Your Predictions About the Future of Psychotherapy

[Edahn]

Since I can't find any threads that interest me, I'll start my own based on some ideas I've been mulling over.

What will the future of psychotherapy look like? How will it be practiced? What will be its objective? It's techniques? Will it merge with other disciplines? Will the internet play a big role? What about television?

GO!

[proteanmix]

What kind of tree are you?

[Edahn]

An imperfect but independent one.

What kind of protein are you?

[proteanmix]

Actually I'm an enzyme that conducts proteolysis, that is, begins protein catabolism by hydrolysis of the peptide bonds that link amino acids together in the polypeptide chain.

[Edahn]

omg crazy, this whole time I thought you were a large organic compound made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues.

[Edahn]

ANYWAY, here're my predictions:

Psychology will merge with Eastern philosophy but the terminology will remain Western. The techniques used to understand and overcome problems will still be mindfulness and acceptance. A licensing board to teach meditation will form and psychotherapists will get dual licenses. Meditation will become an essential part of psychotherapy, but it will be channeled into physical activities like yoga, or exercise, or jogging. People will begin practicing these activities in groups and in communities, led by the therapist/meditation instructor. The internet will be used more and more to disseminate practical advice on how to deepen understand and how to meditate. Small schools will begin to splinter off of bigger movements and then things'll really get rollin'.

[MedGirl]

Originally Posted by Edahn

What will the future of psychotherapy look like? How will it be practiced? What will be its objective? It's techniques? Will it merge with other disciplines? Will the internet play a big role? What about television?

I think one change happening in psychotherapy is less emphasis on pathology and more on optimizing mental health. For a lot of people, the goal is shifting from "not being sick" to "being happy/healthy" (true for many health fields, not just mental health). Books/television/internet will probably make psychotherapy more accessible to the general public, as opposed to traditional psychodynamic therapy that costs $$$ and happens over years.

Originally Posted by Edahn

Psychology will merge with Eastern philosophy but the terminology will remain Western. The techniques used to understand and overcome problems will still be mindfulness and acceptance. A licensing board to teach meditation will form and psychotherapists will get dual licenses. Meditation will become an essential part of psychotherapy, but it will be channeled into physical activities like yoga, or exercise, or jogging. People will begin practicing these activities in groups and in communities, led by the therapist/meditation instructor. The internet will be used more and more to disseminate practical advice on how to deepen understand and how to meditate. Small schools will begin to splinter off of bigger movements and then things'll really get rollin'.

Hmm... not sure I agree that eastern philosophy will completely merge with western philosophy any more than eastern medicine will completely merge with western/allopathic medicine. I agree though that eastern techniques like yoga and meditation are getting more integrated into traditional western psychotherapy techniques. There will probably always be people who are expects at one or the other though, because both sides require a great deal of training and education.

[Edahn]

Originally Posted by MedGirl

I think one change happening in psychotherapy is less emphasis on pathology and more on optimizing mental health. For a lot of people, the goal is shifting from "not being sick" to "being happy/healthy" (true for many health fields, not just mental health). Books/television/internet will probably make psychotherapy more accessible to the general public, as opposed to traditional psychodynamic therapy that costs $$$ and happens over years.

Yeah. Also I wonder if the medical model describing disorders as illnesses will begin to dissolve and be replaced by something a bit softer and more sympathetic once these "disorders" are framed in terms of incorrect ideas, projections, and neediness/fear (i.e., ignorance & desire). That'll happen, I believe, as/if neuropsychology (or cognitive psychology) continues to explore Buddhist themes and ideas in research.

Originally Posted by MedGirl

Hmm... not sure I agree that eastern philosophy will completely merge with western philosophy any more than eastern medicine will completely merge with western/allopathic medicine.

Are you talking about homeopathic medicine or acupuncture and whatnot? (Or both?)

[MedGirl]

Originally Posted by Edahn

Yeah. Also I wonder if the medical model describing disorders as illnesses will begin to dissolve and be replaced by something a bit softer and more sympathetic once these "disorders" are framed in terms of incorrect ideas, projections, and neediness/fear (i.e., ignorance & desire). That'll happen, I believe, as/if neuropsychology (or cognitive psychology) continues to explore Buddhist themes and ideas in research.

I agree... Buddhism and eastern philosophy do a much better job of taking a holistic approach toward health instead of viewing people on one side of the dichotomy of sick/healthy. Reality is more of a spectrum, and a lot of people who need help, especially for psychological issues, are in the middle somewhere.

I think there's getting to be better incorporation of eastern ideas into western research, and that's probably necessary for a lot of western MDs/psychologists/people in general to take those ideas seriously.

[Edahn]

I also asked another question that you may have missed, but actually, it doesn't matter, because I think the field of medicine and psychotherapy are structured very differently. You can see that just by considering how you would go about infiltrating both.

If you wanted to unleash an Eastern medicine or medical practice in the West, there are several hurdles to jump. You would need FDA approval if we're talking abount medication. Even if you succeed in acquiring approval, you would need to find a distributor. The distributor would be concerned with sales and efficacym and efficacy turns on the question of empirical validation which again costs money and poses a major hurdle. Then, on top of everything, you have to worry about gigantic lawsuits which means even more testing and more resistance on the part of a company (or individual doctor) to adopt your idea or medicine.

On the other hand, lets imagine trying to introduce some type of therauptic technique. The regulatory restrictions are lax if not absent as long as you don't touch your patient or violate confidentiality. A therapeutic technique costs NOTHING to export and transmit since it's not anything physical. The product, in this case, therapy, can be offered to individual practitioners rather than major companies because major corporations aren't the only ones capable of offering therapy, both for practical and legal reasons. A therapist would have a much easier time accepting the technique, because the standard is more relaxed: it simply has to seem like a good idea to the therapist; psychotherapists (as well as their "consumers") aren't as dependent on empirical research as medicine is. Finally, litigation is really at a minimum in the field of psychotherapy, so there is less risk posed by making changes to one's therapeutic toolbox by incorporating new techniques.

It's too early, I think, to say whether therapists will take more interest in Eastern ideas than medical practitioners have. But, if you take a glance at your local Banes & Noble, many of the books featured in the Self Improvement section have an Eastern twist.