THE ROLE OF THE THERAPIST AND THE PATH TO MEANING

The role of bio-psychiatric intervention is to correct a supposed 'chemical imbalance' of which there is no evidence to substantiate. The mental health profession seeks to typically 'treat' the various clusters of behavior considered deviant often through coercive means. But where in any of this is the experience of individuals examined? Today's mental health professionals function as an arm of the law and of social control. What truly should be the role of a therapist?
The therapist should rather be a coach in the process of the person finding identity and examining their experiences and how their thinking shapes who they are and what they become. The therapist should be present to offer reflective dialogue to the person as to what impedes their success and happiness. The therapist is present to empower the person, not to control. Anxiety is as a result of fear but its catalyst is always a past experience. Depression is a result of despair. But where does despair originate but from past experiences. What is termed psychosis is often as Laing states "balancing between fear and loneliness'. It is a state of chronic terror also once again shaped by experiences. It is necessary then to examine the worldview of the person- What have they thought of their experiences? Where are they going and where do they want to be? We can change our worlds by changing our minds.
Distress fades as we begin to construct a path of meaning, and the therapist's role is to be a fellow soul journeying on this path, listening, reflecting.

-Dan L. Edmunds, Ed.D.