related schools

[Peter Howie]

Hi Adam,

I don't think The RET folks think they are out of date - they have a 
somewhat thriving or at least enthusiastic mob around here. Having been 
'done on stage' by Albert Ellis on one of his many Aussie trips I can 
heartily endorse people knowing about his perspective - his essential ideas 
are Morenian in many ways - i.e. biases in our worldviews lead to view our 
experiences as bad or miserable. What I liked most about him was the ways 
he talked about other therapies and approaches - he was scathing about 
psychoanalysis, jung, glasser and almost everybody else for whom there was 
no research or didn't agree with his perspective. It was refreshing to hear 
given that there is so much post-modern acceptance of almost everything as 
good.

I would have though that there needed to be some organisational development 
models as well - the Systems Theorists - Snowden et al and others, perhaps 
Action Learning and Action Research. But I am not sure if sociodrama and 
hence cultural, community and organisational theories are part of the North 
American training process.

Keeping standards up to date is a labor of love and invaluable to members. 
go for it.

Cheers

Peter Howie
Brisbane, Australia



At 11:20 AM 10/26/2007 -0500, you wrote:

>Dear Colleagues,
>
>     One of my points of mild disagreement is the part in the American 
> Board of Examiners' study guide that speaks to the problem of knowing 
> about related methods. I like the idea that practitioners or trainers 
> will be expected to relate Morenian work to other fields, but their list 
> seems terribly out of date, considering that the up-and-coming or 
> fashionable approaches seem to be left out, while other "approaches" have 
> little or no actual writings about them as a form of therapy per se. I 
> would like some consideration and discussion of this passage, then, with 
> a view toward respectfully suggesting some revisions:
>
>The following related fields have been officially approved for use on the 
>written examination. You may request that an additional related field be 
>added by sending your request along with supporting information to the 
>Board. The Board meets twice yearly (January and September) and will act 
>upon your request at the next regularly scheduled Board meeting.  The 
>methods are: (The list is not rationally or systematically organized, so I 
>have rearranged it:)
>
>Freudian  -- hardly anyone in psychoanalysis does this. See other 
>categories of psychoanalysis.
>
>Adlerian   Individual psychology  -- one of the early deviations from 
>Freud... developed and used as one of the core methods by some people who 
>also combined it with psychodrama, such as Adaline Starr and Ray Corsini
>
>Jungian Analysis -- analytical psychology was the other early deviation, 
>obscure in the 50s, has enjoyed a resurgence since the 1960s because other 
>theories couldn't address the depth of imagery associated with (a) 
>psychedelics; (b) comparative mythology, becoming more popular; (c) the 
>influx of new religions and their symbol systems; (d) multiculturalism; 
>(e) the emergence of transpersonal psychology and the psychology of 
>religion; (f) pastoral psychology; etc. .
>
>
>
>Ego Psychology-- not really a type of therapy, but the second phase in the 
>evolution of psychoanalysis, which began with Freudianism, branched, then 
>in the late 30s through the 1950s, this ego psychology approach was most 
>widespread; later Object Relations theory and then Self Psychology 
>(beginning in the 1960s and 70s) emerged as variants. More recently, 
>intersubjective approaches. Most modern psychoanalysts seem to have 
>integrated the best insights of several if not all of these without 
>feeling pressed to choose one over and against the others.
>      Anna Freud's emphasis on mechanisms of defense was a key foundation; 
> there was a competition between this approach, which became more popular 
> in the USA, and the methods of Melanie Klein (see below).
>
>  Kleinan -- more prevalent in the UK, more of an influence on object 
> relations theory, but not widely known. The interpretations are about the 
> basic drives, motives, whereas ego psychology-oriented-analysis 
> interprets the defenses!
>
>Reichian  -- This fellow was an orthodox analyst, got into the concept of 
>body armoring---the carrying of complexes in body musculature-- hardly 
>anyone uses his approach, but it did influence Bioenergetic Analysis (qv) 
>and was in this sense a precursor to many body therapies. Reich got into a 
>weird theory of a metaphysical essence, "orgone," -- and his writings 
>became considered rather poor pseudo-science.
>
>Entering the 1940s:
>
>Karen Horney - one of the "neo-Freudians" of the late 1930s through '50s 
>(along with Erich Fromm, Harry Stack Sullivan, and some other less 
>orthodox folks), a popularizer, not well known, had some ideas...
>
>Eric Erickson -- the spelling is Erik H. Erikson, he is one of many "ego 
>psychologists" and he never suggested a system or different approach to 
>therapy. Rather, he just introduced some interesting perspectives. (early 
>1950s)
>
>Existentialism   This is a philosophical school, many of whose members 
>might not recognize themselves as being affiliated with this word. There 
>are also several psychotherapists who have used this word in describing 
>what they do, but it is a diverse group. Ludvig Binswanger, Karl Jaspers 
>are associated with this, as is Viktor Frankl---but Frankl is also 
>associated with humanistic psychology---again a diverse group of people--- 
>a trend and shift in emphasis rather than technique.
>
>  In the 1950s
>
>Rogers' Person Centered Therapy  -- Carl Rogers, one of the founders of 
>humanistic psychology, began earlier, but this approach became much more 
>popular in the fields of counseling---which at the time was the 
>non-medical form of psychotherapy. (At this time, most psychotherapy was 
>being done by M.D. psychiatrists--- a situation that changed radically 
>around the late 1960s).
>
>Personal Construct Theory  -- George Kelly's approach--- some good 
>insights, but really rather obscure. Now subsumed under a category called 
>"constructionist" or "constructivist" approaches, bridging also to 
>constructivism in family therapy...
>
>In the 1960s.
>
>Behaviorism   -- like family therapy, has several sub-types which are not 
>mentioned- e.g., operant conditioning, Wolpe's relaxation 
>counter-conditioning, etc.
>
>Bioenergetics -- this term itself refers to the field of biochemistry, 
>measuring the energetic dimensions of organic processes. But I think what 
>is meant is Alexander Lowen's approach to Bioenergetic Analysis, an 
>offshoot and modification of Reich's vegetotherapy.  There are other 
>post-Lowen body therapies, also.
>
>Milton Erickson  -- this hypnotherapist and psychiatrist has an active 
>school--related to Neurolinguistic Programming
>
>Gestalt      I assume they mean Gestalt therapy, not Gestalt psychology, 
>developed by Fritz & Laura Perls (Laura isn't given enough credit!) -- 
>popularized in the later 60s through the early 80s..
>
>Family Therapies (beginning in the later 1950s, they became more popular 
>in the early 1970s and flourished for a couple of decade. Starting in the 
>1990s, amid the plethora of other approaches, they began to merge and 
>overlap, while new variants continued to blossom.): (mentioned in the 
>Board's list include only:
>- Strategic Family Therapy This is a subtype of family therapy
>  - Bowen Family Therapy  -- one of the many subtypes... some others 
> aren't even mentioned.
>  -Structural Family Therapy    This is another subtype of family therapy
>  - Contextual Family Therapy - A relatively obscure form, has some good 
> points. Most people today integrate a variety of family therapy 
> approaches, and integrative and eclectic approaches are the dominant practice.
>
>Object Relations Therapy --- see comments on psychoanalysis above
>
>Transactional Analysis -- Eric Berne's approach seems to be losing ground 
>as a fashion, though popular in the 1970s and some in the 1980s...
>
>Montessori -- while I admire this approach to education, I've never seen a 
>paper or book about its applications as a type of therapy. Indeed, they 
>tend to ignore the use of imagination---one of the approach's few 
>limitations. Developed in the late 19th century, it continues and seems to 
>be growing, mainly as a pre-school program, and some as an elementary... 
>there are even a few high schools!
>
>Buddhist Psychology - one might even call Buddhism a type of psychology. 
>There are few who consider themselves Buddhist psychologists---although 
>there are several "transpersonal psychotherapists" such as the Boorsteins 
>who integrate various aspects of Buddhist thought. But most also are open 
>to working with whatever symbol system the client brings. A dubious 
>category indeed.
>
>In the 1970s, emerged:
>
>Neurolinguistic Programming -- NLP, an offshoot of Milton Erickson's work.
>
>Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy  -- This is currently one of the more popular 
>forms!  Combining behaviorism with Aaron Beck's Cognitive Therapy---which 
>was and continues to be popular in itself and perhaps should be included 
>in the list.
>
>Reality Therapy -- developed by William Glasser in the 1960s..  had some 
>influence more on people working with delinquent kids, originally. Many 
>good ideas.
>
>  small group  -- this is weird: No name, no particular approach. There 
> could be hundreds of these approaches. Do they mean group therapy?  When 
> does a group become "small"?
>
>Imago Therapy  -- a small therapy, a fringe approach. Some interesting 
>ideas...
>
>
>
>Not mentioned:
>
>  Heinz Kohut's self psychology, which adds other dimensions and emphasis 
> to psychoanalysis, became popular in the mid-late 1970s ...
>
>  Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Marsha Linehan's multiple skills-building 
> approach, becoming more recognized and with many connections with psychodrama
>
>  Roberto Assagioli's Psychosynthesis, developed in the 1920s, enjoying a 
> resurgence of interest in the late 1960s and into the 1970s, some 
> transpersonal elements, multiple parts of self, other relationships
>
>   Drama therapy. Duh. A field in itself,  egregiously omitted!  Other 
> variations of drama therapy, also, such as Developmental Transformations...
>
>    Internal Family Systems Theory  -- multiple parts of self technique 
> integrated with family work, individual work
>
>    Hellingers Systemic Constellations---new and controversial, but a 
> number of our colleagues are exploring the overlap
>
>     Lazarus' Multimodal Therapy---one of the precursors to trends towards 
> integrative and eclectic approaches, which, as I said, seem to be 
> becoming most popular...
>
>    Albert Ellis' Rational Emotive Therapy, from the early 1950s, a 
> precursor to Cognitive Therapy
>
>        and on and on..   enough for now. I await input, additions, etc.
>Adam Blatner, M.D.
>    website: <http://www.blatner.com/adam/>www.blatner.com/adam/
>Grouptalk mailing list
>List at grouptalkweb.org
>http://grouptalkweb.org/mailman/listinfo/list_grouptalkweb.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://grouptalkweb.org/pipermail/list_grouptalkweb.org/attachments/20071027/a8e6673f/attachment.html