Deciphering Motivation in Psychotherapy

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

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2. The Dialectics of Motivation

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Language and Intention

      • David M. Allen

      Pages 3-18

   3. Mixed Motivation and Language

      • David M. Allen

      Pages 19-32

   4. Ambiguity

      • David M. Allen

      Pages 33-56

   5. Selfishness and Altruism

      • David M. Allen

      Pages 57-72

   6. Distancing

      • David M. Allen

      Pages 73-84

3. Deciphering Motivation in Therapy

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 85-85

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   2. Deciphering Motivation in Psychotherapy

      • David M. Allen

      Pages 87-103

   3. Statements as Behavioral Cues

      • David M. Allen

      Pages 105-115

   4. The Language of Self-Suppression

      • David M. Allen

      Pages 117-141

   5. The Language of Role Function Ambivalence

      • David M. Allen

      Pages 143-174

4. Conclusion

   1. Conclusion

      • David M. Allen

      Pages 175-176

5. Back Matter

   Pages 177-187

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I have often stated to students that I felt that one of the most important characteristics of a psychotherapist is the ability to tolerate ambiguity. As Allen so aptly points out in this creative and valuable book, my observa­ tion contains an implicit assumption that requires a clear statement in order for it to be understood. Before ambiguity can be tolerated, it must be recognized. The psychotherapist who accepts the presentations of the pa­ tient at face value is never faced with the difficult problem of tolerating the ambiguity that is so intrinsic to the circumstances that bring many people to treatment. In this volume, Allen has undertaken the task of helping the reader to recognize ambiguity in all of its manifestations, to understand it better, and, having understood it, to help the patient to grow beyond it. Ambiguity, in Allen's view, arises from a dialectical conflict, whether it is between the self and the system, intrapsychic and wholly within the self, or social, when the individual is tom between competing reference groups. Psychotherapy is a process by which the dialectic can be brought to consciousness so that a synthesis can be achieved. The dialectic that engages the individual, and often is played out between the individual and the system, parallels the struggle between attachment and individuation.

• Individuation
• Motivation
• assessment
• conflict
• dialectic
• grammar
• psychotherapy
• semantics
• state
• therapy
• treatment
• literary diction

• Burbank, USA

  David M. Allen

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