Values and some technical problems in psychotherapy.

Abstract

OME years ago I heard the following verses from Finian's Rainbow: S When a rich man gambles on a horse, He's a 6on uiuunt. When a poor man gambles on a horse, He's a gambler, he's a loafer, He's a reason for divorce.When a rich man chases after dames, He's a man about town. When a poor man chases after dames, He's a lazy good-for-nothing And a lot of dirty names.At the time, I was reminded of a passage in Freud, in which he made a similar observation. The compulsive gambler and Don Juan, he said, was indulgently received as a sportsman and dilettante while the poor man who gambled and whored was condemned as a delinquent and adulterer. I t struck me then that the founder of the amoral concept of psychotherapy was keenly aware of the role of values in the social appraisal of personality disorder. On some occasions he also commented on the importance of values in the development of neuroses. In his example of the difference between the daughter of the superintendent on the ground floor and the daughter of the family on the first floor, he indicated his perception that the life of a sheltered well-to-do girl tended to alienate her from important aspects of her being. Nevertheless, he was steadfast in presenting the function of the therapist as a mirror of the timeless, unchanging, universal conflict between the individual and society.With the many changes in the theory of personality since Freud, the concept of the therapist as mirror has been greatly modified.

Values and Psychotherapy: A Review of the Literature

“…Since Rosenthal's sample included only 12 patients and since only two of these patients were rated as more than moderately improved, his results can be considered merely as suggestive. This provides some empirical evidence for the statements made by Buhler ( 1962), Burgum ( 1957), Marmor (1961), and others. Schrier (1953) presented findings which are consistent with those of Rosenthal although his st~idy did not specifically deal with values.…”

“…It has been pointed out by several authors that contrary to the traditional analytic concept of therapist neutrality, in fact, the therapist does not function outside of his own value system and that whether he intends to or not, he does communicate his values to the patient (Alexander, 1963;American Psychological Association, 1953;Browning & Peters, 1960;Buhler, 1962;Burgum, 1957;Fenichel, 1945;Glad, 1959;Glover, 1958;Ingham & Love, 1954;London, 1964;Marmor, 1961;May, 1953;Meehl, 1959;Meehl & McCloskey, 1947;Miuphy, 1955;Parloff, Iflund, & Goldstein, 1960;Samler, 1960;Smith, 1951;Stieper & Wiener, 1965; C. P. Taylor, 1956;Weitz, 1964;Williamson, 1958;Wolff, 1956).…”

“…The implication of this for psychoanalysis is that much of what has been traditionally described as "resistance" and "transference" reactions, may sometimes be an interpsychic phenomenon, i.e., the result of the interaction of real personality characteristics of the therapist with personality characteristics of the patient, as opposed to an intra-psychic phenomenon derived primarily from the patient's unconscious processes. Buhler ( 1962), Burgum (1957), andMarmor ( 1961) all stated chat values determine the therapist's conception of mental health, his goals, his theory of psychodynamics, and his comprehension of the patient, as well as his therapeutic activity. Meehl (1959) made the cogent comment that ".…”