A Word of Caution Against Pathologizing
July 15th, 2009 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Update
One of the principle ideals behind the concept of good therapy is that it should be non-pathologizing; that is, difficulties faced by clients should not be seen as intrinsic, inescapable diseases, nor should treatment focus on “healing” an issue in such a way. There are many reasons why a departure from pathologizing therapy is beneficial, both for the client and for the mental health professional (not to mention the field at large). But recently, psychotherapist Tammie Fowles published an op-ed piece that describes, if incidentally, a particularly important idea in the argument against pathologizing.
Fowles notes that all too often, approaches to therapy seek to internalize emotions, transforming knee-jerk reactions and emotional reflexes into complex ideas about what is wrong with the self. In this way, the experience of fear at the sight of someone being assaulted or the emotional reactions sustained during a store robbery might be turned on their head and used to reflect something maladaptive or insufficient within the client. Yet while the examination of why we react as we do has the potential to enlighten and heal, attributing our feelings to being a certain kind of person or having an emotional “script” that we follow based on some internal problem can not only disrupt the healing process, but can ignore the greater picture.
That greater picture, suggests Fowles, is that society as a whole is far from being perfect, and many of the more common challenges we face day to day are reflections of the society of which we’re a part. Pathologizing as a treatment modality, then, can sometimes make individuals responsible for those attributes of society that aren’t so positive. Though Fowles has many scathing points to make in her exploration of the modern face of therapy, this subtle nod towards a more proactive and realistic approach has been welcomed by many.
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6 comments so far
love this perspective. keep up the good work Tammie
I am a trainee student and I found this really fascinating. Is it important for a therapist to start the day like a blank sheet of paper emotionally? Is it more important to be aware of one’s state of mind and still be alert to our own responses. I have found it difficult on many occasions to be objective with a client when one has a personal issue through the day to deal with. Sometimes that problem could be the source of misdiagnosis or judgemental behavior. How does one stop our own knee jerk reactions from interfering?
Not sure I really catch the drift of this. Are you saying that we react to certain things in a way that we think we ought to react instead of in the way that we really may be feeling? Is that the script issue?
This makes a good point. Anything can set off a client, especially if it’s thru pathologizing. I enjoyed this article very much and found that it does make sense.
Love to see the constsnt emergence of new ideas and the different ways that they are making their way into mainstream thought. Seems like good therapy is the perfect forum for that.
I think it makes a lot of sense to avoid pathologizing. Sometimes in the early phase of one’s career it is difficult to stay off the pathologizing path. Experience definitely lends a hand with the objective.