Perspectives on Counseling & Psychotherapy
Two important aspects of psychotherapy, to me, are developing insight or understanding about one's issues or problems, and designing a plan of action to change what no longer works for you or causes you to feel badly or be stuck. Often, by doing this, one can move closer to feeling good about oneself, and feeling more effective and connected to our friends, family and work.
"A DIFFICULT VIEW OF ONESELF"
My first professor in grad school at Syracuse University, Dr. Charles Blaas, told us that it's our job as therapists to give our patients " a difficult perspective on themselves." What I take from that, some 30 years later, is that the things that make counseling and psychotherapy different from talking to a friend, spouse or relative have to do with the therapist's capacity to be objective. This does not mean uncaring -- after all, who would want to see a psychologist who didn't listen well or wasn't sympathetic? This means, to me, helping our patients step back cognitively and see themselves in a changed-up framework, from a different point of view.
Problem solving is also important; few of us want to be like the characters Woody Allen used to play in movies, going to therapy several times a week for years and years and never seeming to change. Psychological treatment should balance insight and self awareness with discovering the potential to change the things that are bringing you emotional pain, or to help you cope with events or illnesses or other life changes.
So I see my job as a psychologist as being one to help a patient gain insight and understanding, as well as cope more effectively with challenges (new and old) which have set you back in the past. And, if I have to choose between insight or making change, I have learned over the years that maybe, at least some of the time, changing in the right direction is more important than insight by itself.