It ’s the relationship...

Many, maybe most people believe that therapists “do” something which makes patients feel better because it is hard to believe that it is the relationship between the therapist and the patient which is the healing factor.If I go to the dentist because I have pain in my mouth and the dentist doesn't help, I likely will seek help elsewhere, and that seems reasonable. But I look to the dentist to *do* something to make me feel better. The dentist does not usually, at least in acute situations, require of me that I do more than be cooperative and hold my mouth open. But psychotherapy is a different thing altogether. Therapists do not perform procedures upon patients in order to relieve their suffering. We might sometimes wish we could and certainly patients wish we would, but it just isn't that way.In any depth psychotherapy, the therapist does not tell the patient how to solve problems. The focus of treatment is exploration of the patient's psyche and habitual thought patterns. The goal of treatment is increased understanding of the sources of inner conflicts and emotional problems. This understanding is what we call insight. Now insight without action is pretty useless. But the therapist doesn't say to do this or that but instead might ask how this new understanding might be put into action in the patient's life.In order to accomplish this work of therapy, the patient and therapist must have a good working relationship, or therapeutic alliance. The patient needs to feel that...
Source: Jung At Heart - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: blogs