Another gem from Jonathan Shedler 👇🏻

It rankles a bit when I hear people refer to therapy as a 'helping profession' or 'caring profession.' It’s not that the descriptions are necessarily wrong—but the emphasis is on the wrong thing

Psychotherapy is a *changing profession*

It’s purpose is helping people to change

1/ 'In psychotherapy, practically the only consistent finding is that whatever kind of psychotherapy the person running the study likes is most effective. Thirty different meta-analyses have confirmed this'

Draw your own conclusions about outcome research
slatestarcodex.com/2014/04/28/the…

1/ People often ask what readings I recommend for clinicians & trainees who want to learn about psychodynamic therapy. Here's a partial list

For a bird's eye, jargon-free introduction to psychodynamic thought, read chapters 1 and 2 of 'That Was Then, This is Now' by yours truly.

1/ 'Costly or 'primitive' defenses include denial (ignoring or disregarding things that are disturbing, as if they did not exist); withdrawal (from reality into fantasy); indiscriminate forms of introjection (the wholesale 'taking in' of someone else’s

This is exactly it. When people say that therapy is garbage, they're mostly correct, unfortunately, because they're talking only about the therapy that most people are exposed to, which is crap. They're not considering anything better because they don't know it exists.

People harm one another all the time, in big ways & small

Sometimes accidentally
sometimes obliviously
sometimes unavoidably
Sometimes as means to end
Sometimes, in 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦

Everyone knows when it’s malice—unless they have a vested interest in not knowing. Even a dog knows

1/ Here's a two-question test to determine if you're getting meaningful, in-depth psychotherapy (part 1)

1. Think of a time you were upset with your therapist.
Did you tell them? y/n

no = you are not working in depth
yes= you may be working in depth

Excellent analysis of the use of 'my truth' by Jonathan Shedler

Excellent thread 🧵

Shedler sulla “ realtà” psicologica e realtà del mondo esterno

'My truth”

This Ted Talk by NPR CEO is a real-life illustration of what I discuss in this thread 👇 x.com/JonathanShedle…

I did 10 podcast interviews in the past year. These 3 are the best of the best. Have a listen to any of them—you won't be disappointed!

1️⃣'Championing relational therapeutic solutions in a quick fix world'

Spotify
open.spotify.com/episode/7iQCLi…
Apple podcasts
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tra…

'You can have your own experience, belief, understanding, feelings, perspective, viewpoint, conviction, etc.

You don't have get to have your own 'truth.' Truth doesn't reside in an individual'
🧵

Increasingly common for people to say 'my truth' when they mean 'my experience.'

You can have your own experience, belief, understanding, feelings, perspective, point of view, conviction, etc.

You don't have get to have your own 'truth.' Truth doesn't reside in an individual.

Therapy influencers get millions of follows w 1 core message

😇You are a victim & you are a good
😡Someone else is to blame & they are evil

It feels good because it sides with our defenses, not insight & self-awareness

In the long run, it’s a self-destructive & self-defeating

How is it that the people most concerned with accountability always mean accountability for someone 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦?

Some therapists think it is an awful, pathologising, idea to suggest something might be wrong when a person seeks therapy.
But something is wrong, that’s why the person is seeking you out to help.
Great thread👇

Episodes I have done with Jonathan Shedler
1. Psychodynamic therapy: youtu.be/Wxmzk8IE0ew
2. Obsessive Compulsive Personality youtu.be/4ZRLXSZZECo
3. Narcissism: youtu.be/KZSD3lauzDo
4. Beginning treatment: youtu.be/puddZhRgRNI

Please comment what should be next...