I am a psychotherapist
so this question has a lot of resonance for me.
If you are reading regularly, it is no surprise to you that I want to
help people recognize what they value and live accordingly. But how do conversations about values fit into
therapy when people usually come to talk about what is bothering them? Put another way, where do therapists stand on
the tension between focusing on problems and focusing on potential?
I am not the first person to grapple with this
tension. For about 60 years, humanistic
therapists have been focusing on helping people make sense of their experiences
and find meaning in their lives. Humanistic
therapists help people construct meaning in ways that allow them to function better
- they use the word “optimally.” The positive
psychology[1] movement
of the last 15 or 20 years echoes this optimistic view of people and their
resourcefulness. Humanistic and positive
psychologists put the emphasis on potential. Values are a roadmap to your
potential. Cognitive and behavior
therapies came to prominence about 30 years ago. They focus on helping people change
unrealistic thoughts and problem behaviours[2]. These therapies focus more strongly on
changing what is problematic; they have developed a solid research base. Both approaches work.
I have been using an approach called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Very briefly, the approach involves learning
to accept
difficult thoughts and feelings without over-reacting to them and committing
to living according to your values. You
can see why I like it. I also like ACT because it balances problems with
potential. If you are in therapy you might
want to introduce values into the conversation.
If you have taken the VIA (see February 4 post) and have focused on a couple of
values that you would like to use to guide your life, this can be the basis for
starting the conversation. If you have
not taken the VIA - but have been thinking about how you want your life to be
more meaningful - I predict that your therapist will be very interested to hear what you are thinking.
[1]
The University of Pennsylvania has a website called Authentic Happiness where
you can learn more about positive psychology https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/.
[2]
For a review of different therapeutic approaches visit http://www.apa.org/topics/therapy/psychotherapy-approaches.aspx or watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCQNtQA9Lg0.
No comments:
Post a Comment