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Originally Posted by sorter
Can you give me an example an emotional issue that doesn't involve unwanted involuntary experience a psychotherapist might treat?
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Well - where you get in to room for interpretation is "unwanted involuntary." So, for most people, one of my OCD behaviors might be unwanted, and some might consider it involuntary. For me, it's neither. Well - more accurately, I would prefer not to exhibit this particular behavior, but I felt I needed it to cope with anxiety, so in that respect, it was "wanted." It's also not involuntary. I'm fully aware and voluntarily choosing to engage in the behavior, because it seems necessary to me. Even the anxiety which leads to the behavior is not wholly involuntary, there is some aspect of allowing the anxiety, because of a lack of other coping skills. So, for your argument to be valid, the emotional issue would have to be both unwanted and involuntary, and I'm not sure you can make a definitive statement that all such issues which people see therapists for fall under both of those categories.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sorter
I'd say you're talking about (reading your mind a bit) stated goals and "real" goals.
No matter what the stated goal, the real issue (and goal), is dealing with unwanted experience (impulses, habits, etc)
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Why? Why can't the real issue (and goal) be whatever the client and/or therapist has stated. Why is that not a real goal. I could state that my goal in therapy is to learn how to be happier. After discussion, I might learn that being happier would mean changing my job or relationships or something. I've figured out how to meet my stated goal by changing environmental things that were contributing to my unhappiness.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sorter
I might want a therapist to get rid of my anger. (hopefully no therapist would help me do that)
If the therapist told me I could learn how
to make my anger a comfortable useful tool, I'd probably change my mind.
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But, what if your anger was unjustified, and you wanted help working through that anger and doing so actually got rid of it. Instead of being made comfortable with the anger, you've managed to change the anger to something else. It may not always be necessary to become comfortable with or accept a particular emotion. If I were angry about something in my past, it might not be healthy to hold on to that anger and learn to be comfortable with it. It might be more healthy to learn to let go of the anger and accept the events that happened, and find health ways to deal with what happened.
Your argument holds as long as you assume that ALL emotional responses which might be worked on in therapy are both unwanted and involuntary. If an emotional response becomes voluntary or wanted, it negates the argument, even if one is seeking help in therapy to deal with that response.