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silver_queen said:

pinksoil, it's good to see this from the perspective of a t! (or at least, one in training )
So you're learning... how do you yourself know that the things you're learning are 'true'? For example I once read a book about Freud and I think some of the things he said are a bit... weird. You could interpret that as me being resistant and not wanting to face up to the truth, or alternatively that I plain just don't agree with it. From the impression I get those are conclusions that Freud drew, rather than being verifiable truth. If it is based on somebody's (possibly misguided) conclusions, then doesn't that mean that your own understanding of psychological issues may be incorrect, and so this would influence your understanding of a client, and so this would mean that the way you treat the client may not *really* be in the best interest of the client (though you believe and want it to be the best interest). I'm not quite sure if I've expressed what I'm meaning to say here... please ask if it doesn't make sense

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Well, the thing about psychology is that we know certain things are true-- we know that because we do studies and experiments, and we can infer case and effect. However, psychology is based upon countless theories that are just that-- theories. And while none are what you would call "proven" it's wonderful because there are so many, you are bound to be able to match anyone with a theoretical orientation-- thus finding a treatment that works for them. And that is how you have to accept psychology. It is not medical. You can't just take a blood test and figure out what's wrong, based on the numbers that you get. It is a science based on theories that cannot be proven. But-- there are results. Just because you can't prove that what Freud came up with is "right" you can prove that psychoanalysis works for people. That's what the studies are for. Same for cognitive therapy, systems theory, humanistic, object relations, behaviorism, etc. They have all worked in some way for some people at some point. That's the beauty of psychology-- you don't have to agree with certain theories-- you can choose to accept or not accept what you read-- and there will always be plenty more that you can research to see what you identify best with.