tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411320.post9213971495974953169..comments2022-11-02T16:29:57.997-04:00Comments on Modern Psychoanalysis: Clinical Techniques: #2 - CommandsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411320.post-20227015593326939262008-03-03T22:55:00.000-05:002008-03-03T22:55:00.000-05:00Ahhh! the magic of treatment...Isn't that worth a ...Ahhh! the magic of treatment...<BR/>Isn't that worth a library or two of dissertations?<BR/><BR/>I believe that the magic comes from two different sources. The first comes from the professional who is the repository of decades of declarative, logical, verbally passed knowledge and skills. But the professional must have an equal repository of empathic, deeply respectful, open, creative, tentative naievete. <BR/><BR/>But that's just one part of the equation. Then there is the person who is able to undertake the potentially promising yet terrifying journey. <BR/><BR/>And I think the real magic is the four way dance between the promise and terror, the skill and respectful ignorance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411320.post-89625038239231810232008-02-27T10:38:00.000-05:002008-02-27T10:38:00.000-05:00I’m not sure that the “only goal” is to help the p...I’m not sure that the “only goal” is to help the patient talk about whatever s/he wants to talk about - though it may sometimes seem that way! :)<BR/><BR/>Your story is an excellent illustration of a typical pattern that one might see in treatment.<BR/><BR/>This is why the modern analyst needs to consider whether s/he is helping the patient engage in progressive communication, even though there are no “timelines” in the traditional sense.<BR/><BR/>What do you think the magic outside of just “talking” is?Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01054487387261893552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411320.post-21404188405114413072008-02-27T02:26:00.000-05:002008-02-27T02:26:00.000-05:00I have been mulling over your response. Some of it...I have been mulling over your response. Some of it makes sense to me. <BR/><BR/>This includes the parts about figuring out the patient's maturity level and need for safety. <BR/><BR/>I also like and understand the parts about being alert to what you may "feel" in the room at any particular point. <BR/><BR/>I view timelines as counter therapeutic. They place a set of roles on each participant that invades and diminishes the therapeutic relationship. It injects issues of control, evaluation, performance and value into the hour. <BR/><BR/>But while I eschew the controlling nature of timelines, I embrace the proposition that the therapist is to promote CHANGE and to assist the patient toward those goals. Yet you note that the only goal is to help the patient talk about what he or she wants to talk about. <BR/><BR/>I have a hard time believing that talking, by itself could be a curative factor. A little story to illustrate. <BR/><BR/>While in college, I took the city bus from my place to my classes. "Hilda", was always there and who could sit down and start a sad narrative of her life that seemed never ending. By the end of my college years, Hilda's issues did not seem to change in the least bit. <BR/><BR/>Surely there is a magic outside of just "talking". What is it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411320.post-43674882923436920512008-02-19T18:45:00.000-05:002008-02-19T18:45:00.000-05:00Very close.Though you’d have a great deal of diffi...Very close.<BR/><BR/>Though you’d have a great deal of difficulty seeing what one of my "treatment plans" looks like since I never write them down. :)<BR/><BR/>I consider at least the first two areas you mentioned; and a few others, such as the patient’s need to be safe, the patient’s emotional maturity level, what the patient might need from me, what I feel in the room, and whether the patient is engaging in progressive communication.<BR/><BR/>I’m not generally interested in “promoting a willingness, comfort or safety in broaching (any particular) censored material,” and there are no “timelines” in the traditional sense.<BR/> <BR/>I’m most interested in promoting the patient’s ability to talk about whatever s/he wants to talk about.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01054487387261893552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411320.post-62167086877616565462008-02-18T01:27:00.000-05:002008-02-18T01:27:00.000-05:00Commands do seem to go against my grain, as does a...Commands do seem to go against my grain, as does another technique mentioned in your blog: the treatment plan. I am quite interested in what a "treatment plan" looks like in the modern psychoanalytic tradition. <BR/><BR/>I am familiar with the cognitive-behavioral types of treatment plans favored for insurance reimbursement. For example, a typical intervention for a depressed person might be "client will learn to identify negative self-talk" followed by "client will replace negative talk with positive affirmations". These plans came with timelines for each goal, so the client could evaluate whether he/she was succesful or not. <BR/><BR/>The plan is supposed to be created in collaboration with the client. To assure this "collaboration" both parties sign, affirming this to be the truth despite any and all facts to the contrary. <BR/> <BR/><BR/>So back to the treatment plan in the modern psychoanalytic tradition. If I get it right, the big picture is that the client talks, and the analyst(therapist) facilitates the talking. This suggests that a treatment plan might identify 1) those areas that a client may be loath to discuss, 2)the typical ways the client resists & defends against talking about the forbidden subject(s) and 3)strategies and or techniques that might promote a willingness, comfort or safety in broaching the censored material.<BR/><BR/>Close?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com