[This
one of five blogs on the subject of change. The blogs take different
themes and perspectives (one is actually in the form of an online,
apocalyptic novel), but are intended to complement one another.]
The
'talking cures' is a term intimately associated with the invention of
psychoanalysis. It has become a cliché,
embracing the range of therapies and counselling techniques, from
psychiatry, social work, elements of nursing and personal care, to
life coaching.
One
theme is shared by all forms of 'talking cure'. Change. They all aim
to change the lives of the people with whom they engage. However,
while there's a lot of 'talking' (and, arguably, listening), there
are no 'cures' - the focus is change, not the treatment of illness.
Change
is a universal human theme, the essence of life itself. As we grow,
we change. We make conscious changes, we make changes without
noticing them. Sometimes we make decisions which bring about change -
moving home, moving job, moving into and out of relationships. Some
changes we anticipate, some come out of the blue - accident, illness,
loss, natural disasters, decisions (or indecision) by governments and
corporations over which we have no control.
Some
change we take in our stride. Some we enjoy. Much of the time we
cope, we muddle through, we adapt - we make no active effort to
manage the changes, we just fall into a new set of habits and
routines and go with the flow. We get by, like a bouncing pinball.
But
change can be traumatising, agonising, can
drive us to breakdown and suicide. Not changing can be equally
deadly. We get into the habit of over-eating, smoking, drinking,
using drugs, we can spin ourselves into a downward spiral of
depression and dependence.
In
this section I'll take a critical look at the talking cures. We need
to escape the idea of 'cure', we need to refute the notion they deal
with 'illness'. It's time to insist they focus on the management of
change - become the Profession of Change. We need to insist they
collaborate in a rational exploration of human consciousness and the
experience of life, not force it (and us) to comply with their
ideologies, political agendas, and cult-like assumptions.
The
talking cures are a major industry. State managed, state-funded
counselling and social work are subject to
political demands to cut costs and prove 'effectiveness'
('effectiveness' can be shorthand for narrow political agendas).
They've largely become desk-bound bureaucracies, reducing life to a
routine of casework rather than the dynamic and humane management of
change.
Meanwhile,
the private sector is thriving. Psychotherapy
is a lucrative trade. 'Addiction' treatment has become so profitable
it has ranged beyond alcohol and drug abuse
to include gambling, shopping, sex ... even addiction to people!
New,
enterprising businesses expand the market still further. People offer
you past life regression, aura cleansing, and a whole portfolio of
looney tunes therapies. Life coaching is more life style accessory
than challenge to the traditional talking cures.
Psychiatry,
meanwhile, has become the familiar of multinational drug companies, a
tool for marketing antidepressants and a whole pharmacy of drugs,
making millions for the corporations which manufacture them but doing
little to resolve the problems of those who become dependent
on them ... other than sedating their symptoms.
The
message of the talking cures has even corrupted our understanding of
life: novelists and screenwriters lift characters straight from the
analyst's couch. We get a regular message from US TV and cinema -
undergoing analysis is a wholly rational experience, it works, it
marks you out as sensitive and upwardly mobile. Similarly, Alcoholics
Anonymous is allowed to pose as the only 'cure' for alcohol problems
- though you suspect the bums don't go to the same meetings as the
celebrities and politicians.
And
yet, after a century of talking cures we'd have to conclude that,
delivered to the poor in the form of social work, they've failed to
save us from homelessness, crime, drunkeness, child abuse, poverty or
ignorance. Delivered to the affluent, they've neither
increased happiness nor reduced pain, they've only made dependence on
therapy socially acceptable ... while generating healthy profits for
therapists and self-proclaimed gurus.
Want
to discover what techniques the talking cures use? Want to know if
you can learn anything from them to help you make changes in your own
life? A web search will expose you to the marketing efforts of a
million therapists, addiction counsellors, independent social
workers, life coaches, and whatever, trying to sell you services ...
often with superficial, cosmetic, or simply manipulative claims to
competence, skills, training, qualifications, or rational
understanding of life.
Hence,
my Profession of Change. I aim to steer you towards the skills and
techniques which have proven effective, to steer you away from the
bullshit. And I'll argue for a major revision of what needs to be
done to warrant the description 'professional'.
My
first step in this process? Let's take a look at Sigmund Freud - the
father of psychoanalysis, the man who perverted a century of
understanding of the human condition and human consciousness, the man
who first popularised the term 'talking cures' in the 1890's by
lying, cheating, and pursuing his own need for fame and adulation.
And, if you suspect I have little respect for the man and his creed,
consider yourself on the right track.
My Five Blogs exploring the nature of change from different perspectives:
The Stories You Don't WriteThe Stories You Can't Write
Positive Lies
Profession of Change
Like Fleas on a Dog's Back
