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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Dinah on February 29, 2004, at 23:52:15
I'm glad to hear that you didn't intend to imply that therapy and having a life are mutually exclusive. In many cases, therapy is life enhancing. I rather wish my parents had got some many years ago. I get more than my fair share of therapy bashing from my parents and employers, and tend to be a bit defensive. So I'm sorry about that.
But speaking of curiosity, I am mildly curious. You must approve of coaching, since as I recall you are intending to become one. Yet I got the impression from your post that you might consider therapy to be yet another bad habit to fall into. What do you consider makes coaching a good thing in comparison to therapy, given the many different sorts of therapy. I don't see a huge amount of difference, other than the licensing and strict ethical requirements, and the fact that coaches don't claim to help emotional illnesses and thus are not eligible for insurance reimbursement. In fact, many coaches seem to be therapists seeking to expand their client base and get out from under managed care back to a private paying practice.
Do you see coaching as offering something superior to therapy? And if so, would that be true for everyone, or just those who aren't suffering from mental or emotional illness, in your eyes?
Posted by 64Bowtie on March 1, 2004, at 17:18:48
In reply to Therapy vs. Coaching - Rod, posted by Dinah on February 29, 2004, at 23:52:15
Dinah,
When you post, you don't mess around.Because I already did a PhD in Education, and I know practicing couselors with Education credentials, I'm not very motivated to take two or three years of more school and three to five years of supurvised therapy to be a "T". Also, because I'm old, everyone I know will be retired by the time I'm certified. There's gotta be a better way.
I am building a program to train coaches using much of the model David Peck perfected, (with several of us helping). He always suggested that I get into coaching, since it is an educational process. I'm searching for meaning as well as a career.
My project is multimedia. I train coaches to be effective in an IM environment on the WEB. How do I get commitment? I have my ways.
Diane Keaton was interviewed after the Acedemy Awards and said she has been in continuous therapy all her professional life. So, isn't her suiting up and showing up for therapy becoming a habit? I suppose her therapy can be successful and be like eating or breathing for me. No need to stop now........
Question: with all the crisis around all of us daily, why are we (I include myself) all so bad at it? One thing I've noticed is that feelings, no matter how genuine, lack enough information to solve any problems with. When I enlist some other tools, logic, knowledge, and information, the crisis finds a solution. Feelings are not enough. Feelings and knowledge seems to be enough most of the time. Time passing can also help, just beware of procrastination.
Coaches can send folks home with homework that can be later turned directly into good habits. Seems that therapists send people home to try things and report back how it feels. Again, feelings lack the information needed to make a difference. Ability to perceive unencumbered by opinion or testimony, continues to be a better solution than feelings.
Thank (((you))) very much for asking about coaching. More later..............
Rod
Posted by Dinah on March 1, 2004, at 17:36:29
In reply to Re: Therapy vs. Coaching » Dinah, posted by 64Bowtie on March 1, 2004, at 17:18:48
It doesn't sound all that different from CBT. CBT emphasizes cognitions over feelings. My own therapist believes in honoring feelings but doing what you have to do anyway. That may be a bit simplistic summary of his beliefs, but is relatively accurate.
But I'm now even more confused. It sounds as if your decision not to become a therapist is largely pragmatic. So would it be more fair to say that you don't feel all therapy is a bad habit? But that your orientation would be more CBT or Reality Theory (is that right? It might be Choice - William Glasser, I think) than analytic or relational?
Therapy offers all sorts of different, and useful, things. Teaching new coping skills, reminding you to use them. Learning experientially that there are different, more effective ways, to relate to others. And that beliefs and ways of coping that served us well in childhood may no longer be necessary, though they served their function well at the time. And for some of us, therapy also provides a bit of ego glue.
Some people can come and learn and move on. Some people need ongoing support. Neither needs be right or wrong. If therapy helps us function at our best, surely that's a good thing? Not a bad habit at all. Maybe a healthy habit, like eating right and exercising.
You referred to my recent meltdown and rapid recovery. Part of it was meds related. But part of it was due to therapy. I think therapy kept me out of the hospital and reasonably functional. When I'm feeling better, it keeps me even more functional. So you see before you the results of the very good habit of therapy.
Posted by 64Bowtie on March 1, 2004, at 20:40:14
In reply to Re: Therapy vs. Coaching » 64Bowtie, posted by Dinah on March 1, 2004, at 17:36:29
> It doesn't sound all that different from CBT.
< ....and throw in some Jung, Rollo May, Eric Berne, NLP, and even Freud (conflict theory). Don't leave out Piaget, Anthony Robbins, Dr. Phil, and the "Big Book" of 12 steppers.> So would it be more fair to say that you don't feel all therapy is a bad habit?
< I cringe at the words "all" or "nothing". I don't trust absolutes.> But that your orientation would be more CBT or Reality Theory (is that right? It might be Choice - William Glasser, I think) than analytic or relational?
< I suppose I am so eclectic that I don't look very good next to a label. I encourage decision making that produces "Beautiful Outcomes". Aesthetics cannot be fully devoloped by feelings alone. Logic must be working in concert with feelings for the best results.
> ...therapy also provides a bit of ego glue.
< Your husband is in trouble now! Ego glue? I think I'm falling in love......Rod
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