Integrating Social Cognition into Therapeutic Practice: Beneath and Beyond the Process of Therapy

241 Pages·2021·1.455 MB·English

by  Louis H. Falik

INTEGRATING SOCIAL
COGNITION INTO
THERAPEUTIC PRACTICE
This book presents a new model for conceptualizing and applying a social
and cognitive perspective on therapeutic practice. Building on the micro-skills
framework for training, the author adds cognitive modifiability theories to create
a social cognition approach to training and practice. The material has been
field tested in a graduate academic context and in consultation in mental health
settings, and chapters contain didactic explications, illustrative examples, practice
exercises, and graphic schemas to help readers integrate specific practices into a
broader comprehensive theoretical framework. Mental health professionals and
students in advanced counseling courses will find that this book broadens their
perspectives beyond basic micro-skills approaches and provides an expansive and
systematic framework for conceptualizing the therapeutic process.
Louis H. Falik, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Counseling at San Francisco
State University, USA, and a senior scholar focusing on training, research, and
professional development at the international Feuerstein Institute in Jerusalem,
Israel.

INTEGRATING
SOCIAL COGNITION
INTO THERAPEUTIC
PRACTICE
Beneath and Beyond the Process
of Therapy
Louis H. Falik
First published 2021
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Louis H. Falik
The right of Louis H. Falik to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-68166-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-68162-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-14086-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To the memory of Professor Reuven Feuerstein,
of blessed memory,
whose belief in the potential for human modifiability,
and commitment to ensuring its realization for all
those in need,
has guided my (and those of many thousands
of others) efforts
to facilitate needed life changes.

CONTENTS
List of figures ix
Foreword xi
Preface xiii
1 Formulating the Process of Counseling: The Dynamics
of Behavioral Change 1
2 A Theoretical Foundation for the Therapeutic Process:
Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) 11
3 Applying MLE to the Therapeutic Process 32
4 Social Cognition: A Foundation for Affective and
Behavioral Change 64
5 Translating Social Cognition into Treatment Planning 76
6 Application of an Integrative Model to the Therapeutic
Process 105
7 The Phases of the Therapeutic Relationship Reflected in
the Integrative Model 116
8 The Focus of the Interaction: Content versus Process 146
viii Contents
9 The Nature of the Therapeutic Response: Implicit
versus Explicit 153
10 Application of the Model 160
Appendix A: Formulating Responses Reflecting
the MLE Parameters 171
Appendix B: Illustrative Case Studies 187
Appendix C: Glossary 197
References 214
Index 217
FIGURES
2.1 The MLE Model 15
2.2 Distal and Proximal Determinants of Behavior 17
3.1 The Mediation of Cognitive Modifiability 34
3.2 Feuerstein’s Criteria for Mediated Learning Experience 36
3.3 Cognitive, Emotional, and (Cross-) Cultural Dimensions
of MLE 37
4.1 Social Cognition Model 66
6.1 The Integrative Model of the Process of Counseling 109
6.2 Interviewing Skills Related to Phases of the Counseling
Process 111
6.3 The Strategic and Tactical Levels of MLE 113
7.1 Stages in Helping Clients to Gain Access to Their Inner
Processes 120
7.2 Cognitive Restructuring (Reframing) 129
7.3 Implications of RMI for the Mediator’s Intervention 138
8.1 The Parallel Process 148
8.2 Distinctions Between Content and Process Related
to Phases of the Counseling Process 151
9.1 Relationship of Response Production Subject Autonomy/
Dependency in Levels of RMI 155
9.2 Implications of RMI for the Mediator’s Intervention 156
9.3 Required Mediational Intervention (RMI) 157
10.1 Integrating Phases and Functions in Counseling/
Psychotherapeutic Interactions 161
10.2 Mapping a Session According to the MLE Integrated
Model 167