Practicing Psychotherapy in Constructed Reality: Ritual, Charisma, and Enhanced Client Outcomes

419 Pages·2018·2.096 MB·English

by  Stephen Bacon

Practicing Psychotherapy
in Constructed Reality

Practicing Psychotherapy
in Constructed Reality
Ritual, Charisma, and
Enhanced Client Outcomes
Stephen Bacon
LEXINGTON BOOKS
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
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Copyright © 2018 The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
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without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bacon, Stephen, author.
Title: Practicing psychotherapy in constructed reality : ritual, charism, and enhanced
client outcomes / Stephen Bacon.
Description: Lanham : Lexington Books, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references
and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018005356 (print) | LCCN 2018004078 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781498552271 (electronic) | ISBN 9781498552264 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: | MESH: Psychotherapy | Psychotherapy—education | Treatment Outcome |
Professional-Patient Relations
Classification: LCC RC480 (print) | LCC RC480 (ebook) | NLM WM 420 |
DDC 616.89/14—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018005356
∞ ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction: Real versus Constructed 1
PART I: THE NEW THERAPEUTIC MILIEU 15
1 Psychology’s Inconvenient Truths 17
2 Close Encounters with the Abyss 45
3 Social Constructionism 63
4 A Place to Stand 103
5 The Nomological Net 117
PART II: ENHANCING THERAPIST EFFECTIVENESS 129
6 Focus on the Therapist 131
7 Beginner’s Mind 139
8 Wizards among Us 167
9 Apollonian Power: The Primacy of the Conscious Mind 191
10 Identity 211
11 Heart and Soul 229
12 The Other Royal Road: Social Determinants of Change 257
13 Dionysian Power: Sacred Space and Altered States 275
14 The Spiritual Path 303
v
vi Contents
15 Becoming Remarkable 343
16 The Way Forward 385
Appendix: The Geography of Constructed Reality 391
References 395
Index 405
About the Author 409
Acknowledgments
This book challenges many of the basic assumptions of psychology and psy-
chotherapy. In particular, it argues against the inherent power of techniques
and systems of thought and recommends replacing a scientific psychology
with one that operates in constructed reality. Because these ideas contradict
so much within established psychological thought, it has been necessary to
tap into fields and expertise that lie outside psychology.
Fortunately my life choices exposed me to a substantial amount of such extra-
psychological philosophies. I am particularly grateful to the teachers and compan-
ions I encountered while living in a Yoga ashram in the 1970s; they introduced
me to the concept of the perennial philosophy—a central organizing factor in this
book. My professors in religious studies at the University of Colorado continued
this education; many of the central thinkers quoted herein come from courses I
took in Boulder. My work with Outward Bound—and the spirited, thoughtful,
and compassionate instructors I met there—impressed me with the importance
of charisma and the ability to cultivate it though adventurous experiences. The
workshops I was privileged to attend—particularly the ones with strategic family
systems and Ericksonian focuses—pushed me further down the path.
This book benefited from conversations with and feedback from many
people. I particularly want to express my gratitude to David Burger, who has
been on this journey with me from the beginning, and Kjell Rudestam, a local
psychologist who made especially useful suggestions. I also want to thank my
fifteen-year-old son Aidan. He kept asking questions about what I was writ-
ing, which was lovely in itself, but it also required me to frequently reframe
complicated ideas into a more accessible form.
Finally, as we are all aware, none of this book would have been possible
without the contributions and experience of hundreds of clients who have
always been my best teachers.
vii

Introduction
Real versus Constructed
A thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us.
—Friedrich Nietzsche, The Complete Works
of Friedrich Nietzsche (1911)
I first thought of writing this book in 1978 as an undergraduate student. I was
completing a double major in religious studies and psychology and one of my
religious studies professors assigned a paper on social constructionism. As I
wrote my paper on a constructionist perspective on spiritual practice it was
impossible not to imagine where such concepts might fit into my other great
interest: clinical psychology.
This was, of course, prior to all the good work done by thought leaders
such as Kenneth Gergen and the narrative therapy school so I had a kind of
fresh look at the whole perspective. It was clear to me that psychology hadn’t
really taken the time to integrate these ideas into its foundational theories.
And that seemed strange to me because the briefest of analyses suggests that
psychotherapy operates primarily in constructed reality.
I was sympathetic to clinical psychology’s attempts to function as a sci-
entific discipline and, indeed, when I went on to get my doctorate, my major
was clinical psychology but my minor was in statistics. I used to tell my
friends that after all the hours spent in clinical offices—where everything
was ephemeral and could change in a moment depending on the frame and
reframe—it was a relief to study statistics where there was a relatively clear
sense of right and wrong. Actually, I was joking. I loved the fluidity and
spontaneity of the clinical process and found myself stimulated by the ease
with which a client’s reality—or my own—could turn on a simple phrase or
a meaningful experience.
1