The Problem with Therapy

I need to start this post with an admission - I am one of the most 'therapised' people I know. Individual, couples, family, Jungian, CBT, New Age - the list of therapists and modalities goes on.

But I now believe that there is a problem with therapy as it is practised by most therapists.  Most therapy is based on a story that goes something like - talk to me about your problems and I will diagnose what is wrong with you and fix it. You will then be well and happy.  This is a comforting story for both therapist and client.  In my opinion though it contains some important traps. Firstly, it is disempowering.  If I buy this approach I have to believe that (a) I am broken, and, (b) I need an expert to fix my brokenness. Secondly, it holds a false promise - that healthy people don't have minds that tell them they aren't good enough or feelings of fear, vulnerability or anger that push them to run, fight or eat another doughnut (anything to smush away the pain). And quite frankly this promise isn't true.


The approaches that have affected me most profoundly in my life, work from a different world view:

    Solution focussed therapy - let's explore what is going right and see if we can amplify it.

Positive Psychology - let's see what happens when you do the things that people who are thriving are doing.






Acceptance and Commitment Training - let's focus on helping you act on the values you hold deep in your heart and accept that sometimes moving towards those values will provoke scary chatter from your mind and even painful emotions.









These approaches have a lot of evidence to support them and are the basis for much of the advice in this blog.  
If you want to try them, here are some starting points:
Solution Focussed Approaches: What Went Right
Positive Psychology: The Well Being Equivalent to Eating 5 Fruit and Vegetables
Acceptance and Commitment Training: When I am 80