What is Post Modern Therapy?
Postmodern psychotherapists believe that it is difficult at best, and often impossible, for a mental health “expert” to be able to determine what is “psychologically healthy,” since there is no truly objective measurement of mental health. As in postmodern philosophy, art, architecture, and music, “deconstruction” is a dominant theme in postmodern psychotherapy. In psychological terms, “deconstructing” means to regard the “givens” we take for granted as true (for example, “adolescence is a time for teens to separate from their parents,” or “if you don’t earn a good living you’re not successful”) and carefully examine their usefulness/appropriateness from the client’s point of view.
Practitioners of postmodern therapy even question the “givens” of their own profession (e.g. the concept of transference and its relevance to working with clients), and try to pay particular attention to minimizing the unavoidable power of authority granted to the therapist by the client who comes seeking “expert” advice. This is done through working hard to be as collaborative with the client as possible.
The are three main types of postmodern therapies:
Practitioners of postmodern therapy even question the “givens” of their own profession (e.g. the concept of transference and its relevance to working with clients), and try to pay particular attention to minimizing the unavoidable power of authority granted to the therapist by the client who comes seeking “expert” advice. This is done through working hard to be as collaborative with the client as possible.
The are three main types of postmodern therapies:
- Narrative Therapy rests on two underlying principles: a) all human thought and behavior exist in cultural contexts that give them particular meaning and significance, and b) people’s view of the world is shaped through a complex, generally unconscious process of sifting through experiences and selecting those that are most consistent with the story one holds of oneself.
- Solution-Focused Therapy emphasizes the construction of solutions to problems, rather than an examination of their causes or how they are maintained. This approach is inherently brief compared with “traditional” psychotherapy, and rests on the belief that clients can solve their problems by doing more of what has been successful for them in the past.
- Collaborative Language Systems is a type of postmodern therapy that “dis-solves” problems through conversation and emphasizes a collaborative conversational partnership between therapist and client.
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Founders of Post Modern Therapy:
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MICHAEL WHITE 1948-2008
Michael White, a social worker and family therapist of Adelaide, Australia and David Epston of Auckland, New Zealand, began collaborating in the 1980’s to creation of what is now called Narrative Therapy.
“The narrative metaphor has enable us to conceive of this process ( therapy) as one that establishes the opportunity for people to re-author their lives and their relationships according to alternative stories that have preferred outcomes.”
Michael White 1990
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Key Concepts:
· Social constructionism is a psychological expression of this postmodern worldview; it values the client's reality without disputing whether it is accurate or rational (Corey p. 397).
· Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) is a future-focused, goal-oriented therapeutic approach to brief therapy developed initially by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg. (Corey p. 400).
SFBT differs from other therapies because it is interested in the present and the future but not the past.
Solution-focused brief therapy is grounded on the optimistic assumption that people are healthy and competent and have the ability to construct solutions that can enhance their lives" (Corey p. 400).
SFBT differs from other therapies because it is interested in the present and the future but not the past.
Solution-focused brief therapy is grounded on the optimistic assumption that people are healthy and competent and have the ability to construct solutions that can enhance their lives" (Corey p. 400).
· Positive psychology concentrates on what is right and working instead of what is a problem or weakness. The emphasis of SFBT is to focus on what is working in clients' lives, which stands in stark contrast to the traditional models of therapy that tend to be problem-focused" (Corey p. 401).
SFBT explains how people change and how they can reach their goals. Of all the social constructionists, Michael White and David Epston are best known for their use of narrative in therapy (Corey p. 410).
Therapists are encouraged to establish a collaborative approach with a special interest in listening respectfully to clients' stories; to search for times in clients' lives when they were resourceful; to use questions as a way to engage clients and facilitate their exploration; to avoid diagnosing and labeling clients or accepting a totalizing description based on a problem; to assist clients in mapping the influence a problem has had on their lives; and to assist clients in separating themselves from the dominant stories they have internalized so that space can be opened for the creation of alternative life stories" (Corey p. 410).
Therapeutic Goals:
· SFBT reflects some basic notions about change, about interaction, and about reaching goals (Corey p. 403).
· Goals are unique to each client.
· Client expresses what they want from therapy and what concerns they want to explore.
· Solution-focused therapists concentrate on small, realistic, achievable changes that can lead to additional positive outcomes (Corey p. 403).
· Change viewing of a situation or frame of reference.
· Change the doing of the problematic situation.
· Tap into the client's strengths and resources.
· A general goal of narrative therapy is to invite people to describe their experience in new and fresh language(Corey p. 412).
Techniques:
· Pretherapy change-Scheduled an appointment which initiates positive change.
· Exception questions-Client is directed to times when the problem did not exist or was not as intense; exceptions are times when the problem should have occurred in the client's life but somehow did not.
· Miracle question-If the problem was solved overnight what would happen? What would it look like?
· Scaling questions- Rate feelings, moods, etc. on scale for example 1-10.
· Formula First Session Task-Homework the client is given to complete between first and second therapy sessions.
· Therapist feedback to clients
· Terminating- "Once clients are able to construct a satisfactory solution, the therapeutic relationship can be terminated" (Corey p. 408).
· Questions and more questions- The questions asked in narrative therapy are circular or relational and seek to empower clients.
· Externalization and deconstruction- The person is not the problem the problem is the problem.
· In the narrative approach, externalizing questions are followed by questions searching for unique outcomes" (Corey p. 416). Constructing new stories goes along with the process of deconstruction.
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Corey, G. (2013). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
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(nd) Image Retrieved from: http://www.livingwellfeelinggood.com/2012/01/solution-focused-therapy-introduction/
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(nd) Image Retrieved from: http://creativesideofdiana.blog.com/2012/05/02/post-modernism/
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(nd) Image Retrieved from: http://pdjtherapie.blogspot.com/
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(nd) Image Retrieved from: http://www.azerinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/white.jpg
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(nd) Image Retrieved from: http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/bro/lowres/bron1453l.jpg
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