Please Suggest Elements of “Good” Therapy
March 19th, 2007 |Is there an Element of Good Therapy that is not described in our document? If so, please feel free to suggest it to us so we will consider adding it. You can make your suggestion by replying to this post in the reply box below. If you don’t see a rely box, Click here to make your suggestion. Please remember that your suggestions will be viewed publicly. I’ll respond to you in this blog, so check back if you’re interested. Thanks for helping! Noah :)
March 26th, 2007 at 5:19 am
Another very important part of good therapy is the concept of wholeness. This concept states that there is not distinct separation of the human mind, body or spirit. Any imbalance in the being will manifest in all three aspects of the person and a therapist should recognize the initial imbalancing insult could be in any of the three areas. Further, the presenting symptoms may be only compensation issues, if treated alone will never stablilize the person. You must get to know the person to discover the underlying causative imbalance.
DrD
March 26th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
A therapist should be licensed and subject to a Code of Ethics in h/her field. The therapist should be current in her field, that is h/she does on-going training regularly each year. Also, a consumer should ask about credentials and certification in the therapy models used by the therapist. For example, many therapist say they do EMDR but they are not certified. Rather they only took Level I and II training that provides simply the basics for the model. Patti Desert in Baltimore, MD
March 26th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Thanks you two for suggestion your ideas to add to the elements of good therapy. Keep ‘em coming! Noah :)
April 15th, 2007 at 12:49 am
I would go beyond your principles of non-pathologizing to state that a person never IS a problem. A person HAS problem. This is inherently empowering, in that a problem can be worked on, a habit can be changed, while a faulty person is presumably unfixable.
April 15th, 2007 at 6:35 am
Seeing one’s patient as a whole person, in all his/her complexity, and partnering with this person so that he/she can tend to her own wounds and set in motion the self-healing process is a philosophy of therapy I embrace. Allowing one to “be” who one “is” in the presence of another is a gift but also a birthright. A good enough therapist, just like a good enough parent, can help right the wrongs, and help heal the wounds of such early losses. I believe it is in the relationship (as close to I-thou as a therapy might allow) that catalpults a person into the realm of healthy, wholesome and soulful living.
June 19th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Eclectic
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:32 am
My book THE SYMPTOM IS NOT THE WHOLE STORY (Other Press, 2006)stresses the current obsession with relieving the symptom without finding out the roots of it. Agree: insight does not cure anything BUT without insight the patient is treated like a robot. Intellectual cloning is what those who oppose human cloning want (ask W, if in doubt). We, in the psychodynamic tradition, want the client to know why she or he is suffering, so s/he can correct whatever is the cause of the “dis-order.” Without this, the patient is not in control and does not become empowered to run his/her own life. By the way, the new Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM), only $35 even thoughn it is a big as a phonebook, opens up a bright perspective balancing the abominable behavioral classification manual or DSM, that is NOT a diagnostic book.
July 27th, 2007 at 1:32 am
A “Good Therapist” seeks support and healing for themselves so that they can be clear to give support to others on their healing journey.
August 4th, 2007 at 8:37 am
Dear Noah,
I was both heartened and delighted as I read your mission statement to receive an invitation to become a participant in a community of “good therapists”. It is wonderful to discover that there are like-minded therapists out there who understand how crucial it is to go deep with our clients when that is so obviously what’s called for, to really do right by them. I point out to my clients that insight without action isn’t good therapy. It is equally true that in learning to tolerate discomfort for growth by plowing the depths of where we feel emotionally trapped, insights then emerge which make new behavior outside the existing patterns even possible. Inner strength, resourcefulness, and our humanity are discovered in going to where we’re stuck. This is obviously true for therapist and client alike. I find that working this way doesn’t often lend itself to short term therapy. It takes time to create the resonance necessary for therapist and client to sit together and tolerate as collaborative partners that discomfort of not knowing, while waiting for the deeper feeling into, seeing, and avenue for change to be revealed.
With kindest regards,
Matthew
August 30th, 2007 at 9:57 am
…it is so wonderful to find a community of professionals that is so positively oriented.
I would like to add that I am a Yoga Therapist because of two basic aspects of wellness ;
Yogic science encompasses and revolves around the basic principle that all beings are born Whole. In the processes of ‘culturization’, the ‘Self’ can become desensitized by habitual patterns of armoring, abandonment, even poor nutrition. Yoga Therapy provides the tools for ‘reunion’ with that Whole Self via natural means of breath, movement and mindfulness.
The Whole ‘Self’ is clearly defined by such aspects, as physical, mental, emotional, all of which can be understood and managed . With some information and empowerment towards deepening of relationship through conscious experience, integration of these aspects creates sanity out of chaos.
My best wishes to all on their Paths. n.b
September 9th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
The Conscious moment is a bubble bounicng through a sea of fleeting perseptions and mostly assumptions. The only true guide to sanity is the rythm of your heart. Always ask yourself, how does this make me feel? Learn to trust your insight, and your outsight will improve tremendously.
DrD 09-07
September 24th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
I have found the quality of authenticity to be near the top of my list, along with empathy, an open mind, firm grounding, and willingness to suspend judgement. Skills experience, and education help.
August 27th, 2008 at 4:41 am
I have similar views about “therapy”, above all about the “self”, and about the importance of relationship, it is the relationship that is true healing. Furthermore: I ‘m philsophical counselor (by Società Italiana di Counseling FIlosofico, and family counselor, and I know the importance of the “depth” in non pathological help-relationship…