Conservative, liberal and radical psychotherapy

Abstract

Reflecting on our daily work as practitioners of the art and science of psychotherapy, our thoughts may occasionally turn towards the 'big picture' of psychotherapy and its prospects for a long-tenn future. We might wonder about the limitations of psychotherapy as it is practiced today and ask what psychotherapy might become. Our enemy in this reverie is polarized thinking: right and wrong, black and white, for and against, either/or. Our friend is dialectical thinking, a willingness to value opposite points of view, and to seek synthesis and integration. The success of a dialectical conversation is determined by our ability to clearly identify differences that make a difference. First we try to identify points of maximum tension and conflict, and then we work to mediate these conflicts. In this way, we extend and strengthen our self-understanding. To help think and feel our way through and beyond some of the familiar polarities of conventional psychotherapy, I'm going to describe the basic life positions of the conservative, the liberal and the radical, and then I'm going to apply each of these to psychotherapy.