Paradoxical intent is a technique used in psychotherapy . This method was developed by Austrian psychiatrist and psychologist Viktor Frankl for his speech therapy . In the framework of this technique, a patient with a certain phobia is offered a contradictory attempt to desire what he is most afraid of. This may be an object, action or situation in which the patient is very afraid to be. The technique is also used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder .
Content
Application of the method
One of the examples cited by the author of the method is the case of a young doctor who experienced a strong fear of sweating. As soon as the young man began to fear that he would sweat, he immediately sweated profusely. A vicious circle arose: the fear of sweating gave rise to an even more intense sweating reaction. In order to break the vicious circle, the psychotherapist recommended the following to the young doctor: every time he starts to sweat, intentionally try to demonstrate to others how well he knows how to do it. Now, as soon as he met someone who caused him a pre-alarm of sweating, he would say to himself: “ I used to sweat only a quart, but now I will sweat for at least ten quarts !” As a result, after one session, a patient who suffered ten years this phobia, for a week freed from her forever.
Frankl argues that paradoxical intent can also be used for sleep disturbance : “The fear of insomnia gives rise to an extensive desire to fall asleep, which in turn makes the patient unable to fall asleep. To overcome this specific fear, I usually advise the patient not to try to fall asleep, but, on the contrary, try to stay awake for as long as possible. In other words, hyperintension (increased desire) to fall asleep, generated by the fear of not falling asleep, should be replaced by a paradoxical intention - the desire not to fall asleep, soon to be followed by a dream. " [one]
As soon as the patient stops trying to deal with his phobic and other manifestations, instead of using a paradoxical intention, the vicious circle breaks, the symptom weakens. According to the author of the method, in the end, the symptom should atrophy. Victor Frankl insists that the vicious circle that breaks up is not broken by a neurotic focus on self (self-pity, contempt, etc.), but by personal involvement in meaningful activity, which becomes the key to healing.
Paradoxical intention is effective in the treatment of obsessive , compulsive and phobic conditions, especially in cases that are associated with anticipated anxiety . In addition, it is a fast-acting therapeutic method; however, fast therapy necessarily gives not only a temporary therapeutic effect. “ One of the most common misconceptions of orthodox Freudianism ,” writes Emil A. Guteil, “ is that the sustainability of the results is considered appropriate to the duration of therapy .” Frankl gives an example of a patient in whom the therapeutic effect persisted twenty years after the application of paradoxical intention.
Features
The use of this technique is based on the specifically human ability to remove, which underlies the sense of humor . This important ability to distance oneself from one's self is activated whenever a logotherapeutic technique of paradoxical intention is applied. In this case, the patient gains the ability to distance himself from his neurosis . Gordon Allport writes: "A neurotic who learns to laugh at himself has embarked on a path to self-control, and possibly recovery." The paradoxical intention serves as empirical evidence and clinical application of this Allport statement.
The paradoxical intention does not depend on the etiological base in each case. Edith Weisskopf-Jelson states: " Although traditional psychotherapy insists that therapeutic procedures should be based on identifying the etiology, it is entirely possible that in early childhood neurosis can be caused by one reason, and in adulthood, by completely different reasons ."
See also
- Reverse psychology
Notes
Literature
- Hertz G. O. Treatment by paradoxical intention method // Frankl V. Will to meaning. - M .: Eksmo , 2000 .-- 368 p. - (Psychological collection). - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 5-04-005753-9 .
- Frankl W. Paradoxical intention // Suffering from the meaninglessness of life: Actual psychotherapy = Das Leiden am sinnlosen Leben: Psychotherapie für heute. - Novosibirsk: Sib. univ. Publishing House, 2011 .-- S. 49-57. - 105 p. - (The paths of philosophy). - 3,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-379-01751-4 .
- Frankl V. Theory and Therapy of Neurosis // Man in Search of Meaning: Collection. - M .: Progress , 1990 .-- S. 340-350. - 368 p. - (Library of Foreign Psychology). - 136,000 copies. - ISBN 5-01-001606-0 .