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Foundations of Psychotherapy
Foundations of Psychotherapy
Foundations of Psychotherapy
of BEHAVIOR
3 2000.
PSYCHOLOGIST
Hunger and Health Attachment and Culture
The field of psychotherapy rests on a foundation of basic There is a cumulative body of psychotherapeutic
propositions, findamental starting points or cornerstones, knowledge; research is a primary gatekeeper for
and ideas that are generally taken for granted as finds- what is admitted into or withdrawn out of the cu-
mental givens or truths. A case is presented that there are mulative body of knowledge.
ways in-which foundational beliefs may be kept essentially Prediction and explanation of empirical facts are
immune from careful explication, study, examination, anal- important criteria for determining the worth of the-
ysis, and challenge, and therefore from constructive im- ories of psychotherapy.
provement and change. Borrowed largely from the neigh- Scientific research on psychotherapy is to test and
boring field of philosophy of science, 5 solutions are pre- thus confirm or disconfirm testable hypotheses.
sented to assist in explicating, challenging, improving, and Human beings are basically biological organisms.
changing foundational beliefs. The subsequent 2 articles Biological, neurological, physiological, and chemi-
(E. Erwin, 2000; .I F.
. Rychlak, 2000) illustrate how these
cal events and variables are basic to psychological
philosophy of science methods may be applied to 2 foun-
dational beliefs in thejield of psychotherapy. events and variables.
The brain is a basic determinant of human behavior.
v
Human beings have intrinsic inborn needs, drives,
irtually every field of study has its basic proposi- traits, and instincts.
tions, its fundamental starting points, corner- There are biopsychological stages of growth and
stones on which the field rests. ideas that are development.
generally taken for granted as fundamental givens or truths. Behavior is a conjoint function of predominantly ge-
These may be taken as the field's foundational beliefs, the netic endowment and environmental circumstances.
spirit of which is shared in such related but technically Responses followed by satisfying consequences
different terms and phrases as theorems, postulates, as- tend to be strengthened; responses followed by un-
sumptions, axioms, dictums, self-evident truths, and basic satisfying consequences tend to be weakened.
definitional truths. For example, one such taken-for- There are mental illnesses, diseases, and disorders.
granted foundational belief in Euclidian geometry is 0 Clients seek psychotherapy for, and psychotherapy
"Through two points in space there always passes one and constitutes, treatment of psychological problems,
only one straight line." distress, mental disorders, and problems in living.
What are some of the foundational beliefs in the field Practitioners assess, evaluate, and diagnose the cli-
of psychotherapy? Although the field seems to lack an ent's problem or mental disorder, then select and
officially sanctioned list of its formally stated, taken-for- apply the appropriate treatment.
granted fundamental givens and truths, the field is rife with The proper therapist-client relationship is a prereq-
foundational beliefs that are generally presumed, assumed, uisite to successful psychotherapy.
implied, taken for granted, and occasionally spelled out.
Appropriate insight and understanding are prereq-
Here is a tiny sample of these beliefs taken from a variety
of sources, representing different constituencies, and relat- uisites to successful psychotherapy.
ing to theory, research, or practice. These examples are in
no official wording and in no particular sequence; they vary Editor's note. Alvin R. Mahrer developed this Philosophy of Science
in level of abstraction, range from the epistemological to and Psychotherapy section.
clinical lore, and may be inconsistent with one another.
Some may be more basic than others. They are merely
Author's note. Correspondence concerning this article should be ad-
meant to illustrate what may be understood as some of the dressed to Alvin R. Mahrer, School of Psychology, University of Ottawa,
foundational beliefs in or overlapping the field of psycho- Ottawa, Ontario, Canada KIN 6N5. Electronic mail may be sent to
therapy: amahrer@uonawa.ca.