Introduction
Defining postmodern therapy
Life is based on certain common beliefs held by people unanimously. Postmodern therapy is a field in psychology that concentrates on deconstructing these beliefs as well as examining their value in a person’s life (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2001).
Some of the subjects where postmodern therapy has been so much felting are, for instance, the definition of the term success. Success attracts a number of different approaches in its definition based on individual understanding of the word. Success if different as it is comprehended differently from one person to the other. Some uphold the materialistic definition of success, where it is measured by the amount of property owned and monetary value attached to the property. Other people find success to be an emotional feeling of contentment with life and being satisfied regardless of the financial circumstances.
Types of postmodern therapy
There are three different types of postmodern therapy, namely, narrative therapy, collaborative therapy, and solution-focused therapy.
Narrative therapy
The first type of three postmodern therapies is narrative therapy. This is a psychotherapy that uses narration as a form of treatment. The therapy was conceptualized in Australia by two colleagues in the 1970’s. The narrative theory holds the idea that an individual’s identity is explained through their life experience according to their narrations (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2001).
. Narrative therapists are interested in getting to understand the patient’s life story and way of life in order to comprehend the influences his or her environment has contributed to his or her problem. People through narrative therapy are able to reflect on their past and make changes that contribute to making them better people.
This involves a lot of investigation and soul searching. The therapist is characterized by numerous questioning while the client tries to regain their lost lives from the prevailing problem. The questions are designed to try and examine how the problem has impacted the lives of the client. The fact that the person is still responding to questions means that the problem has not overwhelmed him or her. Therefore some study comes up again regarding the client’s resilience to the problem.
Collaborative therapy
Under this theory, both the therapist and the client are given the same attention as both sides are given equal weight. The therapy involves the client more in the treatment process. Clients’ opinions regarding goals, directions, and responses during the treatment process is highly put into consideration. In this process, there is a lot of transparency where the client is made to understand the results of the process in a language they can comprehend (Boston, 2000). Clients can disagree or even ask questions as well as correct the therapist where they feel like he or she is wrong on a certain decision. Therapists in this theory are expected to have a not-knowing approach while initiating a treatment process. In addition, therapists must be flexible enough to allow alteration of their ideas whenever a client chooses to do so.
Solution-focused therapy
This theory is also referred to as the “brief theory,” which is a theory that focuses on helping the client to achieve their goals in the treatment process rather than focusing on the problems of the client. Its focus is not based on the past of the client’s life events; rather, emphases are laid to the present situation and future expectations. The therapist asks the client questions regarding his or her story and resources that are the basis of the client’s exactions. This is a social constructionist approach to life. Therapists believe that a person’s life can be changed or be transformed if he or she establishes the things in their lives that they rather had changed. This gives the client an opportunity to pursue a life in a more objective approach by changing things they wish they had changed and also attending to the things they are happy about in their lives.
Benefits of postmodern therapy
The postmodern theory includes a number of personality theories. Why people behave, the way they do is, therefore, the real meaning of personality. Personality is an intrinsic development caused by certain body responses and traits that define an individual. There have been a number of developments to explain these traits and why they happen as well as how they happen. Consequently, this has led psychologists to developing theoretical explanations to define personality.
Mikulincer & Shaver (2001) define personality as “patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make a person unique.” Personalities have several characteristics including the fact that they are consistent through out an individual’s lifetime; they are both psychological and physiological processes, they influence behaviors and actions and that they are exhibited in more than just behavioral traits (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2001).
Types of personality theories include the attachment theory of the developmental theories. The others include Freuds theory of psychosexual development, Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, kohlberg’s theory of moral development, attachment theory and parenting styles (Boston, 2000). Some of these categories include behavioral theories, cognitive theories, developmental theories, humanistic theories, personality theories, social psychology theories as well as learning theories (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2001).
Postmodern therapy is a very reliable way of effecting solutions in psychosocial problems. For example, the narrative therapy takes the patients through the historical events in their life that helps to both the therapist and the client the root of the problem. With such an approach, a long term solution is reached upon. This insight through a reflection of the past is crucial in understanding a person’s behavior. The creators of the narrative therapy style were greatly impacted by social constructionism and constructivism. Both social constructionism and constructivism views refuted the general absolute truth ideology.
In contrast to this, the view holds that truth is based on language and societal interaction (Boston, 2000). Narrative therapy helps clients in finding out and building fresh realties, revealing meaning, mending the past problem and creating new narrations that outline influential ethnographies. Narrative therapy works out the problem by making it the center of focus and, re-constructs problem-saturated stories to increase the outlook of self, maps the effects of the problem over time, and predicts exclusive results that signify new truths and realizes client strengths (Boston, 2000).
Art and postmodern theory
While art has extensively been used for therapeutic and divine healing in many societies, as a specialized curative modality, it was conceptualized in 1940’s, owing to the hard work of art therapy initiators (Tap & Wright, 2005). Then it was viewed and regarded as a modality for persons with psychological illness. Art therapy with families had unprecedented origins. It is true that family art therapy has beginning comparable to those that stirred the growth of family systems theory (Boston, 2000). Boston (2000) gives the first guide for clinicians by means of art with families that incorporated a concise hypothetical combination of art and family therapy replica.
In recent times, Hertlein, Lambert-Shute & Benson (2004) gave comprehensive deliberations of family therapy models and the combination of art therapy intercession into these diverse models. Hertlein, Lambert-Shute & Benson (2004) demonstration is diverse and commenced with a hierarchical psychoanalytic viewpoint on the significance of art yield. Consequently, this led to a more postmodern family systems approach where the counselor and the client co-constructed sense. Extra efforts that incorporated art therapy with family therapy were the development of the Kinetic Family Drawing “KFD” and strategy for assessment of these drawings (Hertlein, Lambert-Shute & Benson, 2004).
Impacts of the theory as a treatment process
These appraisal courses of action are very precise; for instance, the existence of a lawnmower is linked with antagonism (Sonkin & Dutton, 2003). While a lot of people may see these strategies at probability with present postmodern philosophy that hold several truths, the Kinetic Family Drawing is still practical instrument. Supplementary efforts to incorporate these two ideologies depict the application of art therapy as cure. Hertlein, Lambert-Shute & Benson (2004) illustrate in a clear manner the use of art therapy with families in calamity. In their case study they established the exercise of art therapy ideology in a family with a narration or whose been exposed to circumstances deemed as child abuse.
The two asserts that art therapy gives better modes communication for the family which influences positive changes. On the other hand, the uses of both play and art therapy approaches can be demonstrated with troubled children and their caregivers.
Boston (2000) portrays the significance of art therapy strategy for tackling the societal and gender disparity as a problem in the cure of mostly women and their families, demonstrating how the application of art is tool for clients who are from the minor cultures. Art therapy as a field of study is more aligned to the significance of neuroscience to art as opposed to the other way round.
Conclusion
There are more than enough neurological writings that depict the use of illustration actions for the intention of neurological assessment and recognition of definite intellect dysfunction. Nevertheless, there are limited or non written materials in the field of neurosciences that illustrate the use of art in healing. Tap & Wright (2005) explain a neurophysiologic strategy to the use of art therapy with teaching physically challenged kids. A case study verified the function of this strategy with a young boy who could not read. Widening the utilization of art from its use through physically challenged populations, Tap & Wright (2005) used illustration as a way to contact the intrinsic increasingly idle sensitive right brain self-healing ability.
Text reflecting a combination of neuroscience and family therapy is comparatively uncommon. This is due to the connection between an individual’s context inside an association structure and the individual’s physiology. Boston (2000) summarized the connection amid point of segregation of personality and apprehension and emphasized the importance of considering better methods in the treatment of physiological disorders. From a related point of view, Tap & Wright (2005) portray the control of point of segregation on levels of nervousness and give thorough images of the physiological procedures and harm that result from constant worry (Tap & Wright, 2005).
References
Boston, P. (2000). Systemic family therapy and the influence of post-modernism. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 6: 450-457. Print.
Hertlein, M. K., Lambert-Shute, J., & Benson, K. (2004). Postmodern Influence in Family Therapy Research: Reflections of Graduate Students. The Qualitative Report, 9: 538-561. Print.
Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2001). Attachment theory and intergroup bias: Evidence that priming the secure base schema attenuates negative reactions to out-groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81: 97-115. Print.
Sonkin, D., & Dutton, D. (2003). Treatment assaultive men from an attachment perspective. Intimate Violence: Contemporary Treatment Innovations. New York: Haworth Publishing. Print.
Tap, D. M., & Wright, L.M. (1996). Live supervision and family systems nursing: postmodern influences and dilemmas. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 3: 225-233. Print.