There are a large number of different psychotherapeutic techniques, and, if necessary, it can be very difficult to choose the appropriate option. One of the modern methods is Frank Farelli's provocative therapy, which is gaining more and more popularity in Russia. What is the essence of this method, what are its postulates, to whom will it suit?
Who is the author of the method?
Frank Farrelli is one of the most talented and eminent psychotherapists of our time. He became famous as the creator of the original direction in psychology - provocative therapy, he is also considered the founder of such a direction as coaching. Born in Ireland, Farrelli in a large Catholic family, he began his career as a simple psychiatrist in a hospital in Wisconsin. Today, his main occupation is writing scientific psychological books, conducting seminars and master classes around the world.
The essence of the method
Provocative therapy arose at a time when its author realized that it makes no sense to listen to endless complaints of patients and inconclusively motivate them for success. In one of his books, Frank Farrelli describes a situation where, tired of fighting the low self-esteem of his patient, he simply told him: “I agree, you are hopeless.”
Such a statement of fact suddenly "woke up" the patient, and in a rather sharp manner he began to contradict his doctor. This case gave Farrelli confidence in the correctness of his approach.
So, the essence of the method is that the doctor deliberately agrees with the patient’s pessimistic moods, forces him to continue his defeatist logic, simply teases him. The purpose of such a provocative intervention is to transfer the problem to another plane, motivate the client to talk about the most hidden fears, cause his emotionality and lively experience.
The main patterns of psychotherapy Frank Farrelli
In this technique, there are several basic strategies that help to achieve the desired result:
- Decrease the importance of the problem.
- Separation of responsibility.
- Important values.
- Sensibility of values.
Many people perceive their failures as something globally significant. It is such a serious attitude to their mistakes that turns them into problems and complexes. Expanding, the problem becomes very important, and a person is just sorry to part with it. The task of the therapist is to convey to the patient the comic nature of such a serious attitude to himself and his problems.
Separation of responsibility is another important Farrelli strategy. Patients like to hold therapists accountable for their mental health. And if the doctor agrees with this, then the patient's motivation to do something on his own disappears. According to the author of the method, the specialist should make it clear to the patient that he is not going to be fully responsible for him.
The next strategy is to reveal important patient values. The therapist starts a conversation about everyday things, talks about life and death, status, money, sex. Discovering a patient’s minor problem, he takes it out of the plane into global contexts such as family, self-realization, self-esteem. If the client declares that he does not want to discuss any topic, Farelli recommends penetrating there even more persistently. Thus, it is possible to help the patient overcome his fears.
Human values sometimes remain a kind of abstraction. Everyone knows such words as "death", "illness", "health", but sometimes people do not realize what really stands behind these concepts. With the help of humor and language tricks, Frank Farrelli brings the negative situation of the client to absurdity, thereby making a person feel the reality of inevitable things (illness, helplessness) that can happen to him if he does not want to change his life.
Tactics
These include:
- Comic promotion of patient misconduct. In addition to the main strategic approaches, the psychotherapist also developed tactics for conducting conversations. The therapist jokingly encourages the patient's problematic behavior and his negative mood, listing the benefits of such behavior brought to the point of absurdity. It is also possible, on the contrary, to describe in the grotesque style the absurd losses awaiting the patient if he suddenly decides to change for the better.
- Surrealistic solutions. The doctor offers the client absurd, devoid of logic solutions to his problems. Absurdity can be taken to extremes. For example, a man who was completely immersed in self-pity, Frank Farrelli suggested buying a wheelchair in advance.
- Absurd explanations. When a patient declares his problem, it is necessary to give her a comic, absurd explanation.
- Reducing the problem in relation to the general condition. In this case, the doctor relies on some strength of the patient, some advantage over others (for example, the level of intelligence). Suppose a patient complains that no one loves him. He can be provoked by telling him that with his intellectual level no one needs love at all. This causes an unconscious protest of the patient and a desire to change the situation.
- Shifting guilt. The bottom line is to always have the opposite point of view in a dispute with a client. For example, if he blames the outside world for his failures, then the doctor should blame the patient. If the patient blames himself, then the opposite is done.
- Dramatizing your notions. During grotesque descriptions of the problem, you need to dramatize the action, that is, play a short performance: not just tell, but show in detail.
Who needs this kind of psychotherapy?
This type of psychotherapy is suitable for people with a good sense of humor, for those who like directness, dynamism and strong feelings. There are patients who are even offended when they are not tough enough to work with. It is believed that this method is good for treating addictions, as well as for people experiencing the meaninglessness of their existence. And, on the contrary, too vulnerable, sentimental people, prone to suicidal attempts, such a method may be contraindicated. The decision in this case is made by both the therapist and the patient himself.
So, the technique of the psychiatrist and psychologist Frank Farrelli is a very effective and efficient method, containing many strategies and tactical moves, it is built on the basis of comic and grotesque exaggerations and is suitable primarily for people who appreciate the healing power of laughter.