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From: Sandra Merlo
Date: 12 Oct 2009
Time: 19:38:31 -0500
Remote Name: 201.95.209.249
Dear Sarah, I find three situations in the therapy room: 1) some patients come to therapy already with the mastery-oriented response. These patients do not “regress” to helpless response; 2) others patients come to therapy being helpless and seem to do not want to change to mastery-oriented response. They resist to changes. One patient told me that, if he changed, he would be assuming that he was wrong, that he failed. So he preferred to continue being helpless; and 3) still others come with helpless response and, with therapy, change to the mastery-oriented one. These patients come and go between helpless and mastery-oriented responses for some months. I think this is natural because they were helpless for many years and the change to mastery-oriented response needs some time. With these cases, I help them to analyze the situations they live with the two responses. So they have both views: what they would do if they act with helpless response and also what they would do if they act with the mastery-oriented one. This helps to clarify the options they have. Regards, Sandra