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From: Margaret Leahy
Date: 10/16/02
Time: 5:35:31 AM
Remote Name: 134.226.1.115
Hello Nora,
Thanks for your interest, and for your observations, which I will address below. First let me say that it's always a pleasure to link up with some of the Irish diaspora over there. I guess you will have taken part in those discussions about 'the best people leaving' and 'the cream of the crop' staying in the old country... we haven't resolved them in our family yet. Sorry for being a bit late in replying - a lot going on here, with the beginning of lecture term and all the excitment that brings.
Anticipation is central to PCT, so experimenting with changing anticipations becomes a central part of therapy. Part of this is made possible by thinking about the range of different perspectives from which to think about a situation; another way is to 'brain-storm' with others and list all the ways that a sitatuion can be construed, and how different ways of 'acting' or 'performing' tells others about how you're feeling. IN terms of getting down to the experment however, you will have to specify some element that you know you can change (I usually begin with non-verbal gestures or facial expression), but also trying out e.g., using people's first names more in a conversation. What would be different ? what will be easy about it? what will be difficult? what will change if I do it like that? Investing time in actually behaving differently is what will bring about change.
The question of anxiety is tackled by Kelly in a different way - he explains that anxiety arises when one becomes aware that 'the events with which one is confronted liemostly outside the range of convenience of one's contruct system'; so the student becoming anxious about exams? she knows about the exam process, is familiar with the kinds of questions that will come up, but has not explored a range of issues about e.g., what about the long-time implications? what happens if she fails? what will people think of her, and what will she think of herself? The answers are mostly outside of her knowing. The suggestion in PCT is then to handle anxiety by becoming actively 'aggressive' in exploring the area which is a source of anxiety: finding out the different kinds of implications related to it (not only the negative ones). And int PCT terms, this means broadening or dilation of perceptives, or its opposite: withdrawing altogether. I think that some applications are readily applied to stuttering, and will leave that to you to do.
Hope this is helpful.
Very best wishes,
Margaret.