marlier.proChoosing a theoretical model in psychotherapy
November 9, 2003
Why do you want to start a therapy? There may be several reasons. You have personal problems, you feel bad about yourself, you are frightened by this or that, you feel anxious, depressed or stressed; or you want to live differently, even though your life is not utterly difficult; or you want to know yourself better, develop your potentialities, enhance your life, and start a personal improvement process.
All these reasons are valuable and legitimate. Most of the time you think you can solve these problems alone, that time will arrange everything. But you cannot always find in yourself or in your family or friends the necessary resources to face the situation. In addition, the change you want to make often represents a huge effort which implies a steady support.
This is why you turn to a therapist who will help you pinpoint the problems, face them and solve them. The therapist you choose must dispense a therapy well suited for you. And in addition, well suited for him or her. Each therapist – consciously or unconsciously – chooses his theoretical model to fit his or her personality. It seems impossible for a therapist to choose a methodology opposite to his or her personality, style, interests and beliefs and be successful in helping his/her patients, although it is certainly preferable to be aware of several therapies, if only to be able to refer a patient to another therapist more versed in such or such other therapy.
I think a good method for choosing a therapy as a therapist is to wonder which theory would be best suited for oneself as a patient. Let me first introduce myself: I am a 53 years old French woman. I was born in a middle class family. My father was a consulting engineer and my mother a housewife. My parents divorced when I was twelve and I never saw my father again and I lived with my mother and my maternal grand-mother. After studying English and American literature at the University, I wanted to study political science and become a diplomat. Instead, I started working as a freelance technical translator and never stopped until now. I married a first time, had a son, then divorced. Ten years after, I married again, moved to the USA, started studying again (French literature). My second husband passed away four years later. I was catholic but would rather describe myself now as someone searching for God. I am interested in the power of words, and in mythologies and religions. I work a lot, by obligation although I like my job; I have little if no free time and I am not free of psychological problems myself.
For this essay, I chose to briefly review the psychotherapies we have been studying for the past two months and note down if I would chose them for myself and why, although I have a feeling that my knowledge is still very superficial and that each of these theories would deserve months of study which we do not have right now.
My idea is that if I feel at ease as a patient with a therapy, I should feel at comfortable with it as a therapist. From this very brief survey of above theories, I would eliminate Psychoanalysis, REBT, Behavior therapy, Existential therapy from my choice. Then I would build my own multimodal theory, borrowing from Adlerian, Person-centered and Gestalt therapies in order to make it positive, holistic, warm, supportive, cooperative, focused on growth. The treatment methods would imply the patient's active participation and would range from book-therapy and role-playing to desensitization, relaxation and meditation.
November 9, 2003
Why do you want to start a therapy? There may be several reasons. You have personal problems, you feel bad about yourself, you are frightened by this or that, you feel anxious, depressed or stressed; or you want to live differently, even though your life is not utterly difficult; or you want to know yourself better, develop your potentialities, enhance your life, and start a personal improvement process.
All these reasons are valuable and legitimate. Most of the time you think you can solve these problems alone, that time will arrange everything. But you cannot always find in yourself or in your family or friends the necessary resources to face the situation. In addition, the change you want to make often represents a huge effort which implies a steady support.
This is why you turn to a therapist who will help you pinpoint the problems, face them and solve them. The therapist you choose must dispense a therapy well suited for you. And in addition, well suited for him or her. Each therapist – consciously or unconsciously – chooses his theoretical model to fit his or her personality. It seems impossible for a therapist to choose a methodology opposite to his or her personality, style, interests and beliefs and be successful in helping his/her patients, although it is certainly preferable to be aware of several therapies, if only to be able to refer a patient to another therapist more versed in such or such other therapy.
I think a good method for choosing a therapy as a therapist is to wonder which theory would be best suited for oneself as a patient. Let me first introduce myself: I am a 53 years old French woman. I was born in a middle class family. My father was a consulting engineer and my mother a housewife. My parents divorced when I was twelve and I never saw my father again and I lived with my mother and my maternal grand-mother. After studying English and American literature at the University, I wanted to study political science and become a diplomat. Instead, I started working as a freelance technical translator and never stopped until now. I married a first time, had a son, then divorced. Ten years after, I married again, moved to the USA, started studying again (French literature). My second husband passed away four years later. I was catholic but would rather describe myself now as someone searching for God. I am interested in the power of words, and in mythologies and religions. I work a lot, by obligation although I like my job; I have little if no free time and I am not free of psychological problems myself.
For this essay, I chose to briefly review the psychotherapies we have been studying for the past two months and note down if I would chose them for myself and why, although I have a feeling that my knowledge is still very superficial and that each of these theories would deserve months of study which we do not have right now.
My idea is that if I feel at ease as a patient with a therapy, I should feel at comfortable with it as a therapist. From this very brief survey of above theories, I would eliminate Psychoanalysis, REBT, Behavior therapy, Existential therapy from my choice. Then I would build my own multimodal theory, borrowing from Adlerian, Person-centered and Gestalt therapies in order to make it positive, holistic, warm, supportive, cooperative, focused on growth. The treatment methods would imply the patient's active participation and would range from book-therapy and role-playing to desensitization, relaxation and meditation.
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