictetus
i. If I were a therapist who assumed that what people know is predominantly how they habitually construct their external and internal world, what sorts of interventions would I provide?
i. Which interventions would I not use?
4. Exercise! (But without the sweating and panting)
a. You’re seeing a client, and you assume that the client’s disorder comes from past experience. (They had a pathogenic environment)
i. What epistemology are you assuming?
b. You’re seeing a client, and you assume that the client’s disorder comes from their unconscious mind interfering pathologically with their world
i. What epistemology are you assuming?
5. Don’t we just need ONE epistemology for crying out loud?
a. Empiricism limited in its explanatory power
i. Things can be meaningful without empirical referent
(1) Mathematics, statistics, religion, virtue, duty
b. Rationalism is limited in its explanatory power
i. We cannot change our categories of understanding
(1) True creativity limited
(2) Explaining fundamental differences in understanding is problematic
c. Search continues for the “best” epistemology
6. Alternative 1: Social Constructionism
a. The process of understanding is no longer within a given individual
i. Understanding occurs within relationships
b. Humans are fundamentally language using creatures
c. What is known is constructed through language and interaction
d. Problem: Everything known is socially constructed
i. Truth, lies, right, wrong, etc. all constructed
(1) (we’ll talk about degrees of relativism next week)
7. Alternative 2: Modes of Engagement (Hermeneutic Interpretivism)
a. Fundamental assumption: We are engaged or embedded in our world to varying degrees
i. Empiricism and rationalism posit separation between self and world = subject/object distinction
ii. Constructivism makes crucial concepts items for ironic play in discourse (relativizes fundamental realities of being)
b. Hermeneutics (interpretive) partially dissolves subject/object distinction, furthers understanding
i. Present-at-hand (Present-ness) = Detached, reflective mode of experimentation and math. Subject & object separate, leads to skewed (constructed) understanding
ii. Ready-to-hand (Occurrent-ness) = Active engagement, practical knowledge and learning less skewed by culture
(1) All of this knowledge is contextualized knowledge
iii. Treating a map as a real city = treating experimental results as immediately applicable in lived existence
(1) Studying “objectively” is to study an abstraction
(2) Subjectivity/objectivity fused into “the lived world”
iv. No unbiased interpretation, “interpretations are always and already interpretations of something”
(1) We understand the world both according to what it is, and what we make of it
(a) Yup. Both, at the same time
(2) We are “thrown” into a world of language, meaning, history, morality
(a) Our thrown-ness informs our interpretation of the world
(b) As does our engagement with the world
(i) Do we have time to talk about the hermeneutic circle?
c. Exercise time!
i. Often, wrapping our heads around constructivism and interpretivism can be challenging, but we’re up for it!
(1) If I’m a therapist who assumes that all knowledge is socially constructed in relation to others, what sorts of interventions would I use with my clients?
(a) Which would I not use?
(2) If I’m a therapist who assumes that all knowledge is interpreted knowledge of ourselves and our world around us grounded in our own context, what sorts of interventions would I use with my clients?
(a) Which would I not use?

Causality Discussion

2008-09-02T15:11:00.001-07:00

The four causes
a. Material
i. What causes the thing is what it is made of
(1) What are you “made” of? Your biology causes your behavior
b. Efficient
i. What causes the thing are events that led up to it through time
(1) What is your history? It is your history that causes your behavior
c. Formal
i. The context of the thing, internally and externally
(1) What is your current context? Your context causes your behavior
d. Final
i. The end to which the thing or behavior exists
(1) What is your goal? Your goal causes your behavior
(a) Also called telos, study of purpose is teleology
2. Thought Exercise #1
a. There is a chair sitting in the middle of the room
i. What is the material cause of the chair?
ii. What is the efficient cause of the chair?
iii. What is the formal cause of the chair?
iv. What is the final cause of the chair?
3. Thought Exercise #2
a. John Smith has just been convicted of murdering 16 people in 5 states
i. What is a material cause for John’s behavior?
ii. What is an efficient cause for John’s behavior?
iii. What is a formal cause for John’s behavior?
iv. What is a final cause for John’s behavior?
4. Thought Exercise #3
a. Paula Purge sits across from you seeking treatment for her eating disorder
i. What is a material cause for her disorder?
ii. What is an efficient cause for her disorder?
iii. What is a formal cause for her disorder?
iv. What is a final cause for her disorder?
5. Thought Exercise #4
a. What forms of causality are assumed in the following vignette?
i. Genetic Causes of Depression
(1) Twin Studies
(a) Much of what we know about the genetic influence of clinical depression is based upon research that has been done with identical twins. Identical twins are very helpful to researchers since they both have the exact same genetic code. It has been found that when one identical twin becomes depressed the other will also develop clinical depression approximately 76% of the time. When identical twins are raised apart from each other, they will both become depressed about 67% of the time. Because both twins become depressed at such a high rate, the implication is that there is a strong genetic influence. If it happened that when one twin becomes clinically depressed the other always develops depression, then clinical depression would likely be entirely genetic. However because the rate of both identical twins developing depression is not closer to 100% this tells us that there are other things that influence a person's vulnerability to depression. These may include environmental factors such as childhood experiences, current stressors, traumatic events, exposure to substances, medical illnesses, etc.
(b) Research has also been done with fraternal twins. Unlike identical twins who have the same genetic code, these siblings share only about 50% of their genetic makeup and do not necessarily look alike. Studies have shown that when one fraternal twin becomes depressed, the other also develops depression about 19% of the time. This is still a higher rate of depression when compared to overall rates for the general public, again pointing towards a genetic influence in the development of clinical depression.
(i) (both vignettes from http://www.allaboutdepression.com/cau_03.html)
6. Your assumptions about causality imply some treatments and not others
a. If I assume that my client’s issues are caused by their biology, what treatments would I use?
i. Which treatments would I NOT use?
(1) Consequences?
b. If I assume that my clients issues are caused by their past, what treatments would I use?
i. Which treatments would I NOT use?
(1) Consequences?
c. If I assume that my clients issues are caused by their context, what treatments would I use?
i. Which treatments would I NOT use?
(1) Consequences?
d. If I assume that my clients issues are caused by their mistaken goals, what treatments would I use?
i. Which treatments would I NOT use?
(1) Consequences?
7. Dealing with the whole person
a. In psychology, we tend to value just two causes, efficient and material
i. Most measurable, and hence most “scientific”
b. Two consequences to that value
i. It removes volition/agency
(1) A therapist that attends to your past, not to you
(2) A therapist that attends to your biology, not to you
ii. It removes moral responsibility
(1) Sometimes a good thing, sometimes not
(a) Good when behavior truly is a-volitional
(b) Bad when behavior is truly volitional

Assumptions have Implications

2008-09-02T15:09:00.000-07:00

Assumptions Have Implications

Theories in psychology have unspoken assumptions and implications
The “from whence” and “to whence” of the theory
Assumptions are the fundamental ideas about the nature of reality that must be true for the theory to work
Implications are the consequences that logically follow from the assumptions: If ___ then ____
Example: Assuming we’re biologically determined
1. I’m a therapist that holds fast to an evolutionary model of behavior. I assume that all of human behavior is “hard-wired” and genetically determined. I read an article of a woman proclaiming the evils of adultery and how infidelity is “destroying today’s families”.
A. What would be my reaction to this article?
B. I’m a marriage counselor for a couple with one spouse is unfaithful, much to the distress of the other member of the marriage. How does my assumption that all behavior is “hard-wired” imply whether or not I should intervene with the unfaithful spouse?
C. If I choose to intervene, how would I intervene, given the assumption that all behavior is “hard-wired”?
Example: Assuming “it’s all good”
1. I’m a therapist that holds fast to a postmodernist model of behavior. I assume that all human behavior is morally relative, and that any dogmatic worldview (political, religious, or individual) is inherently harmful. I have a client in my office for an initial consultation who feels she has “sinned” and is greatly depressed, ashamed, and guilty for her behavior. I learn that by the standards of her deeply-held religion, she did indeed violate certain tenets of her faith.
A. Given my postmodern position, what would my reaction be to her shame, guilt, and grief?
B. How might I intervene with her, given that I feel that “it’s all good” and that dogmatism is inherently a problem?
Example: Assuming behavior is caused by unconscious forces
1. I’m a therapist from an analytic tradition. I assume that all of human behavior is due to unconscious processes (factors outside of our awareness over which we have no control). I’m meeting with a client who is greatly angry at his father. He feels his father betrayed his family by leaving his mother for a younger woman and moving suddenly to another state.
A. Given my analytic position, would I agree that the father is morally responsible for his own behavior?
B. If the father is not morally responsible, are my clients feelings rational or irrational?

Assumptions and Implications are rarely discussed
Themselves embedded in other assumptions and implications

Assumed Yet Overlooked: Agency
Agency = the ability to do otherwise, all things remaining equal
A HUGE assumption in our daily lives
Love, anger, shame, guilt, joy, often built on agency
Morality is not possible without agency
No choice = “good” and “bad” cease to make sense
If I have no agency (no choice) I cannot help what I do, hence it cannot be “bad” or “good”
Free will (utterly unconstrained behavior) seems impossible
We do have history, context, bodies
Understanding of contextualized agency
Critically examining what people can do, and what they cannot
Constraints not determinism

Standards for Critical Thought:
Clarity
You need to speak or present in a way that is clear and that the listener can understand
Accuracy
What you say really needs to be true (checkable empirically, qualitatively, etc.)
Precision
Giving precise enough details is very helpful and a good sign
Relevance
The statement should be relevant to the topic, to the issue, to the question
Breadth
There may be other ways of looking at the topic that need to be addressed
Logic
What you are saying now needs to follow directly and sensibly from what you said before

Why Think?

2008-09-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

Why Think?

- Quotes, deep meaning lost in the sterile “scientized” psychology

Girl . . . Interrupted

Think Darnit! Think!

This is the perpetual and pitiful tragedy of the practical man in practical affairs. He always begins with a flourish of contempt for what he calls theorizing and what people who can do it call thinking. He will not wait for logic--that is, in the most exact sense, he will not listen to reason. It will therefore appear to him an idle and ineffectual proceeding to say that there is a reason for his present failure. Nevertheless, it may be well to say it, and to try and make it clear even to him. G. K. Chesterton, 2/29/25

Assumptions About Theory
Assumption: any theory is as good as any other
Pitfalls of that assumption
Lack of sophistication
Inability to learn and grow from engagement
Assumption: there is a “perfect” theory
Pitfalls of that assumption
Allergic to thinking?
I don’t need this, I just want to be a therapist (social worker)

How people know they’re right:

"It's true because I believe it"
(innate egocentrism: in which case I find myself continually assuming that what I believe is true even though I have never questioned the basis for many of my beliefs)

"It's true because we believe it"
(innate sociocentrism: in which case I find myself continually assuming that the dominant beliefs in the groups to which I belong are true even though I have never questioned the basis for many of these beliefs)

"It's true because I want to believe it"
(innate wish fulfillment: in which case I find myself believing in, for example, accounts of behavior that put me (or the groups to which I belong) in a positive rather than a negative light even though I have not seriously considered the evidence for the more negative account. I believe what "feels good," what supports my other beliefs, what does not require me to change my thinking is any significant way, what does not require me to admit I have been wrong)

"It's true because I have always believed it"(innate self-validation: in which case I feel a strong ego-attraction to beliefs that I have long held even though I have not seriously considered the evidence for the critique of these traditional beliefs).

"It's true because it is in my vested interest to believe it"
(innate selfishness: in which case I find myself gravitating to beliefs which if true would justify my getting more power, money, or personal advantage and not noticing the evidence or reasoning against those beliefs)

http://criticalthinking.org/University/questioningmind.htm

A theory is a series of two or more ideas that have a meaningful relationship
The relationship between them can be
1. Hypothesized
2. Presumed
3. Factually demonstrated
Basically: Theory = thought and theories are fallible

Responses to Fear of Thinking and Theorizing
Eclecticism
No escape
Nihilism
Work ceases
Denial
No improvement
Fighting familiarity
Fear Not! You can Theorize too!
Necessity of a “meta – theory” or a way of theorizing about theory
The nature of the relationship between ideas in a theory varies
Finding categories of the various ways ideas relate can be helpful
One such meta – theory is examinations of causality

Syllabus

2008-09-02T15:04:00.000-07:00

Introduction to Counseling and Psychotherapy
Utah Valley University
PSY/SWK 4300; Fall 2008, 3 Credit Hours
CS 412, 9:00 - 10:00AM MWF

Instructor: Matthew R. Draper, Ph.D. HSPP Office: LA 026b
Office Phone: 863-8323
Home Phone: 627-2976
Mobile Phone: 310-0955
E-mail: matthew (dot) draper (at) uvu.edu
Office Hour: TBA & By appointment

Course Description:
Surveys concepts and practices of major therapeutic systems. Introduces students to the major therapeutic models. Addresses basic counseling issues including ethics and professionalism. Develop knowledge about relationship development, interviewing, initial assessment and intake procedures.

Method of Instruction:
This course will be predominantly lecture-based. There will be time during each course for discussion and group exercises. As the course continues I will post many of the lecture notes and similar information to Blackboard.
Required Textbooks
Corsini, R. & Wedding, D. (2000). Current Psychotherapies, 6th ed. IL: F.E. Peacock
Publishers, Inc.
Wedding, D. & Corsini, R. (2000). Case Studies in Psychotherapy, 3rd ed. IL: F. E. Peacock Publishers, Inc.
Supplemental Readings
Richardson, F. C., Fowers, B. J., & Guignon, C. B. (1999). Re-envisioning psychology: Moral dimensions of theory and practice. CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Rychlak, J. (1981). Personality and Psychotherapy: A Theory-Construction Approach. MA: Houghton Mifflin Company
Slife, B.D. & Williams, R. N. (1995). What’s Behind the Research? Discovering Hidden Assumptions in the Behavioral Sciences. CA: Sage Publications.

Goals and Objectives:
The first objective of this class is to help you begin to become familiar with critical thinking tools that you can use to analyze different theories. The textbooks and lectures will be the major source of this information. The second objective of this class is to give you the opportunity to apply these critical thinking skills in order to select the theoretical orientation that is closest to your own.

In this course it is important that you read your textbook, and to take the opportunity to check out the suggested readings. The lecture is synergistic with the reading material, so I will not be covering the readings in the lecture. Often times the lecture will serve as an analysis of, and historical background to, each theory.

Mid - Term Paper
You are asked to write a paper on "The Nature of Humanity". This paper will be a major thought piece where you begin to examine your beliefs about people and how they operate. All papers are to be in American Psychological Association (APA) format, should be word processed or typed (appearance plays a role in grading, whether I am aware of this consciously or not). You are required to have this paper edited by a competent editor before you turn it in. You may have your paper edited by a graduate student, the writing center, a professional writer. You will be required to hand in the rough draft of the paper with the final draft.

Please take this as an opportunity to introspect and to think critically and creatively about your own beliefs and experiences. This paper and the rough draft are due on Monday September 22nd
Page length: 5 - 10 pages.

Here are some brainstorming ideas to help you to articulate your beliefs. Please do not simply go through and answer these questions in your paper, but use them instead as brainstorming tools.

- What has caused you to change and grow in your life?
- What is the person? Are you a person? How did you become a person?
- Do you feel you have basic needs? If so, what are they? What creates or causes these needs?
- Are the needs you have universal?
- Do you have any agency about your behavior? If so, how? If not, why not? Are you controlled by external forces, or can you make your own choices?
-What role can or does the "spirit" or “spirituality” play in your life?
-Do you believe there such thing as “good” and “evil” or are such things antiquated notions? If you do believe in them, can you think of an example of what is good or evil?
-Are you aware of your reasons for doing things? Do you have an unconscious? What role does it play in your life? Does this mean you have choice about your behavior or not?
-What role do other people play in your life, such as significant others, acquaintances, or strangers?
-Are you a happy person, or are you a discontent person? What makes you happy? What makes you sad? What has caused chronic problems in your life?
-What would it mean to be healthy or unhealthy? What causes health or sickness?

Final Paper
You will write your second paper on your chosen theoretical orientation. Choose an existing theory of counseling and psychotherapy. You will be graded according to the standards outlined for paper #1. You will be required to cite other sources extensively in this paper. I want at least 10 sources (and at least 5 of those should be from the theoretical orientation you have chosen). Please try to be coherent and somewhat comprehensive in writing this paper. I freely acknowledge that your thinking at this time will evolve over time as you gain more experience, but this is an opportunity for you to articulate some of the beliefs you have about what is good counseling. You are required to have an editor for this paper like you are for the first paper. This paper will be due with the rough draft on December 3rd
Page length: 5-10 pages.

Exams
There are two exams for this course, a midterm and a final. Both exams will be multiple-choice only, and will cover concepts from the lecture notes as well as from your assigned readings in the Corsini texts. Each exam will be 40 questions in length. The first exam is on October 13th. The final exam is on December 10th and will cover the materials in the second half of the semester.

Extra Credit Opportunities:
There are two extra-credit opportunities throughout the course of the semester. If you do well on both you could conceivably earn 5% of your total grade (½ a letter grade).
Bonus Paper: You can earn 2.5 points by going to an event hosted by the multi- cultural center. You will then write a one-page paper letting me know which event you attended, and a cross-cultural issue with counseling theory.
Pop-Quizzes: Throughout the course of the semester I’m going to hit you with pop-quizzes. These quizzes will usually be 5 questions at the very beginning of class. The questions will cover the topic of the day.

THIS SYLLABUS IS A WORK IN PROCESS AND IS SUBJECT TO REVISION

Grading Criteria for Papers
Grammar 10%
Style 10%
Clear Thesis 15%
Development 15%
Cogency 50%
Total 100%

Point Breakdown
Exam 1 25
Exam 2 25
Midterm "Nature of Humanity" 20
Final "Counseling Theory” 30
Total 100

Grades: A = 90 – 100; B+ = 85 – 89; B = 80 – 84; C = 70 – 74; C+ = 75 – 79

DATE Topic Due
W Aug 27 Introductions
F Aug 29 Why Think?
M Sep 1 Holiday Labor Day
W Sep 3 Assumptions Have Implications
F Sep 5 Causality
M Sep 8 Causality
W Sep 10 Epistemology
F Sep 12 Epistemology
M Sep 15 Epistemology
W Sep 17 Ethics/Morality
F Sep 19 Ethics/Morality
M Sep 22 Ethics/Morality C&W 1 PAPER 1
W Sep 24 Psychoanalysis C&W 2
F Sep 26 Psychoanalysis
M Sep 29 Psychoanalysis
W Oct 1 Putting it into practice Case 1
F Oct 3 Individual Psychology C&W 3
M Oct 6 Individual Psychology
W Oct 8 Individual Psychology
F Oct 10 Putting it into practice Case 2
M Oct 13 Person-Centered Therapies C&W 5 EXAM 1
W Oct 15 Person-Centered Therapies
F Oct 17 Fall Break Holiday (16-17)
M Oct 20 Person-Centered Therapies
W Oct 22 Putting it into practice Case 4
F Oct 24 Behavior Therapies C&W 7
M Oct 27 Behavior Therapies
W Oct 29 Behavior Therapies
F Oct 31 Putting it into practice Case 6
M Nov 3 Cognitive Behavioral Therapies C&W 8 and 6
W Nov 5 Cognitive Behavioral Therapies
F Nov 7 Cognitive Behavioral Therapies
M Nov 10 Putting it into practice Case 7 and 5
W Nov 12 Existential Therapies C&W 9
F Nov 14 Existential Therapies
M Nov 17 Existential Therapies
W Nov 19 Putting it into practice Case 8
F Nov 21 Gestalt Therapies C&W 10
M Nov 24 Gestalt Therapies
W-F Nov 26-28 Thanksgiving Holiday
M Dec 1 Gestalt Therapies
W Dec 3 Putting it into practice Case 9 PAPER 2
F Dec 5 Dialogics
M Dec 8 Dialogics
W Dec 10 Final Exam EXAM 2

C&W = Corsini & Wedding Text
Case = Case Studies Book