In the film series, Three Approaches to Psychotherapy III, psychologists discuss their therapeutic approach to psychotherapy. They analyze and demonstrate techniques of psychotherapy as practiced by the clinicians interviewing the same client named Richard. One psychologist in the film, Hans Strupp describes the interpersonal model of psychotherapy. The other psychologist in the series, Aaron Beck, explains the theory of cognitive thinking. Hans Strupp’s work was based on an interpersonal model. He explained the basic principles of interpersonal therapy.
He believes it is useful to view a patient’s problem as disturbances in interpersonal relationships. The therapist’s role is to identify these patterns in the patient’s life, to call them to the patient’s attention, to help the patient explore the effects of the pattern in the patient’s current life, and to provide a new relationship that can help to ease earlier damage. He said a therapist must attempt good human relationship with the patient, be caring, respectful, and a patient must be secure to express himself. The second thing was that good relationships is in all forms, but is not enough.
A therapist must take proper advantage of the patient’s maladaptive patterns because it shows serious obstacles in adult. Strupp stated one of Freud’s ideas that people tend to transfer their feelings interpersonally. The therapist must identify the problem, bring to attention, and help patient explore their problem, which takes time. Aaron Beck’s cognitive therapy, deals with the thoughts, and the negative things we tell ourselves that lead to bad feelings and clinical symptoms. Beck tells a patient how to identify his own negative thoughts and to accept them to help his anxiety, anger, and his depression.
He explained that a therapist must follow a blueprint to help the patient. He said that the patient perceives reality as an influential problem, will have difficulty solving problems, and have distorted beliefs. A depressed person sees a loser and anxious patients are always surrounded by danger. They tend to over generate things and tend to show all or no thinking. In interviewing Richard, Hans Strupp and Aaron Beck had similarities. They both approached the patient in a kind and respectful way. Strupp and Beck began asking about what the problem was and what he did.
Strupp had a little thinking in his therapy like Beck’s interview. At the end of the interview, they both asked Richard if he had any questions. There were also some differences in Hans Strupp and Aaron Beck’s approach to Richard’s therapy. I noticed that Aaron Beck used role-playing in his interview; Hans Strupp did not use role-playing. Hans Strupp’s interview was more of just asking questions and had no role-playing. Aaron Beck’s interview took some thinking in answering the questions. Beck began asking Richard how he felt in the beginning. At the end of the discussion, he also asked how he felt.
I do not think that Strupp asked Richard how he felt at the end of the discussion. The therapeutic approaches explained in the films were both effective approaches, but I thought Aaron Beck’s theory of cognitive thinking was most appealing to me. I liked the way Aaron Beck approached to Richard in the beginning by asking him how he felt. This would let Richard have a feeling of being secure. Beck wanted to show Richard that he was showing interest in caring and having respect. I thought Beck’s interview was a little more relaxing than Strupp’s interview.
