Monday, September 24, 2007

The Empathy Pill

I am tempted to join Kirschenbaum & Jourdan (2005) and Castonguay, Constantino & Holtforth (2006) and throw the rest of psychotherapy research out the EST window, screaming, “Empathy is the answer! All hail unconditional positive regard!”

But how? I found no answers here – for, as they said, it’s not what you do, but what they perceive that you do, that makes the difference between a good therapeutic outcome and a bad one. Where’s the part about “this is how you do it?” I want examples.

However, I found the evidence regarding the impact of the client’s view quite impacting: it is what’s perceived that matters. If you change your perceptions to only let in good things, then your life will be bright and merry, and if therapy consists of a blindingly beautiful bright star of good things (the person-centered therapist), then there will be a good outcome. Is this to lead us to the conclusion that this type of interaction is filling a giant hole in the client’s life? That nothing matters in life except for what we let ourselves believe? If so, can we bottle this “core condition” thing and market it as an emotional perception manipulation pill that will make you emotionally invincible? I would buy it. Seriously.

2 comments:

jcoan said...

You can buy it. It's called "oxytocin" and you can get it on the internet as an inhalant. Seriously. Still, I think the point of these articles is that the relationship is first and foremost the thing that is actually happening in the therapy office. If you remove or hold constant absolutely everything else in psychotherapy, you are still left with two people in a room together. What are the possibilities at just this level? Empathy and authenticity seem to have "face validity," but the research suggests it can be pretty complex.

Jason Thrasher said...

I take that pill, but I have to manufacture it myself. Try throwing yourself into a world where you’re constantly expected to achieve “great things” and survive emotionally: it becomes a lesson in survival as failures come constantly, driven by extremely high expectations. As a user, I have learned to translate any negative experience mentally into a positive experience. It makes me feel invincible when taken this way. Seriously. A side effect is that I don’t have much respect for low-aspiring people, and taking the pill doesn’t guarantee my own success. It just sets me right to try again.