Persuasion And Healing Summary

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In the book Persuasion and Healing: A Comparative Study of Psychotherapy by Frank & Frank (1991) authors voice their thoughts and ideas surrounding psychotherapy, which is commonly referred to as healing. The authors analyze psychotherapy in conjunction with different factors to include religiomagical healing, cults, mind and body connection and placebos. Frank & Frank (1991) provided a substantial amount of information of how psychotherapy can be valuable. Historically, psychotherapist was rooted in the religiomagical, the rhetorical, and the empirical or naturalistic. The concept behind psychotherapy is that there is some type of healing conducted. The healer is the provider, commonly a psychologist but it can be another mental health …show more content…

Placebos are often administered to patients in a form of treatment and have been supported as being effective through research. The ideology behind prescribing placebos is giving the client hope by alleviating anxiety and arousing hope, similar to the effects of psychotherapy. Frank & Frank (1991) convey that in order to alleviate stress and promote hope not only does the client have to believe in the treatment, but they must believe that the healer cares about them and their overall well being. They note that the therapist self image is imperative and is affected by the type of training the therapist had had as well as the expertise. Therapists must be able to connect with their client even through social factors and that sometimes important interactions might not be verbal but telepathic.
Even furthering the journey into healing the properties, evocative, person-centered, individual psychotherapy were examined. They had similar agendas which was therapist’s interest and support. Frank & Frank (1991) explained that it is very important for clients to believe in their therapist especially if the cognitive behavioral approach is taken. When the cognitive approach is taken the therapist should be aware that the client dependence may be heightened. Authors elaborated on how validation can be seen in group therapy through persuasive …show more content…

The article argues that psychotherapist and researchers should use qualitative evidence that constitutes as clients’ own experiences of therapy. Authors noted that through their research they found that some clients do not like to talk about their past and will avoid therapeutic engagement. Although the research results were robust there were no infancies on the type of theoretical orientation used. Taking in consideration of the result, authors developed an agenda that relational and client factors are important factors in the outcome of psychotherapy. Authors indicated that in their findings it shows that clients come to a psychotherapist with a story and that it is the psychotherapist job to make them feel safe and allow them to talk about their experiences. This has been associated with positive results in psychotherapist and is supported by

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