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From: Judy Duchan
Date: 10/23/02
Time: 4:00:07 PM
Remote Name: 134.29.30.25
Steve—Thanks for your thoughts about tough love as a shady practice. The “love” part of tough love, in my judgment, is the assumption on the part of the clinician that making life difficult is good for the client. Also, it presumes that the client doesn’t agree with the clinician, as yet, that is one reason it might be “tough”. Maybe desensitization therapies would work best when the person who is being desensitized elects the therapy and even works out what needs desensitizing. Then the tough love becomes a bitter pill that one must take to get better rather than one imposed by someone who has power over you. And, as you imply in your comments, maybe dialogs such as this one would sensitize clinicians not to abuse their powers.
It would be interesting to get the views of some clients who have experienced tough love. Those who have from Van Riper seem to feel that he knew best, and that it was worth it. Was it because they respected him so much they assumed he knew what he was doing?
Sorry about omitting the Williams reference. It appears on Judy Kuster’s stuttering webpage and is by Dave Williams. It is titled Wendell Jounson and Charles Van Riper: A Remembrance of Them and Their Era. Here is the URL: http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/comdis/kuster/pioneers/davewilliams.html