Pre-Terapy A Treatment For Mental Retardation (Prouty, 2001)
Pre-Terapy A Treatment For Mental Retardation (Prouty, 2001)
Pre-Terapy A Treatment For Mental Retardation (Prouty, 2001)
In A. Dosen & K. Day (Eds.), Treating mental illness and behavior disorders in
children and adults with mental retardation (pp. 153-166). Washington, D.C.:
American Psychiatric Press. (2001).
HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDS.
Client-centered work with the schizophrenic population has also been quite limited.
Little work has been done since Wisconsin Project (Rogers et al, 1967). Although
these researchers did discern some positive results, they discovered that patients
did not accurately perceive the essential “Rogerian attitudes”; and, secondly, they
did not observe increased “experiencing” (i.e., the central “outcome” measure).
This research marked the end of Roger’s formal collaboration with American
psychiatry and drew to a close any major work with schizophrenic population.
Again, as with retardation research, there are European exceptions, such as Teusch
of Germany (Teusch, 1990; Teusch et al.1983). Although there are these notable
exceptions in the practice of client-centered therapy with retarded and
schizophrenic population, they do not provide a theoretical adaptation or evolution.
CLIENT-CENTERED THERAPY.
Person-Centered Experiencing.
Generally, we can describe Rogers as having described the therapist and Gendlin as
having described the patient. This is the rationale for modern label “person-
centered/experiential therapy”.
Person-Centered Contact.
Contact Reflections.
Contact reflections are a “pointing at the concrete” (Buber, 1964). They are
predicated on a conception of the phenomenon that is conceived “as itself”. The
phenomenon is conceived as “naturalistic” (i.e., exactly as it appears in
consciousness) (Faber, 1959). It is also described as “absolutely self-indicative”
(Sartre, 1956). This means that the phenomenon has no meaning beyond it’s
appearance. It is “nonsymbolic” (Scheler, 1953). This construction of the
phenomenon its particularly relevant because brain-damaged and schizophrenic
patients evince “concrete attitudes” (Arieti, 1955; Gurswitch, 1966). Contact
reflections are extraordinarily concrete and literal so as to respond to the “lived
experience” of concretely oriented, retarded, and schizophrenic patients.
Situational Reflections.
Facial Reflections.
Word-for-Word Reflections.
Many retarded and schizophrenic patients suffer from communication disorders. The
retarded psychotic and schizophrenic patients often manifest echolalia, “word
salad”, and neologisms. These are often mixed wit periods of being
incomprehensible. The rationale underlying word-for-word reflection is the
restoration/development of communicative contact. An example would be from
patient: “incoherent word”, “tree”, “incoherent word”, “boy”. The therapist would
reflect word for word: “tree”, “boy”.
Body Reflections.
Reiterative Reflections.
Reiteration is not a specific technique: it’s a principle. If any of the other four
contact reflections are successful in producing a patient response, repeat the
response. Reiterative contact is facilitative of the experiencing process. Contact
facilitates experiencing and relationship. Contact is “pre-experiential” and “pre-
relationship”.
Contact Functions.
Reality, affective, and communicative contact are our awareness of existence. Pre-
therapy is the resolution of existential autism (Prouty, 1994). It is the restoration or
development of contact with the “world”, “self”, or “other” (i.e., “existential
contact”) (Prouty, 1994).
Clinical Vignette.
Dorothy is an old woman of the more regressed women on X ward. She was
mumbling something (as she usually did). This time I could hear certain words in
here confusion. I reflected only the words I could clearly understand. After about 10
minutes, I could hear a complete sentence.
The patient led me to the corner of the day room. We stood there
silently for what seemed to be a very long time. Because I couldn’t
communicate with her, I watched her body movements and closely
reflected these.
She had been holding my hand all along, but when I reflected, she
would tighten her grip. Dorothy would begin to mumble word fragments.
I was careful to reflect only the words I could understand. was she was
saying began to make sense.
Patient: I don’t know what this is anymore. [Touching the wall (reality
contact)]: The walls and chairs don’t mean anything anymore
(existential autism).
After a while the patient began to talk again. This time she spoke clearly
(communicative contact).
The patient smiled and told me to sit in a chair directly in front of her
and began to braid my hair.
Reality, affective, and communicative contact are the theoretical goals of pre-
therapy. In existential-phenomenological terms, pre-therapy is the restoration
or development of existential contact between consciousness and the world,
self or other (i.e., the resolution of existential autism).
Contact Behaviors.
Early pilot studies provide some evidence to support construct validity and
reliability. Prouty (1994) presents data from a single case study of a mentally
retarded schizophrenic patient, indicating a correlation coefficient of 0,9966
between independent raters, with a P value of 0,0001. The t value was a 0,9864,
with a P value of 0,3528.
An evolved form of measurement for pre-therapy has been devised (Dinacci, 1994).
It more directly focuses on patient expression as an outcome.
PRE-THERAPY APPLICATIONS.
Empathy is also applied differently. Empathy is for the patient a literal “pre-
expressive” behavior because frequently the therapist does not know the patient’s
frame of reference, a classic phenomenological response is not possible. On a more
subtle level, empathy is for the patient’s efforts at expression and coherence.
Prouty and Kubiak (1988b) describe the use of contact reflections to resolve a
psychotic crisis with a mentally retarded schizophrenic patient. The case is
important because it illustrates the use of an empathy method without severe
controls or tranquilizing medications.
I pulled the van off the road and asked the volunteer to take the others
out of the van. I sat next to the patient, sharing the same seat. The
patient’s eyes were closed and here face was wincing with fear.
The patient continued to slip farther down in the seat, with here left arm
outstretched. Here eyes were still closed.
Therapist (body reflection): Your body is slipping down into the seat.
Your arm is in the air.
Therapist (situational reflection): We are in the van. You are setting
next to me.
Patient: [She begins to sob very hard. Her arms drop to her lap]. It was
the vacuum cleaner.
Patient: [Gives me direct eye contact]. She did it with vacuum cleaner.
[Now in a normal tone of voice]. I though it was gone. She used to turn
on the vacuum cleaner when I was bad and put the hose right on my
arm. I thought it sucked it in. [Less sobbing]. [It should be noted that
daily this patient would kiss her arm up to her elbow and stroke it
continuously].
Latter that afternoon a therapy session was held, and the patient began
to delve into here feelings regarding the punishment she received as a
child. Is should also be noted that the “kissing and stroking of arm”
behavior ceased.
The developments in theory and practice help dislodge the criticism that person-
centered therapy is mainly to well-functioning patients and not suitable for the
psychiatrically impaired patient. It also highlights the restoration/development of
reality, affective, and communicative functions necessary for psychotherapy to be
undertaken with psychotic mentally retarded patients.
REFERENCES.
Link en internet:
http://books.google.cl/books?
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