Contents
For several years now, an original approach in the treatment of neurosis and post-traumatic syndromes has been gaining momentum. The method was not approved by experts for a long time, but then even the most severe skeptics began to recognize the positive impact of such therapy. What is it about?
The essence of the approach is as follows: the patient (victim) is encouraged to share responsibility for what happened. That is, if in classical therapy the victim is tried to be maximally protected from involvement in the incident, then here the patient, on the contrary, is offered to realize that something depends on him. Sharing responsibility, a person realizes that next time he can avoid a similar situation or at least influence it. If we understand that nothing depends on us, then the incident can happen again at any moment. And that means the only thing left for us is to live in fear and expectation.
Pass the tests
- What do you have special control over?
Scientists conducted an experiment – they took two groups of participants and put them to solve simple problems. One group worked in silence, while the other was constantly distracted by sudden noises and sounds. Of course, the second group performed worse than those who worked in silence. A couple of hours later, the experiment was repeated: the groups again sat down to solve problems, but now everyone worked on an equal footing. However, the second group again showed the worst result: having received an unpleasant experience, they expected the appearance of unpleasant sounds and concentrated worse.
The scientists then changed the conditions of the experiment. At first everything went on as before. However, this time the second group was given remotes: with one press of a button, it was possible to turn off the disturbing sounds. The leader of the experiment said that he would not want them to use this button, but in general – if the noise distracts them and does not allow them to work – everyone can use it. As a result, none of the subjects pressed the button, but their results improved or became equal to those who worked in silence.
Read more:
- Limits of control
Scientists attribute this effect to the illusion of control and the feeling that we ourselves are responsible for what happens. When we understand that a lot depends on ourselves, we are able to better adapt and survive the stress experienced.
However, there is a very fine line in the described therapy: the division of responsibility should not turn into something like “it’s my own fault!” The injured person is really not to blame. But he can take responsibility so that this situation does not happen again in the future, simply because he will behave differently.
Подробнее см. S. Cohen «Aftereffects of stress on human performance and social behavior: A review of research and theory», Psychological Bulletin, 1980, vol. 88.