Newsgroups: bit.listserv.psycgrad
Date:         Wed, 7 Oct 1992 11:33:32 EDT
              <PSYCGRAD@UOTTAWA.BITNET>
From:         "Matthew Simpson" <054340@UOTTAWA.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: MPD and Therapy
              8 Oct 1992 01:26:39 EST from <rxo868@CSCGPO.ANU.EDU.AU>

On Thu, 8 Oct 1992 01:26:39 EST Remo Ostini said:
>This type of "focaus on the behaviour" type therapy always seemed to me to
>be a treat the symptoms and not the cause type of therapy.  As such it
>seems intuitively superficial, which would be fine if the problem were
>largely a superficial one.

If one subscribed to the medical model of looking at the client,
then any detection of the problem is merely a symptom.  The true
treatment is discovered when one looks past the symptoms and
addresses the cause of those symptoms.  Looking only at the
symptoms would only be superficial and not address the sourse
of the problem.

Another, equally legitimate, way of looking at the client is that
the problem *is* that the person would like to be, behave, and
experience in a certain way.  For some reason, the person does not
do this.  If the person could do this, the problem would be solved.
No other "symptoms" stemming from the same problem would manifest
because the problem has been solved.  It would be superficial and
unnecessary to invent constructs like "personality" if what you
one really wants to do is help the person do what she or he is asking
you to help them do.

We can then argue over what the nature of the problem is.

>But is it possible that there are times when
>the problem is not amenable to superficial treatment.

Yes.  That is why I chose to address the problem directly.  I
get straight to identifying what the client wants.  How do we
get there?  What is in the way?  Conduct training of habits that
are in direct competition with the maladaptive behavior pattern.

> Let me try to
>translate that into Matthew's terminology.  Isn't it possible that there
>are times when the client wants more out of his/her session than an exercise
>in behaviour modification?

Let me throw Remo's assumption about my therapy right back at his therapy.
Isn't it possible that there are times when the client wants more out of
his/her session than re-hashing the same old problem all over again?

It is very important to recognize the assumptions within which we
opperate.  Each set of assumptions are target to acomplish a particular
set goal.  All we can do is argue over whether a particualr therapy is
useful in accomplishing a set goal.  But first, we have to agree on
the goal.  Until we do, or at least recognize the two, and address
then within their respective contexts, we are only confusing the
matter by not talking the same language.

Exit from the Tower of Babel (sp?)
Have fun.  :-)
Gotta run to supervision with Al.

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