Chapter 7

Positive Psychotherapy and Other

Psychotherapies

Critique and Possibilities for Cooperation

THE PUPPET SHOW

A throng of people were packed into a puppeteer's tent, laughing loudly

as they watched the marionette show. Way at the back stood a father with
his son. While the father, on tiptoe, was just barely able to see the scenes,
his son's head reached only to the hip-sashes of those around hirn. He
practically stretched his neck out of joint, and finally cried until his father
put hirn on his shoulders. Was that adelight! High above all the turbans,
the young man now watched the amusing puppet show. He didn't cry any
more. Instead, he shouted with joy and jumped up and down on his
father's shoulders, as though he were the rider, and his father, the horse.
He animatedly pounded his fists on his father's head, kicked his feet
against his ehest, and completely forgot that he was sitting on his father.
Suddenly he noticed a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he turned around
and saw a dervish with a white beard looking kindly at hirn. "My son,"
said the latter, "you are amusing yourself very weil; you see the puppet
theater better than many others in the tent. But think about this: if your
father hadn't taken the trouble to put you on his shoulders, you would still
be standing down below, in the shadow of the others. So don't forget
whose shoulders you are sitting on. You should rejoice and be happy. But
you should also not forget the other person, upon whose shoulders you
are happily sitting." (Oriental story)

The mistrust of psychotherapy nowadays seems thoroughly justified in

view of its disorderly multiplicity and the arbitrariness of its orientations
and standards. In surgery, there are tried and true methods for stornach
366

The puppet show

operations, such as "Billroth I" and "Billroth 11." These methods are car-
ried out in precisely the same way in Frankfurt, Sydney, or Miami. Only
the manner of cutting and the size of the incision vary. A patient who is to
have a stornach operation can therefore be confident that he will be oper-
ated on according to tried and true principles.
For the most part, this certainty does not exist for someone who is suf-
fering from anxiety, depression, and inhibitions. Over 300 different
schools, orientations, and psychotherapeutic convictions offer hirn their
services, and this number is raised to some higher power by the fact that
practically every psychotherapist nurtures his own psychotherapy. The
picture is further complicated by the fact that by all appearances, in psy-
chotherapy everyone is at war with everyone else. A sad but good example
ofthis is offered by the perennial duel between psychoanalysis and behav-
ior therapy.
The leaming theorist Eysenck includes psychoanalysis in the group of
speculative methods "which are not empirically supported and can in no
wise be derived from the theoretical structure of psychology" (Eysenck,
1960; Rachman, 1963; Eysenck and Rachman, 1964). The psychoanalyst
A. Mitscherlich attacks from the other side: "Now, the interest in spectacu-
 367

lar success in healing has actually been somewhat displaced from psycho-
analysis to behavior therapy, which satisfies itself with a primitive psychol-
ogy, comparable to a hypnosis therapy" (1970, p.126). Almost all the
existing psychotherapeutic orientations claim for themselves a kind of
absoluteness. Many make such a claim tacitly, but some formulate it
emphatically. For example, Janov (1976): "Primal therapy makes the
claim that it heals mental illnesses. Furthermore, it claims to be the only
healing method. This implies that with this all other psychological theories
are refuted and must be regarded as outdated. This me ans that there can
only be one valid method for the treatment of neuroses and psychoses"
(p.12).
This quotation from Janov is well-nigh symptomatic ofthe situation in
psychotherapy, in which the desperate struggle for exclusiveness has prac-
tically taken on the character of a holy war. If we postulate that each of
these psychotherapeutic orientations contains at least a partial truth, and
has proven valid in a practical way with certain groups of ailments, the sit-
uation for the potential patient becomes hazy. Whether he, with his partic-
ular pathological profile, happens upon a therapist who follows the thera-
peutic orientation appropriate for his network of problems is a matter of
chance. In the last analysis, the psychotherapeutic holy war is waged on
the backs ofthe patients. Insofar as they are not ofthe same orientation, or
better still, belong to one and the same school of thought, there prevails
among psychotherapists a tense relationship, involving mistrust and mis-
understandings. They speak different languages and emphasize different
points.
The psychotherapeutic orientations become one-sided when it comes to
determining the focal conflict areas. Psychoanalysis pi aces sexuality in the
center and regards the other conflict areas merely as epiphenomena. Indi-
vidual psychology (A. Adler, R. Dreikurs) stresses rivalry and competitive
struggle, and consequently accentuates the achievement-oriented (profes-
sional) domain.
The analytical psychology of C. G. Jung strives for self-realization as the
goal of therapy, while existential analysis orientations, such as V. Frankl's
logotherapy, see unsatisfactorily answered questions of meaning as the
cause of neuroses. "For psychoanalysis, man was in the last analysis a
being dominated by the so-called pleasure principle, i. e., by a will to plea-
sure; and for individual psychology he was a being determined by the so-
called desire to dominate, i. e., by a will to power. In reality, man is
governed most deeply by a will to meaning" (Y. Frankl, 1973).
If all these domains playa role in man's development and in conflicts,
there is no intuitively obvious reason why we should, at the outset, select
368

just one of them as the only possible battlefield for psychological and
social psychological altercations. Is it not the case instead that this deci-
sion depends, in patient-oriented observation, primarilyon the individual
case, and only secondarily on the therapist's theoretical orientation?
Seldom does an isolated conflict concern just one of the domains men-
tioned. Rather, conflicts in one domain are related to misunderstandings
and one-sidedness in the other domains. The question as to which sphere
of conflict is considered is related to the thematie orientation. In addition,
at present the topographical dimension is acquiring significance.
The methods which are oriented toward the bodily functions, e. g., psy-
chiatry and neurology, confront the psychological orientations, in which
the whole person, with his experience and behavior, is seen as the only
basic unit (psychoanalysis, depth psychology, behavior therapy). These, in
turn, are at variance with the sociological approach, which gives priority to
social interaction and the sociopolitical structures and functions. All three
points of view have proven valid in psychotherapy, and have developed
their own therapeutic approaches. Their origins are historically grounded,
but all have finally led to one curious fact: all three approaches are in a
way sterile, in that they postulate a construct according to which man
exists mainly in the physical or psychological or sociological domain, and
ignore or make light of the other functional domains.
Through the great trichotomy of medicine, psychology, and sociology,
the reality of man is cut up into three parts. This cleavage in the division of
labor produces secondary problems which do not occur in human reality.
More recently, it has ceased to be customary to formulate theories in such
an extreme manner. The other domains are accorded a certain signifi-
cance, but are raised to a nonbinding level of generalities, the suggestion
being that besides this or that principal domain, others are also involved.
In the final analysis this is merely a compromise formula, on the basis of
which, nevertheless, a minimum of communication among the different
orientations may be established.
Positive Psychotherapy employs the expressions body, environment, and
time, which are not conceptually equivalent to physical, psychological,
and social. The body encompasses the somatic; the environment, the
social psychological; and time, the integrative aspect which brings
together body and environment into a uni ted, dynamic, and open system.
Moreover, today's psychotherapeutic orientations differ along the method-
ologieal dimension. Since interpersonal relationships in general reflect
fusion, differentiation, and breakaway, this also holds true for that special
case which we call psychotherapy: it seems that the different therapeutic
orientations emphasize different stages of interaction.
 369

With varying accentuation, psychoanalysis places the two interaction

stages of fusion and breakaway in the foreground. What we call the prob-
lem oftransfer, which as a personal attachment between therapist and pa-
tient persistently influences the course of therapy, is in the last analysis a
balancing act among mutual trust, budding and exaggerated emotional
attachment, and sacrifice to the psychoanalytic reality principle. This bal-
ancing act only allows such emotional relationships within a limited
sphere and for arestricted period of time, and suspends the striving for
fusion, through breakaway. Likewise, behind the resistances toward psy-
chotherapy are hidden ambivalent breakaway tendencies, which is in fact
what the concept of ambivalence refers to in the field of tension between
fusion and breakaway.
Behavior therapy, with its learning theory orientation, places the accent
elsewhere. At least its classics attributed to fusion at the most a peripheral
significance. Thus, Eysenck and Rachman (1964) wrote, "Personal rela-
tionships are not essential for the healing of neurotic disturbances,
although they can be useful under certain circumstances." Many patients
perceive the paucity of fusion as rejection. Here, the therapeutic relation-
ship is reduced to a purelytechnical relationship between patient and thera-
pist, bearing in mind learning theory regularities. The procedures of
behavior therapy pay little attention to childish desires for attachment. In
this sense, behavior therapy is merely an unlearning process and practice
in independence.
Each of the orientations namend goes into theoretically relevant factors,
and corresponds to certain groups of patients and symptom profiles. But it
isn 't very useful to a patient who is in need of a lengthy process of building
up of trust to suddenly be confronted with information and differentia-
tions, nor can activity exclusively within the realm of fusion - breakaway
help a patient who greatly needs such differentiation learning and experi-
ences. Confronting a patient too so on with breakaway demands is like
throwing hirn in the water before he can swim. On the other hand, to leave
a patient in emotional dependency on the therapist only repeats the
ambivalence of the parent-child relationship. B. Fittkau and F. Schulz von
Thun (1976) distinguish, analogously to fusion, differentiation, and break-
away, three ways oflearning: one's own experience, transmission ofinfor-
mation, and behavior training - which in the realm of the personality
correspond to the cognitive, emotional, and action domains. They arrive
at the following conclusion: "An instructional message which is to ad-
dress the whole person (and not only, for example, his cerebral cortex)
must be correspondingly multifarious, or else the danger exists of further
rigidifying the one-sided training of one area of the personality and the
370

."..o~VC5-
0°°'0<::-
Q,..;s:- <:::-0~ Break awayL L L
~ ;y.(::'Q, Differentiat ion/ / /
Fusion / / /
Sociological
3 domain
:.c
g..§ Psychological
0, ~ domain
o <lJ
Q.E
~ '6 Bodily
domain
Sexuallty Religion
..
Profession
Thematic dimension
Dimensions of the psychotherapeutic orientation

disintegration and incongruence among the three domains" (1976,

p.62ff.).
It is fundamental, therefore, that at least the three dimensions, the the-
matic, the topographieal, and the methodologieal, be checked out before a
decision is reached as to which preventive, treatment, and follow-up mea-
sures are to be taken. Triying to exorcise a marital problem with tranquilizers
is just as nonsensical as trying to heal a brain tumor psychotherapeutically.
Tracing occupational problems just to sexuality or to an unanswered ques-
tion of meaning, or transmitting differentiation to a patient when he needs
fusion, amounts to the same thing.
These are naturally only examples of possible mistakes due to one-sided
weighting ofthe thematic, topographieal, and methodological dimensions.
Besides these three dimensions, additional factors are to be taken into
account, especially the therapeutic significance of past, present, and
future, the modes of the basic capacities, and the actual capacities.
Although the modes of the basic capacities are hardly singled out
expressly in any psychotherapeutic theory, they can be recognized in all
characteristic predilections or rejections, which thus repeat the one-sided-
ness which we have described as being characteristic of neurotic experi-
ence and behavior. The one-sidedly oriented psychotherapeutic approaches
replicate the neurotic concepts of individuals: orthodox psychoanalysis
holds to one concept which is similar to that of the sexual neurotic; dog-
matic behavior therapy postulates a largely compulsive concept; while
 371

existential analysis and its corresponding depth psychological orientations

reproduce a noogenetic- neurotic concept.
Having come to the plausible conclusion that psychological distur-
bances develop in the soil of the past, psychoanalysts and depth psycholo-
gists place the li fe history at the center of treatment. The psychoanalyst, for
example, attempts, with the help of his method, to illuminate certain criti-
cal periods of early childhood. In contrast, behavior therapy concerns
itself only superficially with the past. "Every treatment of neurotic distur-
bances has to do with habits which exist in the present. The biographical
development is for the most part irrelevant" (Eysenck and Rachman,
1964). Its field of action is the present, just as nondirective psychotherapy
(Rogers) and Gestalt therapy (Perls) tend, on the basis oftheir concepts, to
focus on the present. Depth psychological orientations, in the sense of
existential analysis, largely overlook the past and present, taking the future
as the starting point for therapy.
With a considerable number of patients, the task of therapy can be satis-
factorily discharged ifthey obtain access to their past. The principal aim is
attitude change, primarily concerning the self-concept. With other pa-
tients, the predominant need is to break habits and build up alternative
behaviors, i.e., functions related to the present: changes in behavior are
sought which prove advantageous in the patient's social praxis. For many
patients, the future is doubtful. One may indeed dismiss this problem as a
false problem or a rationalization, but for many patients it is a real prob-
lem, which the therapist should not ignore or belittle as infantile behavior.
A further area of difference relates to the modes. Certain mo des are
favored and are employed as therapeutic instruments or criteria of the aim
of therapy. Thus, the various therapeutic orientations accord varying sig-
nificance to the modes of the capacity to know and the instrumentalities of
the senses, of reason, of tradition, and of intuition, or operationalize them
in different ways. In psychoanalysis, intuition/fantasy appears in connec-
tion with the therapy-sustaining free association. In behavior therapy, it
appears as the ability of imagination, in connection with the visualization
of conflict situations in systematic desensitizing. The modes of the capac-
ity to love - I, Thou, We, and Origin- We - are addressed against the
background of the basic question concerning the nature of the neurosis.
Gebsattel defends the view that the pivotal syndrome of every neurosis is a
disturbance of the self-to-oneself relationship, of the behavior of one's self
towards one's own becoming. Moreover, partiality toward certain modes
influences the therapeutic procedure, determining whether individual
therapy or group therapy should be carried out and what the goal of treat-
ment should be: the "conflict-free ego sphere," "the ability to find the
372

Thou," "to become group-capable or societally capable," "to find a satis-

factory answer concerning the meaning, or at least the purpose, oflife."
Another dimension on which the various forms of psychotherapy differ
is hinted at by their mostly tacit attention to the actual capacities. The clar-
ification of the actual capacities can take place purely accidentally, and
nevertheless lead to a change in attitude and behavior. This is the case in
the classical forms of psychotherapy, when in connection with interpreta-
tions, associations, or spontaneous remarks, the corresponding capacities
are focalized.
Furthermore, the therapeutic orientation can take into account certain
actual capacities and strive to work through them. In psychoanalysis, for
example, early childhood toilet training or sexual development is dealt
with, and in addition thrift behavior or "punctuality," to the degree that
they concern the relationship of the patient to the therapy. Individual psy-
chology, to cite another example, focuses on the themes of "feeling of
solidarity" and "rivalry"; the former pi aces the actual capacity "contact"
in the foreground, the latter, the actual capacities "justice," "modeling,"
and "achievement." In other words, certain actual capacities are assigned
predetermined importance on the basis of the therapeutic orientation,
although they may or may not be significant for the case at hand. Even
when, in the therapeutic dialog, other actual capacities are brought to
mind, it is of course only the selected actual capacities that are theoreti-
cally considered and can be worked through within the preordained theo-
retical system, e. g., in psychoanalysis the patient's "thrift" in connection
with the anal phase (toilet training).
In addition, the actual capacities are considered in a way which corre-
sponds with the symptomatology. Thus with a patient who is socially
inhibited and can't stand up for his own interests, behavior therapy tackles
the theme of "courtesy- honesty" with the help of self-affirmation training.
In principle, all the actual capacities can be encompassed, although only
when they already possess a symptomatic character, and are therefore neg-
atively loaded. The patient's positive qualities, which constitute the starting
pointfor treatment in Positive Psychotherapy, remain outside thefield ofvision.
Positive Psychotherapy is not to be understood as one method among
others. Rather, it offers an instrumentarium by means of which one can
select the methodological approaches appropriate in a specific case, and
how these methods can be alternated. Positive Psychotherapy is thus a
metatheory of psychotherapies. We understand psychotherapy to be not
just an established method to be applied to certain symptom profiles, but
at the same time as areaction to existing societal, transcultural, and social
conditions.
 373

Positive Psychotherapy as Brief Therapy

The situation today demands the development of methods which are as

economical as they are effective. Above and beyond the technical question
of psychotherapeutic procedure, the question of contents is important, as
is the question of which criteria are to be used to describe and work
through the existing conflict.
The demand for abrief therapy is acquiring increasing significance.
Nevertheless, the conception that in psychotherapy, too, brevity is the soul
of wit, seems not without problems. Behind this is hidden, as Freud was
not mistaken in pointing out, a kind of therapeutic impatience which sub-
ordinates the guidelines of therapy to the societal achievement principle
(S. Freud, "Die endliche und unendliche Analyse," 1937). The underlying
vision may weIl be the nightmare of psychotherapy as an assembly line. Of
course, the demand originates not only in the orientation ofthe society but
also in the patient's vital need for a therapy which is not interminable.
When S. Freud wrote, "I am beginning to understand that the seeming
unendlessness of the treatment is something regular, that it depends on
transfer, and that it brings about an asymptotic conclusion to the treat-
ment," and when he viewed such an asymptotic conclusion with mixed
feelings, he was making a demand for a kind oftherapeutic perfectionism.
This is a manifestation of an idealization of "health," according to the
rigid standards of which no human being can actually be healthy.
Taking the place of the ideal of health in Positive Psychotherapy is the
enabling of the patient to dominate inward and outward problems as they
arise. Healthy is not he who has no problems, but he who is able to deal with
them. So psychotherapy is not just an instrument for treatment. Rather
according to Positive Psychotherapy it plays a central role in eliminating
conflicts as they arise, in transmitting specific and universal possibilities
for resolution of problems, and in enabling the patient to carry out effec-
tive self-help. A person who is incapable of anxiety, grief, depression, or
occasional compulsions is not a perfect human being, but rather a person
whose growth has been stunted with respect to these possibilities for
unfoldment. When S. Freud, in his paper on analysis with and without
end, detects behind the efforts to shorten the duration of analysis a "resi-
due of that impatient deprecation with which an earlier period of medi-
cine had regarded the neuroses" (1937, p.375), his interpretation is highly
problematic and questionable. For the therapist, therapy, from beginning
to end, can be a ritual which he is prepared to offer endless patience; how-
ever, only in exceptional cases is this also true of the patient, who, against
the purity of the ritual, demands his right to health.
374

The treatment in Positive Psychotherapy is constitutionally abrief ther-

apy which proceeds in a conflict-centered, thematic, and contents-
oriented manner. It is precisely this contents orientation, in contrast to the
often quite unspecific dynamic way of proceeding, which makes possible
a directed working out ofthe underlying conflict and ofthe symptomatol-
ogy which has developed, as we have illustrated in the case of Mrs. Ute S.
This is why Positive Psychotherapy as brief therapy is of universal applicabil-
ity because it can go into the specific peculiarities of each individual case
and purposefully employ special procedures within the framework of dif-
ferentiation analysis. Thus Positive Psychotherapy is able to ejJectively treat
a relatively large spectrum of social-psychologically conspicuous behavior
and disturbanees.
Through its two-dimensional procedure - dynamic and contents-
related - Positive Psychotherapy is in a position to describe transcultural
problems which fall through the net of a merely dynamically oriented
model. Structural characteristics such as regularities of learning and of
psychodynamics are supplemented through patterns of evaluations of
sociocultural norms specific to cultural groups and to individuals. In gen-
eral, the transcultural problematic is reflected within a single society in the
relationships among social strata and classes. In that it does not give pref-
erential treatment to certain values wh ich essentially reflect the claims of a
ruling social stratum. Positive Psychotherapy is in a position to provide ther-
apy to all patients. independently of their social strata. The expressions
employed in Positive Psychotherapy, especially the actual capacities, meet
the various linguistic styles and speech habits of the different social strata
half way. Everyone, regardless of whether he speaks the language of the
lower class or the middle class, knows wh at punctuality iso Its meaning in
the case at hand must be worked out jointly by therapist and patient.

Po itive P ychotherapy i not, however, ju tabrief therapy compara-

ble perhap with the application of penicillin during an infection. In
fact it doe ha e omething of reud' unending analy i although not
in the en e of an interminable belaboring of a pa t which it elf doe
have an end, but rather in a omewhat modified en e: the patient
timulated guided and controlled through Po itive P ychotherapy
con ciou Iy perceive the po ibilitie for elf-help offered him, and
thu in a way prolong the p ychotherapy and make it unending. 17/i
expon ion ofp ychotherap) i a fir f (ep foward fhe goal of making psy-
chofherapy uperjluou .
 375

Positive Psychotherapy and Other Theories

In the following, we will concern ourselves with certain aspects ofthe rela-
tionship between Positive Psychotherapy and other psychotherapeutic ori-
entations. From among the large number of psychotherapeutic orienta-
tions, we have selected a few which currently shape the countenance of
psychotherapy, at least in the German-speaking countries. In order to
make possible an overview, we have summarized some of the essential
traits of these psychotherapeutic approaches, mainly as an orientational
aid. Our purpose in so doing is not so much to single out the differences
between Positive Psychotherapy and the other theories and forms of treat-
ment. When we point out differences, we do so with the intention of indi-
cating the direction that constructive cooperation might take. This cooper-
ation can occur in two ways: through favorable therapeutic approaches
being incorporated into the differentiation-analytic treatment plan, and
through differentiation-analytic approaches being applied within the
framework of other psychotherapeutic methods. To be sure, aprerequisite
for this is a certain distancing from psychotherapeutic dogmatism.

1. Positive Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis

Theory of Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, postulated that early life

experiences largely determine the shape of the personality, and that what a
person experiences after his childhood hardly changes the structure of his
personality. Subsequent experiences can, however, cause earlier conflicts
to be relived. Underlying every action is the effort to obtain pleasure and
avoid pain. At the beginning of his life, man strives for pleasure without
regard for the consequences. He is controlled by the pleasure principle,
which corresponds to the id, the source of all drive-based desires, which
are principally of a sexual nature. In time, he orients hirnself more and
more to the conditioning factors of reality, which can be summed up
abstractly as the reality principle. The task of adaptation to reality, of plan-
ning and controlling, falls to the ego. The behavior of older children and
adults is formed through moral value judgments, through the superego,
which is acquired in the course of the child's adaptation to the given
behavior standards.
376

It follows from psychoanalytic theory that the source of a neurosis is

supraindividual. Freud held that the nucleus of every neurosis was the
Oedipus complex, which arises out of sexual desire for the parent of the
opposite sex and fear of punishment (castration anxiety). "The Oedipus
complex constitutes both the normal apex of infantile sexual development
and the basis of all neuroses" (0. Fenichel, 1945, p.l08). Psychoanalytic
therapy strives to bring unconscious, repressed contents into conscious-
ness. Its method is free association: the patient is called upon to share with
the analyst everything that comes into his head. In the course of time the
analyst analyzes and interprets the material, until the psychological con-
nection between the events of the past and the patient's current problems
becomes clear to hirn and the patient.

Possibilities for Translation

The terminological system of psychoanalysis can be translated into the

expressions of Positive Psychotherapy, and vice versa. Even if after these
translations there remains a residue which can only be explained through
the corresponding theoretical system, such a translation does help one to
see well-known phenomena in a new light. We will restrict ourselves to a
few poignant examples, thus suggesting transfer to other expressions.

Superego
Psychoanalysis: In general, the super- Positive Psychotherapy:The superego,
ego corresponds to what is called con- as the locus of psychological represen-
science. However, in contrast to the tation of social psychological norms, is
conscience, the superego is often related, in terms of contents, to the pat-
largely or fully unconscious. It is origi- tern of actual capacities which influ-
nally dervied from the internalized pic- ences our behavior and experience. We
tures ofthe moral aspects ofthe parents thus no longer speak in general terms
in early childhood (after Brenner, about the superego, but rather talk
1967). about what the superego is related to:
to orderliness, punctuality, honesty,
faithfulness, diligence, thrift, etc.
Identification
Psychoanalysis: "Displacement of Positive Psychotherapy: Certain aspects
drive-based psychological reactions of roles and behavior, which can be
(libidinous and aggressive energies) to described through the actual capacities,
goals and objects that are not primarily are adopted. For example, one identi-
drive-related (such as in artistic occupa- fies with the mother's orderliness, but
tions and during creative intellectual rejects her idea of punctuality.
activity)" (S. Goeppert, 1976, p.229).
 377
Sublimation
Psychoanalysis: Transfer of primary Positive Psychotherapy: The expression,
process-related drive impulses into "sublimation," implies a standard indi-
socially more highly valued behavioral cating which behavior is less highly and
express ions (after Freud, 1941). which more highly valued. Such a stan-
dard is not absolute, but rather depen-
dent on the cultural reference system.
In principle, sublimation means an
increasing differentiation of the basic
and the actual capacities.
Regression
Psychoanalysis: Falling back from a Positive Psychotherapy:The charaeteris-
genetically later to a genetically earlier tic behavior at an attained level of
stage of development, as a consequence development, as weil as the regression
of a severe frustration (after F. Fanai, originating at that point, is to be
1972). described within the psychosocial value
system. Backsliding into autoerotic sex-
uality can be conceived of in this sense
as a positive imprinting of sexuality, the
instrumentalities of the senses, and the
attitude toward the I, while a deficit
exists with regard to contact and the
attitude toward the Thou.
Sexuality
Psychoanalysis: For psychoanalysis, Positive Psychotherapy: Sexuality is one
sexuality (libido) is a basic phenome- ofthe actual capacities. It can be a basic
non, and, as a drive, one of the most phenomenon or an epiphenomenon; in
essential sources ofhuman energy. Dis- this sense, its disturbances can be
turbances of the discharge of libido regarded as consequences of other con-
manifest themselves in a multitude of flicts, as weil as causes of conflicts. Sex-
psychological and psychosomatic uality is thus not just a drive, but also, in
symptoms. Sexuality is related not only its shaping, acquired behavior. If we
to the sex organs but also to the zones ask ourselves which factors model sex-
which, at a certain stage of develop- uality, we encounter the domain of
ment, occupy a central position in eroti- socialleaming, the actual capacities,
cism and satisfaction. and the modes of the basic capacities,
e. g., a sexual disturbance due to exces-
sive punctuality demands or in connec-
ti on with pronounced achievement
motivation. In Positive Psychotherapy,
a distinction is made between sex-sex-
uality and love.
Penis Envy
Psychoanalysis: Corresponding to Positive Psychotherapy: In that which is
young men's castration anxiety is a feel- described as penis envy, two key con-
ing ofhumiliation in girls, because they fliets playa role: First, the man - woman
378

lack a penis. As a consequence of this misunderstanding, considering that it

recognition, there develop intense feel-
ings of shame, inferiority, and jealousy,
as weil as anger at the mother, who let
her be born without a penis (after Bren-
ner, 1974).
Sadomasochism
Psychoanalysis: Sexual pleasure
through infliction of or submission to
pain and humiliation (after Freud).
Freudian Slips
Psychoanalysis: An intention to remem-
ber, do, or say something is disturbed
through a mostly unconscious counter-
intention. Example: Es sind doch be-
sondere Menschen, sie haben alle Geiz
- ich wollte sagen Geist" (after
S. Freud, 1941). (They're all special peo-
pie, you know; they're all greedy - I
mean spirited.)
cannot be taken for granted that in and
of itself, and without culturally condi-
tioned evaluation, the possession of a
penis represents an advantage. Second,
there is a problem of justice here, in
which sex role is connected to an expe-
rienced injustice, blocking the relation-
ship to the individual uniqueness.
Positive Psychotherapy: Related not
only to sexuality; can also appear in
connection with certain actual capaci-
ties. Example : tendency to be impunc-
tual and to find confirmation in the
punishment for tardiness.
Positive Psychotherapy: In terms of con-
tents, several causes can be found for
Freudian slips. One of them is the rela-
tion between courtesy and honesty: the
courteous concept is disturbed by an
aggressive, honest impulse.

CooperatioD and Critique: We have already gone into certain critical

a e me nt of p ychoanaly i . Foremo t among the e i the critique of
the p ychoanalytical view of man which equate man biologically with
the animal, and demand the uppre ion of dangerou drive . P ycho-
analy i defend the hypothe i that the adult fundamentally can no
longer be appreciably influenced by hi ocial environment; "Only in
the pha e of childhood and youth 0 long a the p ychological organi-
zation, and e pecially the ego- tructure i not yet fully difTerentiated
and e tabli hed do exchange with extemal reality have a more or le
ub tantial influence on the con titution of the individual' (H. E. Rich-
ter 1975).
For it part Po itive P ychotherapy defend the view that environ-
mental influence continually afTect the individual, and that prior e p -
rience in the en e of microtrauma , form the frame of reference for
ub equent experience. ot only early childhood but each and every
 379

period of development ha p ychological effect . Thi hypothe i

become comprehen ible only through the conten a pect, which p y-
choanaly i con iders only peripherally.
The "id' of p ychoanaly i appears within Po itive P ychotherapy in
the categorie of body and in trumentalitie of the en e. ot only the
drive-dynamic point of view i con idered but al 0 the bodily func-
tion and the body a the organic ub tratum of behavior.
The" uperego" i de cribed in term of content through the p ycho-
ocial norm and 'actual capacitie ." In the proce , the actual capaci-
tie take on variou meaning. At one time they are ocietal rule of
behavior' at another the norm in effect in primary group the value
tandard and ideal aim internalized by the individual, and finally the
capacitie inherent in man.
orre pondingly, the "ego" or ''I'' ha in Po itive P ychotherapy a
dual ignment. It not only mediate between the uppre ed ocietal
demand and the individual drive but i at the ame time the locu of
the capacitie which are making them elve manife t. The function of
reality te ting i do ely connected to the pecifically human capacity to
ynchronize and integrate in experience and behavior the categorie of
the time dirnen ion: pa t pre ent, and future.
The confrontation between one' own need and the demand ofthe
environment take pI ace within a framework of ocial p ychological
norm (the actual capacitie ), the hi tory ofwhich unfold within a per-
on p ychological organization. Po iti e P ychotherapy thu directly
appropriate concept of ocial behavior. The con equence for Po iti e
P ychotherapy i a follow : contrary to da ical p ychoanalytical ori-
entation , which try to have the patient reli e within the therapi t- pa-
tient relation hip the childhood ituation of the parent- child relation-
hip and which \! ould prefer to regard the other en ironmental facta
a nui ance variable , differentiation-analytic procedure pay pecial
attention to the ocial reality of the patient. It i i/l Ihis light that the
t"ree-part dijJerentiation-analytic procedure become intelligible: rearillg
- elfhelp - ps)'chotherapy.
ontained in Po itive P ychotherapy are dear-cut analytical ele-
ment , e pecially in the econd tage - that of making an inventory
which con ide the ba ic connict - and in the fourth tage - verbaliza-
tion, which al 0 permit the technique of free a ociation and interpre-
tation by the therapi t. Vice ve a, differentiation-analytical element
may be integrated into p ychoanaly i . pecially uited to thi i the
content -related, actual capacity-oriented procedure. The focal proce-
380

dure, guided by the actual capacitie , facilitate control of the dynamic

factors e ential to p ychoanalytical procedure uch the tran fer
mechani m , regre ion, and re i tance .
an example of a pec of Po itive P ychotherapy in p ychoanaly-
i , we bave elected a ca e reported by the neo-Freudian p ychoana-
Iy tKaren Homeywhichbroadlycorre pond totheca eofUteS. nder
Homey' guidance,thepatient lare carriedouta elf-analy i :
"After everal month of not very productive effort at elf-analy i, lare
awoke one unday moming furiou Iy angry at an author who hadn'( kept hi
promi e 10 end an artide 10 the magazine he put out. he couldn't tand it that
people had to be 0 unreliable. It oon occurred to her that her anger wa out of
all proportion. The whole ituation wa hardly important enough to wake her
up at five in the moming. The mere recognition of a di crepancy between the
anger and the 0 ten ible motive enabled her to recognize the true cau e of the
anger. The actual cau e likewi e concemed unreliability but in a thing which
wa do er to her heart. Her boyfriend, Peter, who had gone away on bu ine ,
hadn'( come back by the weekend a he had promi ed. Strictly peaking, he
hadn't made a firm commitment, but he had aid thai he would probably be
back aturday. He wa never preci e and unambiguou in anything he told
he elf; he alway rai ed her hope and then di appoinled her. The fatigue that
he had feit the night before and that he had attributed to too much work mu t
have been areaction to her di appointment. She had dedined a dinner invita-
tion becau e he wa hoping for an evening with Peter, and when that didn't
happen he had gone 10 a movie. he could never keep an appointment
becau e Peter hated to definitely commit hirn elf in advance. The re ult wa
that he kept a many evenings free a he could, and the que tion alway tor-
mented her whether he would be together with her or not." (Karen Homey,
SelfAllalysis. 1942)

The analy i wa aimed at the patient' eparation anxietie in connec-

ti on with a threatened object 10 at her infantile need for protection,
and her emotional dependency. The e theme were worked on in a
four-year-long treatment, with the help of dream and a ociation.
Ju t in the text quoted here we find a number of hint at connict-
laden actual capacitie, uch a reliability, punctuality, tru t, hope, con-
tact, and time. In Po itive P ychotherapy, actual capacitie in which the
an iety i expre ed replace the eparation anxiety itself. In thi ca e,
the main point wa the patient' attitude of pa ive waiting vi -a-vi
reliability and punctuality. Merely the Iran lation of the eparation
anxiety into actual capacitie open up new therapeutic po ibilitie
which, a we have hown in the ca e of Mrs. Ute ., can lead out of the
carou el of connict.
 381

2. Positive Psychotherapy and Behavior Therapy

Theory oJ Behavior Therapy

Behavior therapy is based on leaming theory, whieh posits that behavior is

leamed in aceordanee with a stimulus (S) - response (R) model. It has
been possible to test and support this theory in a large number of seientific
experiments. Behavior therapy sees symptoms as unsuitable responses,
and regards them as a proof offalse leaming. The eure is obtained through
the treatment of the symptom, i. e., through the extinguishing of unsuitable
conditioned responses and the strengthening of desired ones. Aeeording
to Eysenek (Eysenck and Raehman, 1964), treatment of symptoms leads to
lasting improvements, provided that both autonomous and eonditioned
reflexes of the motor apparatus are extinguished.
Leaming theory does not impute neuroses to any kind of "uneonscious"
eauses, but rather regards neurotic symptoms simply as aequired habits.
"There is no neurosis underlying the symptom, but rather just the symp-
tom itself. Eliminate the symptom, and you make the neurosis disappear."
The development of soeially desirable ways of behaving is traeed to a pro-
eess of building up of eonditioned reflexes (Mowrer, 1950). Aeeordingly,
undesired ways of behaving are immediately punished and eonditioned
responses established. "In this way there develops in the growing ehild,
through the conditioned responses, a whole moral system, whieh can
finally take on the form of a 'eonseienee'" (Eysenek and Raehmann,
1964).

Possibilities Jor Translation

Desired and Undesired Behavior

Behavior Therapy: What is socially
desirable or undesirable behavior is
taken for granted by behavior therapy.
Painful pressure, societal consensus,
and views of parents or teachers are the
criteria by which undesirable behavior
is then extinguished and desirable
behavior built up.
Positive Psychotherapy: "Difficulties in
interaction are not reduced to formulas
('undesirable ways of behaving'); they
are made concrete in terms of contents,
in the form of the secondary and pri-
mary capacities, and are systematized
in the Differentiation-Analytic Inven-
tory" (H. Deidenbach, 1975).

Punishment
Behavior Therapy: Punishment is a Positive Psychotherapy: The basic struc-
method of behavior control. It is a ture of reward and punishment is the
procedure by which an aversive stimu- relationship between justice and love.
382

lus is made contingent on a response Punishment and reward occur in accor-

(after Cristoph-Lemke, 1974).
Extroversion -Introversion
Behavior Therapy: According to
Eysenck, extroversion-introversion,
alongside neuroticism, describes an
essential dimension of the personality.
The typical extrovert is socially open,
loves company, has many friends, etc.
The typical introvert is peaceful, with-
draws, is inclined to self-observation,
and loves books more than people.
Selfassertiveness Training
Behavior Therapy: Self-assertiveness
training, developed by Salter in 1950,
postulates that all neurotic ailments are
to be traced to exaggerated inhibition.
The goal oftherapy must therefore be
to elevate the patient's level of stimu-
lation. As an example, Salter cites
inhibited alcoholic patients, who rate
themselves as timid, react in a sensitive
way to criticism, and are annoyed by
humiliating experiences. For them, self-
assertiveness is appropriate (after
Eysenck, 1964).
dance with existing societal, group, and
individual norms with regard to perfor-
mance, which can be described through
the actual capacities. Example: "Once
when I took some money, my father
locked me up in the house for three
days."
Positive Psychotherapy: In the milieu of
the extroverted type we find a rein-
forced valuation ofthe We and ofhones-
ty. In contrast, the introvert seems to
stress more the areas of diligence/
achievement, the relationship to an
objective Thou, and courtesy.
Positive Psychotherapy: Self-assertive-
ness concems the relationship between
courtesy and honesty. Here, courtesy
means inhibited, especially aggression-
inhibited behavior, which stands in the
way of an honest self-assertiveness; i. e.,
exaggerated considerateness, sacrifice
of one's own interests, and diffidence.
While in self-assertiveness training hon-
esty is accorded priority, in courtesy-
honesty training the patient leams to
integrate both actual capacities in a way
which is satisfying to hirn. As the key
conflict, courtesy - honesty is further
related to other actual capacities: "I
didn't have the courage to tell hirn that
I didn't think it was right for hirn to
make long distance calls from my
phone" (courtesy, honesty, thrift).

Cooperation and Critique: It may be ob erved that the greate t uc-

ce e of beha ior therapy occur mainly with patient with largely i 0-
lated ymptom, for example, individual anxietie . Thi approach
which con i t in applying the therapeutic method directly to the ymp-
tom doe make po ible more or le exact control of the outcome of
 383

therapy, but difficultie are bound to ari e when a comple multifar-

iou ymptomatology exi ts, when the ymptom are 0 tightly inter-
wo en that the unraveling of the eparate ymptom profile i carcely
po ible, and when the ymptom profile eem diffu e and undifferen-
tiated 0 that there appea to be no po ible approach to directed
behavior modification (Gelder and Mark 1966, 1969; Lazaru 1963;
Meyer and he er, 1971). uch profile can be found, for example,
with comple' anxietie in depre ive and p ycho omatically ill pa-
tient . For ituational frigidity which may be ob erved a inadequate
reaction to a certain man (all too often the hu band), be ha ior therapy
has no y tematic po ibilitie for treatment. Wolpe (1972) expre e
thi difficulty in a refre hingly hone t way: "In uch a ca e,' he write
"I don't know what to do." In contra tuch a ca e would be a " how-
piece" for Po iti e P ychotherapy. With regard to the e difficultie , the
newer development in behavior therapy increa ingly include cognitive
technique.
The beha ior therapy approach ha proved relati ely narrow, e pe-
ciall ince it largely refrain from con idering uch dimen ion of
human per onality a eem to defy objectification and operationaliza-
tion.
Element of behavior therapy are found e pecially in the third tage
ofthe differentiation-analytic treatment plan that of ituational encour-
agement. Here in addition to function of attitude change, proce e of
leaming theory are et into motion. imilar in tance mayalobe rec-
ognized in the method of "What land What Ought to Be," the daily
plan and the individual anxiety-reducing procedure .
For it part, Po itive P ychotherapy may al 0 be applied within the
conte t of beha ior therapy. HE pecially in the treatment of partner
connict , an understanding with behavior therapy i quite po ible"
(L. üllwold, 1975). Two po ibilitie pre ent them elve : a tronger
empha i on the un pecific proce e aimed at the fu ion between thera-
pi t and patient, and con ideration of behavioral categorie which can
al 0 encompa more complex ituation and which are uitable for
diagno tically ampling a broader pectrum ofbehavior. Help with thi
may be provided by the DAI, through which more complex clinical
profile can al 0 be broken down. To be ure, one prerequi ite i that
beha ior therapy doe not cling merely to ymptomatically imple
behavior but rather i prepared to accept hypothetical con truct at an
intermediate level of ab traction uch as that repre ented by the actual
capacitie .
384

In the ca e of M . Ute ., a pecial behavior-therapeutic procedure,

y tematic de en itization (modified, however, in accordance with Po -
itive P ychotherapy) wa applied with regard to the ymptom of anxi-
ety (wh ich repre ented apart of the more inclu ive complex). Thi
procedure aim at e tabli hing within the therapeutic ituation condi-
tion under which the patient can be confronted with certain e en
percei ed by hirn a anxiety-provoking timuli, without the appearance
of noteworthy nxiety reaction on hi part (Wengele, 1974). Thi aim i
pur ued from two angle: on the one hand, through a carefully
equenced election of anxiety-provoking timuli the o-called anxiety
hierarchy; imultaneou Iy, the patient' re dine for anxiety reduction
i promoted through relaxation procedure . Thi take place in uch a
way that the patient i confronted with an anxiety-provoking ituation
- real or imagined - and immediately afterward the manife t excita-
tion i again ubdued through progre ive rela ation following Jacob-
on (193 ). In thi way, the predi po ition to anxiety i tom down, tep
by tep. A ine qua non i that the patient be confronted, tep by tep
with the anxiety-provoking ituation related to one cau e of anxiety.
Po itive P ychotherapy propo e no general hierarchy of anxietie ,
but rather a hierarchy corre ponding to each connict ituation, which
we then call a "punctuality hierarchy," a "thrift hierarchy,' a "courte y
hierarchy," etc. The e i ting connict nexu i broken down through a
functional timulu (S) - ce pon e (R) analy i. onditioned timulu
) and conditioned re pon e ( R) mean learned timuli and
re pon e. or the unpunctual behavior of the hu band and the punc-
tualityexpectation of M . Ute ., thi yield the following picture:
(Generalized Behavior Chain)
5 p.rn. 5+ x 5 + 2x
tirne:
Hu band:R 1 d R2 d R) d ~d
Prorni e Doe n'l Doe n'l Doe n't
''1'11 be corne corne corne
horne at horne. horne. horne.
5: ()()!"
=
~
Wire: R1 9 R2 9 R1 9
Thinks: Think : "He'
"But he "Maybe laIe
will be he will again!"
 385

te!" be on
time." . 1

I
R)9
Hurrie
with hou e-
hold chore

R. R2 R.
Le el of Levelof Levelof
ex ci ta- excita- excita-
tation (ion tion
and ac- briefly c1imb.
tivation fall .
c1imb. = <1:-
jR;
imulta-
neou Iy
increa -
ing feel-
ingof
adne

---__+1 - - <I:
~ Take Goe to leep.

De Ire \~R
R,. ~R?j~
ttempts to pill.
for divert her-
alcohol. elf:
work, tele-
phoning
TV.j
d male patient eR' 112
9 female patient Brief
generalized reinforcer reduction
negative reinforcement of nega-
tive
emotion.
=<1:-
From thi may be derived the following behavior-therapeutic
approache.
386

Po ibilitiesJor 77/erapy

Variable R1cl, the hu band' erbal behavior, mu t be modified a fol-

low : 'Tm coming horne between ... o'c1ock and ... o'c1ock!"
Function 1- RI/2 mu t be interrupted through relaxaliolllrailling
and puncwality therapy(de en itizing, coping).
Variable R1 Q mu t be modified a follow : "Wait nd ee if he ome-
how com horne on time! '; or, in other word , coping for the purpo e
of attitude change.

De en itizillg + Coping A Form of/he Aver. ion-Relief

Tedmiq/le
Row Chart: (-(--- - - - - OR I. Ten ing up plu naming of
an item from the punctuality
1. Patient i brought into
hierarehy.
relaxed laIe.

2. Recital of one of (he item 2. fter a few econd , ignal

from the "punetuality hier- 10relax.
arehy" plu eoping for-
mula!

3. Imagination of relaxation. 3. Relaxation of the mu eular

y tem plu eoping formula .
if need be, upplementary
rela ing mu ie.

4. Renewed recital of one 4. R newed ten ing up.

item ... ( in 2, abo e). ~------ analogou
Repetitjon until exeitation
remain minimal; then
tran ition to the ne t mo t
difficult item.

The following ituation ranked according to their anxiety-provoking

effect yielded a "punctuality hierarchy."

PUllcluality Hierarchy:
1. Three more hours, then he 11 come horne! But he'JI probably be late
again!
 387

2. Two more hour , lhen he'lI come horne! But he 11 probably be late
again!
3.0ne more hour then he'lI come horne! But he'lI probably be late
again!
4. He hould be coming any minute now!
5. Already half an hour late! When will he come?
6. AJready one hour late! When will he come?
7. AJready two hours late! When will he come?
8. AJready three hours late! When will he come?
9. AJready four hours late! When will he come?

Coping Formula

He ibound till to have omething to do. 1'11 be glad when he come

(hope). oping i a technique for overcoming anxiety, through which
the ubject actively confronts the anxiety timulu in a problem- olving
manner (cognitive reinterpretation of the er twhile anxiety-pro oking
timuli).

3. Positive Psychotherapy and Individual Psychology

Theory 0/ Individual Psychology

Individual psychology, developed by AJfred Adler (1920), stresses three

major themes of personality development: the striving for superiority,
which gives it direction; the inferiority complex, against which it struggles;
and finally, the feeling of community and the obstacles to its cultivation
(1930). In his view, no matter how contradictory a person's superficial
behavior may seem, a continuous thread, the "Iife-style," can always be
identified. The concept "Iife-style" encompasses the totality of a person's
habits, attitudes, and expectations. The life-style is the result of a formative
process, in which the individual's biological inclinations are shaped
through his experiences with family and society.
388
Possibilities for Translation
Inferiority
Individual Psychology: In individual
psychology, one speaks of a feeling
which is grounded in an actual organic
inferiority. In the inferiority complex,
the individual attempts, more or less
successfully, to compensate for his infe-
riority.
Strivingfor Superiority
Individual Psychology: Striving for
superiority is directIy related to the feel-
ing of inferiority, through which is first
formed the des ire to pull oneselfup out
ofthe condition in which one finds one- (sex)? Would you like to achieve more
self. By his very nature, man is consti-
tuted in such a way that a striving for
superiority can develop in hirn (after
A.Adler, 1930).
Feeling of Community
Individual Psychology:The opposite of
striving for superiority. The tendency to
bind oneselfto other people, to carry
out tasks in cooperation with others,
and, from the social standpoint, to
Complex
Positive Psychotherapy: When A. Adler
speaks of the problem of self-worth and
feelings of inferiority, we ask ourseIves,
to which domains of behavior is this
feeling related? Is it a feeling which is
in the province of the personality as a
whole, or is it oriented toward the eval-
uation of certain qualities, which have
later been generalized? Inferiority is
not a biological but rather a social
dimension which is dependent on
social psychological norms and the
experiences one has had. It manifests
itself in the comparison with existing
standards and other individuals in a
group, and is related to individual
actual capacities such as diligence/
achievement, prestige, thrift, contact,
and sexuality.
Positive Psychotherapy: We ask in which
domain the desire for superiority has
developed: would you like to be bigger
or more beautiful than other people
(diligence/achievement)? Would you
Iike to have more money (thrift)? The
striving for superiority need not be gen-
eral, but instead may be limited to cer-
tain domains and persons: to eam more
than one's brother-in-Iaw, rivalry vis-a-
vis same-sex group members, need for
superiority vis-a-vis certain siblings, etc.
Here, the misunderstanding between
justice and love is involved.
Positive Psychotherapy:The feeling of
community concems the actual capac-
ity "contact." It is modified through a
number of other factors, such as the
value attributed to thrift, orderliness,
 389

make oneself quite generally useful
(after A. Adler, 1930).
courtesy, etc. Contact encompasses not
only the relationship with a group- We,
but also the other relationships of the
capacity to love: to the I, to the Thou, to
the We, and to the Origin - We.

Cooperation and Critique: The indu ion of ocial facto and the pe-
cial empha i on rearing (R. Dreiku and . BlumenthaI 1973) bring
individual p ychology do e to Po itive P ychology. In hi ca e tudie,
A. Adler (1930) name a number of actual capacitie , without however
recognizing their y tematic character. Hi therapeutic approach above
all employ encouragement, which receive pecial attention in the
third tage ( ituational encouragement) of Po itive P ychotherapy.
Adler' di tinction among tyle of child rearing, called poiling,
everity etc. are further pecified in Po itive P ychotherapy: to which
actual capacitie are poiling and everity related, and in which pha e
of interaction do they manife t them elve Ce.g., everity: differentia-
tion or breakaway?)?

4. Positive Psychotherapy and Analytical Psychology

Theory ofAnalytical Psychology. according 10 C. G. Jung

c.G.Jung (1921) postulates a general psychic energy. The dynamic ofthe

soul is characterized by opposites such as conscious and unconscious,
thinking and feeling, perceiving and intuiting. Each of the pairs of oppo-
sites can be extroverted or introverted. The "persona" encompasses the
stance toward the outer world. C. G. Jung conceives of the unconscious as
a collective unconscious, manifesting spiritual- religious tendencies. His
contents are the archetypes, symbols out of the unconscious deep strata,
residues of which are also found in myths, dreams, and fairy tales. The
therapeutic procedure strives for a broadening of the personality, until
individuation is attained.
390

Possibilities for Translation

Ihe Collective Unconscious

Analytical Psychology: The collective
unconscious does not just have a nega-
tive, threatening significance; rather, it
is the source of creative force and orga-
nization. In it are contained all past
experience and conflicts through which
human beings have passed in the
course of the history of their develop-
ment, as weil as their yearnings and
wisdom.
Archetypes
Analytical Psychology: The archetypes
are genetically established and are re-
presented in man's consciousness
through universal sympbols which
manifest themselves in dreams, myths,
and religious, mystical, and philosophi-
cal contents. Included are the phantom, contain certain concepts vis-a-vis the
animus, anima, great mother, wise old
man, etc.
Individuation
Analytical Psychology: Individuation, or Positive Psychotherapy: In Positive Psy-
self-realization, is the goal oftreatment:
to fuse all the incompatible and con-
trary powers of the individual into such
a strong unity that all aspects will be
able to coexist in harmony. The reunifi-
cation of the personality requires that
the analyst, together with the patient,
relive the events which shaped the lat-
ter's Iife, reconstructing with hirn the
struggle for the development of human-
ity.
Positive Psychotherapy: Corresponding
in Positive Psychotherapy to the collec-
tive unconscious is the hypothesis that
every human being has at his disposal
the two basic capacities, the capacities
to love and to know, which are part of
his very nature. The historically
acquired aspect of the collective uncon-
scious is uncovered through tradition
and the collective mythologies.
Positive Psychotherapy: The archetypes
correspond, in the broadest sense, to
the collective mythologies and con-
cepts, which through tradition have
become culture-specific reference sys-
tems and points of orientation. They
modes of the capacities to love and to
know, as weil as characteristic values
regarding the actual capacities, and
they can be represented in symbol fig-
ures from mythologies and fairy tales.
chotherapy, individuation is under-
stood more broadly. Our comprehen-
sion of it encompasses not only self-
realization, i. e., fusion of the contradic-
tory powers of an individual into a
unity; in addition, we presuppose
supraindividual, social, and collective
factors in this unity. c.G.Jung was
mainly thinking of what we collectively
call the modes of the capacity to know.
For us, the modes ofthe capacity to
love, the actual capacities, and the
stages of interaction also play a part.
Individuation is at the same time social-
ization.
 391

Cooperation and Critique: .G.Jung' analytical p ychology empha-

ize tradition and intuition and place certain actual capacilie, uch
a faith, religion, and hope, in the foreground. Analytical p ychological
approache are found al the fourth tage, erbalization - in which indi-
vidual and collective concepts are worked through - a well a in the
integrative tendencie of broadening of goal . The patient' difTerent
concept can be que tioned with regard to their individual and collec-
live component ,and can be understood in connection with particular
actual capacitie . In iew of the pecial empha i on tradition and the
partnership-related democratic treatment tyle the procedural tech-
nique of analytical p ychology are e pecially appropriate for older
patients.

5. Positive Psychotherapy and Logotherapy

Theory 0/ Logotherapy
Logotherapy places greatest emphasis on the will to meaning. V. Frankl
(1959) speaks, in this connection, of existential frustration, which causes a
person to doubt the meaning of his life, and sees in this a typical human
problem area. In contrast to S.Freud (Letters 1873-1939, 1960): "The
moment one asks about the meaning and value of life, one is sick ... ,"
V. Frankl emphasizes: "He who knows a meaning of his life is helped by
this consciousness more than by anything else to overcome outer difficul-
ties and inner ailments" (1955, p.13). In spite of the fundamental distinc-
tion between therapy and religion, he sees it as an essential success of psy-
chotherapy if "a patient, in the course of psychotherapy, finds his way
back to long-since blocked-up springs of an original, unconscious,
repressed faith."
The fundamental principle of therapy consists in finding the meaning,
logos, behind the experiences, ways of behaving, and disturbances. An
essential technique is paradoxical intention.
392

Possibilities Jor Translation

Will of Meaning
Logotherapy: " In fact, human existence Positive Psychotherapy: With the ques-
always transcends itself, always points tion of meaning, V. Frankl singles out
toward a meaning. In this sense, man in one aspect of the time dimension of
his existence is not striving for pleasure human reality, the future. Meaning is
or power, nor for self-realization, but not something general, but rather, in the
rather for fulfillment of meaning. In psychosocial reality of the person, is
logotherapy we speak of a will to mean- bound up with individual contents-
ing." (Y. Franki). related aspects. Thus, the meaning of
life can be questioned when failures,
injustices, or materiallosses are experi-
enced. We therefore ask to which area
of the actual capacities is the meaning
directed : to punctuality, orderliness,
faithfulness, achievement, thrift, hope,
faith, religion/ Weltanschauung, sex,
sexuality, love?
Paradoxical Intention
Logotherapy:To want something for Positive Psychotherapy: Here, what one
oneself, instead offearing it. Example: wants for oneself is specified. Example :
I wish for anxiety. I wish for the unpunctuality of my hus-
band.

Cooperation and Critique: Po itive P ychotherapy inc\ude logothera-

peutic element at the third tage ( ituational encouragement), the
fourth tage (verbalization) and the fifth tage (broadening of goal ).
Logotherapy place the actual capacitie of faith, religion and Welt-
an chauung in the foreground. ertain primary capacitie are empha-
ized. In current collecti e and individual difficultie V. Frankl ee
primarily a religiou weakne . Thi concept can be broadened within
the context of Po itive P ychotherapy: the underlying cau e i not a
r ligiou weakne ,but rather ami unde tanding ba ed on inadequate
differentiation among faith, religion, and church.
The logotherapeutic procedure characterized by the earch for
meaning corr pond in broad area to the procedure invol ing con-
cept and counterconcept: through the alternative concept, the patient
may judge hi ituation from new angle and with a new meaning.
 393

6. Positive Psychotherapy and Conversation Therapy

Theory of Conversation Therapy

Conversation therapy, founded by C. R. Rogers (1942), is understood to be

a warm, permissive, secure but bounded sodal relationship, within which
therapist and patient discuss the patient's affective behavior, induding the
methods connected with the mastery of emotionally charged situations
(after Shoben, 1953).
Other names for conversation therapy are client-centered therapy and
nondirective therapy. According to Tausch (1974), it is especially appropri-
ate for persons whose psychological injuries are connected to the self-con-
cept and corresponding experiences. The following behavioral character-
istics are required of the psychotherapist: verbalization of the contents of
emotional experience extemalized by the dient; valuing, attention, affec-
tion, and warmth toward the dient on the part of the therapist; genuine-
ness and congruence, as well as opening up of oneself. It is desirable that
the psychotherapist be a positive model for the patient to observe, in terms
of favorable psychological modes of functioning. An attempt has been
made to operationalize the variables of conversation-therapeutic proce-
dure, and to test them empirically.

Possibilities for Translation

Valuing Attention - A.fJection - Warmth

Conversation Therapy :The psychothera-
pist manifests to the patient humane
qualities of social behavior, which are
supposed to be closely interrelated with
social change. This means to accept a
person as personality, independently of uniqueness are essential criteria for the
his momentary behavior. The therapist
concerns hirns elf with the patient as a
person with capacities, and in a non-
possessive way. The respect for the per-
sonality must be unconditional (after
Rogers, 1962, pp.420ff.).
Positive Psychotherapy: Here, we practi-
cally speak the same language. A posi-
tive valuing and emotional warrnth,
expressed in the primary capacities,
and the recognition ofthe patient's
behavior of the therapist. However,
they are not just the product of good
will and therapist training. Rather, they
originate in the secondary capacities,
which become the dimensions of sym-
pathy and antipathy, and can be differ-
entiated and controlled by the therapist
(e. g., to accept a patient in spite of his
body odor). Otherwise, a danger exists
of becoming involved in conflicts over
the criteria of "genuineness" and "con-
gruence."
394
Genuineness - Congruence
Conversation Therapy: One behavioral
characteristic of the psychotherapist
which positively influences the con-
stmctive psychotherapeutic process
andtheresultoftherapyisthatthethera-
pist is what he is; he behaves naturally
and doesn't present a front or fa~ade to
the patient.
Seif-concept
Conversation Therapy: The self-image
and the estimation of one's own per-
sonality, which exhibit a greater or
lesser disparity with the ideal concept
(how one would like to be). Self-con-
cept and ideal concept are compre-
hended with the help of psychodiag-
nostic procedure (Q-sort).
Positive Psychotherapy: The shaping of
the actual capacities "courtesy" and
"honesty" in the therapist's behavior:
the therapist reacts openly to the pa-
tient's behavior, but in a way which is
bearable to the latter. Furtherrnore,
"courtesy" and "honesty" represent
central contents within the stage ofver-
balization.
Positive Psychotherapy: A conception of
who, what, and how valuable a person
himself iso Besides this self-concept
(basic concept) there exist actual con-
cepts as mies of behavior, which con-
trol the behavior of the moment. The
basic and actual concepts are oriented
towards the basic and actual capacities,
and are comprehended with the help of
the Differentiation-Analytical Inven-
tory and the ratings of the modes. We
do not so much postulate a single
unfied self-concept, but rather various
concepts which are related to the indi-
vidual actual capacities and wh ich, on
this basis, influence a person's style of
behavior. The DAI also perrnits an
assessment of the ideal concept.

Cooperation and Critique: haracteri tic of conversation therapy i the

verbalization of the content of emotional experience by the therapi t,
where by he auemp to perceive the patient' aITective meaning from
the latter' own inner reference point (concept). Thi i found at the
tage of ob ervation and in the pha e of fu ion although not a a thor-
oughgoing principle. In order to a oid the "neurotic deadlock," in
which the therapi t merely reinforce the patient' neurotic concept,
diITerentiation analy i tre e a more directive procedure. on e-
quently, que tion ,expectation, counterconcept and behavior-regula-
tory mea ure are applied. Thu , be ide the cognitive and emotional
component , Po itive P ychotherapy al 0 take into con ideration the
behavioral component of a di turbance. At the differentiation-analytic
 395

tage of verbalization, the patient hirn elf take over conversation-ther-

apeutic a ignment. In compari on with conver ation therapy, Po i-
tive P ychotherapy i more tructured and contents-oriented· and it can
purpo efully go into tho e area which are acceptable to the patient or
which have become conflict laden.

7. Positive Psychotherapy and Gestalt 1herapy

Theory of Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt therapy, developed by F. S. PerJs (1951), attempts to attain the

development of the personality through a twofold approach. On the one
hand, this is supposed to take place through the person's freeing himself
from unresolved psychopathological situations. This is based on the
observation made by Gestalt psychology (w. Köhler, 1929) that even over
long periods of time, a tendency exists to bring once-begun activities to a
conc1usion (Gestalt c10sing tendency). Fixation on this, and the one-sided
c1inging to past and future, are seen as essential causes of disturbances.
The therapy occurs from the present outward : "That which was previously
repressed and shut up in the past is now rebom, through the motor and
sensory realities currently at hand" (E. and M. Polster, 1975, p.22). The
therapeutic experience, whether acquired individually or in groups, "is an
exercise in circumscribed living, in the present" (p.25). Furthermore, the
unresolved situations serve as catalysts for the still undeveloped human
potential, which has not yet entered consciousness (M. M. Berger, 1975).

Possibilities for Translation

Unresolved Situations
Gestalt Therapy:"Every experience
remains incomplete until one has fin-
ished with it. Most people have a great
ability to bear unresolved situations.
A1though one can stand a large nu mb er
of unresolved situations, these incom-
plete developments do seek their own
completion; and when they become
strong enough, the individual is beset
by preoccupations, compulsive behav-
Positive Psychotherapy:The unresolved
situations concern not only certain
tasks, but also the capacities which are
indeed available but which remain
undifferentiated, in the background. It
is not, however, the individual unre-
solved matters which accumulate and
lead to the appearance of symptoms,
but rather their relation to the underly-
ing rules ofbehavior, i. e., actual capaci-
396

ior, exaggerated caution, depressive ties. As microtraumas, they accumulate

energy, and a senseless hyperactivity" in the course ofthe life history and sen-
(Polster, S., pp. 46 ff.). sitize a person in relation to certain
actual capa ci ti es.
The Here and Now Principle
Gestalt Therapy:The emphasis in Ge- Positive Psychotherapy:This concerns
stalt therapy is placed on the simple the dimension of time and the relation-
present. Since the life of the neurotic is ship among past, present, and future in
fundamentally anachronistic, every the experience of each individual
return to the present experience, in and human being. Besides the escape into
of itself, signifies an attack on the neu- the past and future, there exists a corre-
rosis (after Polster). sponding neurotic mechanism of
escape into the activities of the present.
The implication for therapy is as fol-
lows : past, present, and future are
involved in every disturbance, although
to varied degrees; correspondingly,
they must be taken into account.

Cooperation and Critique: Thi therapeutic approach, which as ume

that the re olution in the pre ent of unre 01 ed matte lead to the
elimination of a neuro i i of doubtful validity. The que tion i
whether till unre olved matte can be wound up or wh ether every
do ure of a Ge talt (at lea t in the area of coping with confllct) again
produce new unconduded Ge talt . When a child i born, the matter
i hardly terminated; nor i it when a manu cript i printed or a long-
repre ed de ire i freely voiced. The real work mo tJy come after-
ward . And it i ju t that which need to be communicated for example
to compul ive patient who want to wind up everything perfectly and
completely right away and who perceive till open ituation a anxiety
producing. on equently, therapy has a threefold ta k: to make the
patient con ciou of hi affairs (actual capacitie ), to re 01 e out tand-
ing connict , and to enable the patient to u pend and to put up with
problem which cannot be re olved at the moment. Preci ely the e
unre olved matte are not ju t any general principle ; rather theyare
concretely related to the actual capacitie and to the experience that a
per on ha had within hi environment. Thu ,for example bad e peri-
ence with other people' hone ty reach into the pre ent, and beyond
into a per on' future.
 397

8. Positive Psychotherapy and Primal Therapy

Theory of Primal Therapy

A. Janov's (1973, 1976) primal therapy postulates that "primal scenes," i. e.,
frustrations during childhood, lead to an accumulation of original pain.
This original pain is the "fundamental truth" in the patient (1975). An
increasing accumulation of wounds develops through certain experiences,
such as when the child is not picked up even though he has a need to be,
when he is hushed up, ridiculed, not paid attention to, or overburdened
(1973, p.20); and it is this accumulation which makes the child unrealistic
and neurotic. For Janov, the social environment is mainly a factor which
disturbs the "real seIr' : "neurosis is not a question of interpersonal rela-
tionships, it is an inner state" (1975). Employed in therapy is the "primal
scream," the reliving of the original pain. The actual therapeutic effect
emanates from the original pain, the expression of which is the scream ; it
is complemented through the postprimal group (responsible for treatment
after the "primal experience" of the "primal scream").

Cooperation and Critique: Janov contend that prim I therapy cannot

be integrated into other method and eclectically applied. The reputed
virginal purity of the method i , however, an illu ion becau e in pite
of it original approach, primal therapy tand quarely within the
framework ofthe hi tory ofp ychotherapy and i therefore comparable
with other method . The way ofbeing which i uppo ed to be reached
through primal therapy i "a ten ion-free nondefen ive life, in which
one i fully one elf and learn to know one' own deepe t feeling and
inner tandard" (Janov, 1973, p.15). What the e inner tandard are
remain un pecilied. "Defen e mechani mare for the mo t part what
the parents demand of the child (1973 p.56).
Janov cancern hirn elf e entially with the emotional domain,
wh ich we have come to know a the primary capacitie , and tre e the
uncon dou need to be loved and to receive attention. The achieve-
ment demand ,the econdary capacitie are een a a threat to the real
elf. On that ba i , one could aflirm that Janov' real elf i the unreal
elf which reproduce a naive-primary attitude of waiting and thu
eem to be thoroughly appropriate to a large number of potential pa-
tients. In that which Jano label ituation of original pain we lind
c1ear indication of actual capacitie e pecially econdary capacitie .
398

however in Janov' wntlOg the e appear not a capacitie but rather a

part of the defen e y tem: "Let' take a per on who goe crazy ju t
becau e omebody make hirn wait a linie. Maybe a a child hi parent
had made hirn wait a long time. Then with the adult, everything which
re emble hi parents' earlier lack of attention may perhap trigger
anger which i out of all proportion to the ituation" (1973, p.67).
Here, tie to the differentiation-analytic microtrauma can be e tab-
li hed. However the word "anger which i out of all proportion to the
ituation" how that in pite of hi claim not to proceed in a normative
way, Janov tacitly appropriate norm which he et again t the indi id-
ual normative idea . He attribute uniquene to the patient: only a per-
on who ha had a primal e perience can ay what provoke hi pecial
neuro i . It i triking that primal therapy i a relatively undifferen-
tiated in trument a ingle way in which practically all patient mu t be
treated. Hi therapy i oriented toward the human feeling a point of
reference, empha izing fu ion, which i et again t differentiation and
breakaway, which are interpreted a traumatizing. The cathartic ele-
ment contained in the primat cream technique is found at the tage of
verbalization in Po itive P YChotherapy in Which, in order to increa e
emotional participation, becoming louder and crying out of one elf can
be employed - a method wh ich, in a non pecilic manner wa already
applied in folk p ychotherapy:" cream the linie devil out of your y-
tem " (cf. the demon model).
Janov' methodology i highly culture- pecilic: it can produce it
effeet above all where verbal behavior i inhibited uch a in middle
Europe and among white in the nited State . It would pre umably
fail to produce uch effect in the a t y with a whirling dervi h, who
i accu tomed to gleefully ing and hout.
The critici m which Freud made of O. Rank in 1937 may be applied
to the primal cream. Rank had taken the cau e of neuro e to be the
trauma of birth, wh ich he contended could lead to the un urmounted
original lixation on the mother continuing a a primal repre ion.
Through retro pective ettling of the original trauma - in Jano '
word the "original pain" - Rank hoped to eliminate the whole neuro-
i. ked wh t thi method could accompli h, S. reud replied: "Prob-
ably not more than the lire department would if in the case of a hou e
et alight by an oil lamp being knocked 0 er, it were to content it elf
with removing the lamp from the room in which the lire had tarted'
(1937, p.209).
 399

9. Positive Psychotherapy and Transactional Analysis

Theory of Transactional Analysis

The key concept in transactional analysis, founded by W. Berne (1964) and

T. A. Harris (1982), is transaction. "Transactional analysis": what does this
mean? For a provisional understanding of this expression, the following
explanation may suffice.
A "transaction," in the special psychological sense, is in a way a psycho-
logical business deal between two persons. One person offers "something"
(a behavior); the other decides to do business and takes the offer, repaying
hirn in kind. Between "sender" and "receiver" is played out a complicated
process of give and take. The roles of sender and receiver can be rapidly
and repeatedly exchanged. Always, however, a certain ego state of the sen-
der provides a stimulus to the receiver, who for his part reacts to it with
verbal or nonverbal behavior signals of his addressed ego state (A. Harris,
1982).
Serving as ego states are the parental ego (a collection of records in the
brain, external events accepted without examination or through compul-
sion, which a person has perceived in his early childhood), the child ego
(the child's reactions to what he sees and hears), and the adult ego, which
is mainly concerned with "transforming stimuli into information and, on
the basis of prior experience, working through this information and stor-
ing it") (Berne, 1964). Transaction analysis takes place in a therapy group,
in which the patients learn to recognize the parental ego, the adult ego,
and the child ego.

Cooperation and Critique: We recognize tran actional element in Po i-

tive P ychotherapy in connection with group therapy the broadening
of goal and the pha e of interaction. Tran action analy i concern
it elf with the tran action in a group and their underlying p ychologi-
cal factors. It ha proven to be an extremely flexible and understand-
able form of p ychotherapy. However it operate without regard for
the content of the tran action and the ubjective and functional
meaning bound up with them. We do lind enough example in which
actual capacitie appear but the e content are not taken into account.
Parental ego child ego, and adult ego are only formally determined:
"'n the parental ego are regi tered all the admonition and rule , a11 the
commandment and prohibition which a child ha heard from hi par-
400

ent or ha been able to deduce from the life they lead. Thi ma of
bit of information i internalized onee and for all, becau e the indi id-
ual depend on them if he want to urvive and hold hi own within a
group' (Harri , 19 2). Po iti e P ychotherapy decode thi "ma of
bit of information" in the actual capacitie and their pecial condi-
tion which then no longer eem to be "internalized once and for all .•
The dynamic a pect ingled out by tran action analy i nece arily
ca 11 for complementation by con ideration of the content -related
a pect.
The interconnection which we have been able to e tabli h between
Po itive P ychotherapy and certain chool of p ychotherapy, and the
po ibilitie for mutual application, can al 0 be found for other p y-
chotherapeuti and general therapeutic method . P ychiatric proce-
dure it elf in the more narrow en e, manife t a number of a pect
and content which can be pecilied through the y tem of Po itive P y-
chotherapy.
Po iti e P ychotherapy it elf i not to be unde tood a an exclu ive
y tem, but rather attribute a particular alue to each of the variou
p ychotherapeutic method . Thu p ychoanalytic, depth p ychologi-
cal behavior therapeutic, group therapeutic hypnotherapeutic, medi-
camentou ,and phy iotherapeutic form oftreatment are con idered.
Po ilive P ychotherapy t/IU repre ent an integral method. in Ihe ense
0/ a multidimen ionaltherapy.

Positive Psychotherapy and Its Practical Application

Translation of Conventional Expressions for Illnesses

Medical, psychologieal, and psychiatrie expressions are not employed

without underlying assumptions. They are related to the theories and
scientific concepts out ofwhich they were coined, and form apart oftheir
history. Thus an expression, together with its theory, acquires a meaning
which anticipates theoretical assumptions and diagnostic possibilities, as
weil as therapeutic consequences. A knowledge of at least the basic foun-
dations of psychoanalytic theory is necessary in order to understand the
word "superego." Someone who wants to know what reinforcement
means in psychotherapy needs information on learning theory and its
application to behavior therapy.
 401

In addition, there are expressions - and they are in the majority - which
while net specific to one theory, acquire a different significance depending
on the therapeutic orientation. One example ofthis is the expression "anx-
iety." Just as a green apple has a different meaning to someone who is
color blind but able to perceive tastes than to someone who correctly per-
ceives colors but who perceives sour fmit as refreshing, the word "anxiety"
has a different meaning according to the theoretical orientation.
In internal medicine, anxiety is for the most part merely the accompany-
ing symptom of other severe ailments, such as angina pectoris. For a sur-
geon, it is a factor which, for example, must be taken into account before
an operation, and which is eliminated through pills or injections. In psy-
chiatry, one regards anxiety in a more differentiated way, seeing it as a
reaction to an anxiety-provoking situation, as free-floating anxiety, or as
the accompanying symptom of adepression, and having at one's disposal
specialized types of medication for relief of anxiety which can be adminis-
tered in a directed manner. In psychoanalysis, anxiety is the consequence
of a conflict among repressed contents, drives, internalized demands, and
the directive ego functions. For behavior therapy, anxiety is a learned reac-
tion with autonomous involvement, which can be demolished through cer-
tain learning therapy procedures. Although in the last analysis all these
interpretations relate to the same thing, they read different meanings into
the term and thus give rise to different therapeutic methods.
Positive Psychotherapy, which rests on differentiation analysis, likewise
has its own conception of illnesses and disturbances, and an orientation
which differs in many ways from the well-known approaches and which
requires rethinking in terms of new expressions and different meanings for
well-known expressions. This rethinking casts a new light on known phe-
nomena, thus permitting discovery of other possibilities for their solution.
We are thinking in the first place of practical consequences for therapeutic
procedure, interaction with patients, definition oftherapeutic possibilities,
and mental health measures.
With this we simultaneously address a problem within medicine,
namely the tendency to regard the symptom of an ailment, and indeed the
ailment itself, as something negative that the patient brings along with
him, and which must be eliminated by the health-bringing physician.
However, every patient carries both sickness and health within himself. In the
last analysis, this signifiesfor the therapist that it is not enoughjust 10 elimi-
nale the pathologieal; in addition, and in certain cases even as top priority, he
must address and stabilize that which is healthy.
If psychotherapy concerns itself exclusively with the negative conduct
(with which the patient is quite familiar), with patient and therapist dis-
402
cussing it thoroughly and at length or the therapist simply letting the pa-
tient talk, this does not necessarily bring the sought-after goal of attainment
of consciousness any closer. Rather, disturbing factors appear which can
have a lasting influence on further therapeutic events. The exclusive preoc-
cupation with the negatively accentuated and pessimistically viewed contents
oJ experience reiterates the patient's neurotic orientation. In relation to the
cognitive plane, this means that in the last analysis the patient continues to
think in the same categories and along the same lines as are symptomatic oJ
his disturbed way oJ coping with conflict.
Furthermore, an exclusive cancern of therapy with dramatic negative
contents makes the patient's pessimistic orientation seem even more valu-
able to hirn. This serves only to reinJorce an area which belongs to his symp-
tomatology. Furthermore, such a procedure influences the patient's ways
of communicating, so that he feels obliged, for example, to play himselfup
merely through the portrayal of unpleasant experiences, or to reject posi-
tive reinforcement of hirnself and others because this is "obviously"
merely an act of politeness and pious deception of oneself and others. Pos-
itive Psychotherapy does not attempt to provide everything with a positive
prognosis ; rather, it strives for differentiation of the critical behavior. This
makes it possible Jor the first time to separate conflict-poor or positive behav-
ior components Jrom the symptom itself, and provides the patient and his mil-
ieu with a basis Jor better dealing with his problem.

"My son a sex offender?"

Completely at her wit's end, the mother of a ten-year-old boy came into my psycho-
therapy clinic. She made an extremely disconcerted impression and related, crying:
"It's unimaginable, what has happened. What am I to do with my son? This morn-
ing, the principal of his school called and said I had to come to the school right
away. I thought something had happened to Stefan. The principal told me that Ste-
fan had exposed hirnself in class. He told me that could lead to Stefan's later
becoming an exhibitionist and an immoral idler, and that I would have to take hirn
to a psychiatrist or else I could count on his being expelled from school."
In terms of Positive Psychotherapy I made the following distinction: undressing
in and of itself is not bad. Every day, all of us have to undress at least once. The
question is, where, when, and in front ofwhom it happens. In this way, the sympto-
matic behavior was divided into two part-behaviors: on the one hand, the undress-
ing, and on the other, the social situation in which it happened and through which
it first called attention to itself. The mother was visibly relieved: "I thought for sure
my son would become a sex offender."

In the subsequent treatment, in which both the mother and the young man
took part, his motives for undressing in the classroom in front of others
were worked through. It was found that in this case sexual motives were
 403

less significant than a modern "model" at that time, the streakers, who
proved their "courage" by running naked through open places.
Earlier in this chapter we attempted to translate certain expressions
from other theoretical systems into the language of Positive Psychotherapy
and suggested translations back into the languages of the other theories. In
the following we shall take certain general expressions from the domains
of medicine, psychotherapy, and psychiatry in order to illuminate the new
ways of thinking involved in Positive Psychotherapy, and thereby to sug-
gest new orientations in therapy. First, the significance of the malady is
reevaluated so that consideration is given to its positive aspects. Reference
is then made to areas capable of development, i. e., areas whose develop-
me nt has been shown to be therapeutically beneficial, and which can pro-
vide guidance to conventional therapy from amental health point of view
or serve as points of orientation for psychotherapeutic treatment.
We try not to see the illness in the abstract. but rather always in relation 10
contents and in connection with the corresponding actual capacities and
modes.

Malady Positive interpretation

Academic difficulties The reaction of the child or youth to emotional or
achievement-related overburdening.
Areas capable of development: Differentiate among the
things the difficulties are related to: aptitude for achieve-
ment, the institution of the school, family difficulties, or
contact problems with peers? Academic failure: change
teacher, dass, school, or institution.
Adiposity (obesity) Positive relationship with the I; stress on the instrumen-
talities of the sens es, especially taste; aesthetics of food;
generosity in relation to food; faithfulness to existing tra-
ditions of eating (whoever is fat is beautiful).
Areas capable of development: attitude toward other sen-
sory organs, attitude toward reason, relationship with the
Thou and the We, honesty, contact, sexuality.
Alcoholism and drug Self-healing attempt (Battegay, 1976), the attempt to
abuse manage problems with the help of aIcohol, courtesy,
imitation, instrumentalities of the senses.
Areas capable of development: honesty; differentiating
which domains (family, partnership, profession, meaning
of life) are conflict-Iaden; instead of passive waiting for
conflict, active formation of relationships.
Anorexia nervosa Reacting to conflicts through bodily asceticism. Often
something will be eaten in secret.
404

Malady Positive interpretation

Areas capable 0/ development:verbalization of conflict,

honesty.
Attention-getting The ability on the part of the child or youth to react to
behavior in children certain situations and conflicts, and to develop the symp-
and youth (chewing tomatic attention-getting behavior as a signal of a distur-
fingemails, wetting bance.
pants, degeneracy, Areas capable 0/ development:courtesy-honesty, the sen-
academic difficulties, sitiveness and empathy ofthe reference persons, the abil-
aggression, etc.) ity to verbalize conflicts, employing parents as therapists,
don't treat the children without their parents.
Bedwetting (reappear- Sign of a need for fusion.
ing after the child has Areas capable 0/ development:attitude toward the instru-
been toilet trained) mentalities of the senses, trust, c1eanliness, time, punctu-
ality (the child can learn when and where he may uri-
nate).
Bronchial asthma Intense relationship with one's own body or to a refer-
ence person; the ability to persistently ca\1 attention to
oneselfthrough the symptom (rattling, coughing, gasping
for breath, turning blue).
Areas capable 0/ development: verbalization of conflicts
(reason), fusion-breakaway, honesty, trust, confidence,
hope.
Change of life Phase of human maturation, the "third phase of obstin-
acy"; a chance to acknowledge difficulties and ailments
which in previous years, under the compulsion to live
together, had been concealed.
Areas capable 0/development: broadening of goals; stage
ofbreakaway; time; hope; integration ofpast, present,
and future; determined and conditional fate. Hus-
band-wife misunderstanding. A distinction should be
made between the c1imacteric as a physiological occur-
rence, in which an inversion ofthe ovarian function takes
place, and change oflife as a consequence of a reorienta-
tion in relation to the sex role (sexuality), the family role
(breakaway ofthe children), and the achievement func-
tion (retirement). Change of li fe is no c1inical diagnosis.
Rather, it should be asked which factors are responsible
for the ailments.
Colitis uJcerativa Positive relationship with the Thou (parents, partner),
"organ language," past, trust.
Areas capable 0/development:differentiation, breakaway,
time, trust.
 405

Malady Positive interpretation

Compulsive neurosis Markedly reinforced is the need for orderliness, reliabil-

(e.g., looking back ity, precision, conscientiousness.
repeatedly to see Areas capable 0/development:certitude, time, confidence
whether the door is and contact, hope, future, the ability to let onself by sur-
closed, compulsive prised.
washing, compulsive
ceremonies, the com-
pulsion to go over the
events of the day
again and again in
thought)
Criminality Positive relationship with the I, with a certain Thou, or
with a limited We. The ability to disregard rules ofbehav-
ior; diligence/achievement, punctuality, conscientious-
ness, precision in pursuit of an illegal end.
Areas capable 0/ development: relationship to the We,
Origin- We, thrift, justice, love, honesty, differentiated
relationship with the near and distant future, considera-
tion of the consequences of actions.
Degeneracy (outward The ability to ignore or violate binding norms (imprint-
degeneracy - in clo- ing of the actual capacities).
thing and manners - Areas capable 0/ development: relationships with the I,
should be distin- the Thou, and the We; the individual actual capacities
guished from inner (orderliness, honesty, courtesy, cleanliness, thrift, punc-
degeneracy, involving tuality, etc.). Pay attention to the development of confi-
propriety and morals) dence and hope, fusion-differentiation and breakaway.
Depression (the feel- The ability to react with deep emotionality.
ing of despondency, Areas capable 0/ development: relationship to the Thou,
with a predominantly to the We, to the Origin- We, time, confidence, hope.
passive attitude)
Disobedience, inso- The ability to say no.
lence Areas capable 0/ development:time (when to say no),
trust, reason (leam when one should do something, or
clarify why one says no).
Essential hyperten- Stress on diligence/achievement, propensity to react to
sion (high blood pres- conflicts.
sure) Areas capable 0/ development:courtesy, honesty,
patience, time, trust, fusion.
Exhibitionism (sexual Positive attitude toward one's own physical peculiarities,
satisfaction through a way of establishing contact.
public exhibition of Areas capable 0/development:when, where, and to whom
the sex organ) one's own body or the sex organ is shown; courtesy.
406

Malady Positive interpretation

Undressing, in and of itself, does not lead to conflicts;
conflicts only arise through the place of occurrence, and
with whom and when one does it.
Existential anxiety Pronounced orientation toward the future; priority given
to the actual capacities hope, faith, doubt; the questions
of thrift, diligence/ achievement, justice, etc. also playa
role.
Areas capable 0/ development: differentiated relationship
to the future, operationalization ofthe secondary capaci-
ties involved. Misunderstandings: education and train-
ing, view of man.
Fear of groups Stress on the relationship with the I or with existing part-
ners.
Areas capable 0/ development: contact, relationship with
the We, courtesy, honesty, verbalization, broadening of
goals.
Fear of solitude Exaggerated need for one type of relationship (with the
Thou and the We).
Areas capable 0/development:relationship with the I, atti-
tude toward certain actual capacities (personal interests),
honesty (to pursue one's own interests).
Fetishism (sexual Positive relationship to the land to the Thou (things),
arousal and satisfac- emphasis on sexuality, learning experiences out ofthe
tion with objects such li fe history (individual and collective tradition), fantasy.
as women's under- Areas capable 0/development:relationship to the Thou of
wear, shoes, and furs, the partnership, honesty.
which are often stolen
for masturbation)
Frigidity The ability to say no with the body.
Areas capable 0/ development:relationship with one's
own body and with the Thou, the ability to also say no
verbally, courtesy, honesty, sexuality, contact.
Heart infarct To a substantial degree, the body's response to overload-
ing through risk factors, which can be specified through
the actual capacities.
Areas capable 0/ development: correction ofthe patient's
achievement concept, alteration in eating habits (instru-
mentalities of the sens es), proper nutrition (instrumental-
ity of reason), and improvement in attitudes toward the I
and the body, through suitable forms of movement.
Determination of existing burdens and compensatory
possibilities through the DA!.
 407

Malady Positive interpretation

Homosexuality (love Positive relationship with the land the Thou ofthe same
for persons of the sex, instrumentalities of the senses.
same sex) Areas capable 0/development:relationship with the Thou
of the opposite sex, honesty, contact.
Hypochondria (self- The ability to attend to the functions of one's own body,
observation in rela- intense relationship with the I, instrumentalities of the
tion to illness) senses, fantasy.
Areas capable 0/ development: reason, ability to discrimi-
nate, attitude toward the individual actual capacities,
re1ationship with the Thou and the We, fusion, differen-
tiation- breakaway.
Hysterical reaction The ability to call attention to oneself and to point out
(playing a role needs, stress on fantasy.
through which the Areas capable 0/ development:verbalization, honesty (to
patient wishes to verbalize needs instead of expressing them physically as
obtain something spe- hysterical fits), instrumentality ofreason, fusion-break-
cific from his environ- away.
ment, such as pity,
amazement, etc.)
Irritability The ability of spontaneous motor reaction to certain
actual capacities, or of negative reaction.
Areas capable 0/ development:To which actual capacities
is the irritability related? Trust, confidence, patience,
time?
Jealousy mania Positive relationship with the land with the partner, pos-
itive attitude toward faithfulness, pronounced fantasy.
Areas capable 0/ development: re1ationship with the We,
time, trust, confidence, hope, contact.
Kleptomania At least temporarily positive attitude toward things, com-
(impulse to steal; the pensation for conditions of scarcity of another kind.
act of stealing is asso- Areas capable 0/ development: attitude toward things,
ciated with stimu- relationship with the Thou, honesty, stage of differentia-
lation, often of a sex- tion.
ual nature)
Laziness The ability to avoid achievement demands.
Areas capable 0/development:time (when and where one
is lazy), differentiation, and acquiring awareness of one's
own capacities.
Mania (euphorically Strongly pronounced need for contact, financialliberal-
raised basic mood, ity, inhibition-free fantasy, instrumentalities of the
generalized release sens es, trust, confidence.
408

Malady Positive interpretation

from inhibition and Areas capable 0/development:thrift; the relationship with

increase in motiva- the I, Thou, We; honesty, precision, and reliability.
tion, absent-minded-
ness, impulse to talk)
Masturbation (sexual Positive relationship with the I, with one's own body.
self-satisfaction) There exists an ability to establish a relationship with
one's own sexual parts.
Areas capable 0/ development: the relationship with the
Thou, with sexuality between partners; honesty and
cleanliness.
Narcissism (form of Positive relationship with the I, related to physical char-
being in love with acteristics and actual capacities. Honestly shows what he
one's own I) has, doesn't suppress his capacities through modesty.
Areas capable 0/development:relationship with the Thou
and with the We, courtesy, trust, contact.
Paranoia (systematic A pronounced relationship with isolated actual capaci-
delusion with clarity ti es, such as justice, honesty, etc. Stress on reason, "iso-
of remaining thought, lated fantasy."
will, and conduct) Areas capable 0/development:relationship with the other
actual capacities, fantasy, reason, instrumentalities ofthe
sens es, courtesy, honesty, trust, hope.
Phobias (fear of cer- The ability to avoid situations and objects which are
tain objects, such as experienced as threatening.
mice, dogs, spiders, Areas capable 0/ development:the relationship to these
etc., or of situations, situations and objects, contact, relation to the I, Thou,
e. g., fear of open We, and Origin- We, and confidence in the actual capaci-
spaces or closed areas ties involved.
or fear of burping)
Premature ejaculation Positive relationship to the Thou, pronounced emphasis
on diligence/ achievement, time.
Areas capable 0/development:time, patience, punctuality,
trust.
Rheumatism (nonarti- Tensions and conflicts are coped with through the motor
cular rheumatism syn- system (sens es and the body). Significant for the preser-
drome) vation of the autonomy of the personality under the
given circumstances. Courtesy.
Areas capable 0/ development: courtesy - honesty. Which
domains lead to the existing tensions (e.g., orderliness,
cleanliness, faithfulness, relationship to the partner,
breakaway from the children, etc.)? Even in cases of
rheumatic ailments, an experienced psychotherapist
should be consulted.
 409

Malady Positive interpretation

Schizophrenia In its paranoid form: stress on fantasy and tradition (e. g.,
(endogenous psycho- justice mania, religious mania, faithfulness mania, etc.).
sis, the genesis of In hebephrenic forms: ability to withdraw from the field
which has not been of achievement demands (actual capacities) and to call
explained; Psychy- them into question. In the catatonic form: to withdraw
rembel, 1972. Symp- motorically, or, vice versa, to obtain stimulation from
toms inc1ude absent- uncoordinated movements.
mindedness, c1eavage Areas capable 0/ development: To which contents is the
among thought con- mania related? Which actual capacities are still relatively
tents, poor contact, stable (DAI)? To which modes are the symptoms
split between the pat- related? Before one makes ajudgment as to what is
ient and the outer "inborn" or "endogenous," one should ask oneselfwhat
world; after Spoerri, has so far been done with the patient. Employ the family
1963) and the social milieu as therapists. The psychiatric hospi-
tals, which function in part as mere custodial institutions,
should be transformed into counseling centers, therapy
centers, and day c1inics, in which the patient's family is
prepared for their therapeutic function and the patient
hirnself is enabled to collaborate.
Sibling rivalry (rela- A chance to leam ways of interacting with partners, and
tionship of jealous to stand up for one's own interests.
tension among bro- Areas capable 0/ development:justice and love, unique-
thers and sisters) ness, contact, courtesy, honesty.
Stornach ulcers Pronounced emphasis on diligence/achievement; confi-
dence and doubt vis-a-vis particular actual capacities.
Areas capable 0/ development: orderliness, punctuality,
time (eat regularly and slowly), courtesy, honesty, trust,
contact.
Stress (according to Every adaptation of the organism to new situations can,
Selye, stress is an in this sense, produce stress. There is even considerable
acute tension attack evidence that man needs a certain minimum amount of
on the organism, in tension and stress. Stress is not the same for everyone.
which the latter is For some it is achievement demands which produce
forced to mobilize its stress, for others confrontation with disorderliness, dis-
defensive strength in courtesy, infidelity, or emphatic punctuality demands.
order to confront a Areas capable 0/ development:The question arises, to
threatening situation) which domains is the stress related? This way of proceed-
ing makes it possible not only to offer generalized advice
about overburdening, but also to go into the stress situa-
tions in a purposive mann er.
Vertigo (feeling of dis- The signal function of the psychosomatic disturbance
turbed balance, as "vertigo" points to an underlying conflict which the pa-
though the ground tient often cannot articulate in an adequate way. The
410

Malady Positive interpretation

were swaying or the derivation of "Schwinde/"form "schwinden"is purely

surroundings were etymological; other connections are possible: "to swin-
revolving, often dIe" (conflict in the area of courtesy-honesty). Taking
accompanied by bad into account the psychological significance of object loss,
moods and auto- the question is raised as to which actual capacities it is
nomic disturbances; related to.
Psychyrembel,1972. Areas capable 01 development: courtesy- honesty, punctu-
G. Maass (1976) ality, time, fusion - breakaway. Misunderstanding: condi-
derives psychoso- tional and determined fate.
matic Schwindel (ver-
tigo) from its etymo-
logical root
(schwinden = vanish),
suggesting that it may
be a consequence of a
fear of object loss)

Conclu ion: The e tran lation are only example and model for all
other po ible tran lation of illne e and di turbanee. or mo t peo-
pie, for whom illne e and di turbance are almo t of nece ity bound
up with a negative or pe imi tie orientation, the procedur i doubtle
unu ual. uch an orientation i in fact no guarantee of a more reali tic
view of matter, but rather one rea on ofthe fact that the reality of med-
icine and of p ychiatric-p ychotherapeutic care offe ufficient
ground for pe imi m. When one di regard the po itive a pect of an
illne ,one hould not be urpri ed at the con equence : that parents
drive their children out of the hou e prematurely; that young people
want nothing more to do with their parent and with grown-up ; that
marriage partner eparate or divorce; that very many people re ign
prematurely from their job ; that more and more people eek a olution
for their problem in alcohol and drug ; that aUempt are made to help
other people, without their actually being helped, a the e ample of
development aid how ; that people and group hate one another and
exi tide by ide without working together for a better life; that the
p ycho omatically ill are taken for malingere or are treated exdu-
ively with medication; that the mentally ill are hoved over the line
into abnormaJity; that p ychiatric patients in dinic , in tead of being
treated p ychotherapeutically have a merely cu todiaJ experience.
 411

We have, in thi book, attempted to point out problem to ee well-

known phenomena in a new light, to provide an wer to pre ing que -
tion and to timulate new que tion . We have ought to how po ible
olution and to pre ent practicable model of p ychotherap and elf-
help.
Herein lie the ba ic claim of differentiation analy i ,a Po itive P y-
chotherapy: namely to enable man to attain that which he already po -
e e in e ence, and to remind hirn of hi chance and capacitie to
make u e of hi indwelling therapeutic po ibilitie and to refine hi
capacity to di criminate.

Thi book lead file reader fo water,

buf he. him elf, will have fo drink.
412

J9. 9l~
d~?
deod ?
dfDd?

~I~ CJ..d0rtd Sa.~ I

j've oJeittd ~ ~

The altered way of looking at things

of Positive Psychotherapy can be
applied to almost any negative
situation
Appendix

The Individual Actual Capacities

The actual capacities play apredominant role in our professional lives,

and our modern civilization is based on typical manifestations of them. It
is noteworthy that almost everyone uses the terms that represent the actual
capacities, without always being aware of what they signify. Even in the
best-known dictionaries and encyclopedias, they are only perfunctorily
treated.
Since the actual capacities, in their social-psychological significance,
are for the most part considered only peripherally, we have brought them
together from a psychotherapeutic point of view. In order to operational-
ize the actual capacities, i. e., to be able to proceed from the abstract
expression to concrete questions and situations, below we have supple-
mented the definition and a short sketch of essential developmental char-
acteristics with examples of how one asks about the actual capacities.
These questions especially relate to the practical procedures in an open
interview. They are, in a way, examples and key questions with which
other, more specific questions can be coupled.
The "Synonyms and Disturbances" sections should make it easier for
the reader to imagine the sort of situations in everyday life that relate to the
actual capacity in question. "The Rules of Behavior" concisely summarize
strategies for resolution of conflict - not as cookbook recipes but as stim-
uli for one's own further consideration.
From the pedagogic point of view, the actual capacities have already
been given comprehensive treatment in my book The Psychotherapy of
Everyday Life (Springer, 1986).
414

Punctuality

Definition and Devefopment:The ability to hold to an expected or agreed upon dis-

tribution oftime. Forms: passive punctuality (adaptation to a given distribution of
time, expecting others to behave in a punctual way); active punctuality (planning
time oneself and behaving in a punctual manner). While in psychoanalysis cleanli-
ness is seen as the first cultural achievement, in Positive Psychotherapy it is punctu-
ality. The feeding, cleaning, and sleeping-waking rhythms determine the infant's
first distribution of time. In the course of development, the punctuality expecta-
tions and the punctuality behavior are modified through further specific learning
experiences (e.g., getting to schoollate, etc.).
How One Asks About It: Which of you (you or your partner) values punctuality
more highly? Do you have or have you had difficulties because of unpunctuality
(with whom)? How do you react when someone doesn't come at the time agreed
upon? Do you or your partner always hold exactly to the minute? Which ofyour
parents (grandparents) valued punctuality and precise planning of time more
highly?
Synonyms and DiSturbances:promptness, being on time, precision, tardiness, delay,
maiiana, university time (15 minutes after the time announced). - Anxious waiting,
pressure of time, continual fear of not being ready, unreliability, stress, inner rest-
lessness.
Rufes 0/ Behavior: Don't make any appointments without an appointment calen-
dar; honestly telling someone that you don't have time is often better than keeping
hirn waiting. If someone arrives late, that's sometimes better than his not coming at
all. Motto: It's nice ofyou to come anyway.

Cleanliness

Definition and Development:The capacity for purity, related to the body, clothing,
objects of daily use, premises and the environment, as weil as, in an analogous
sense, to character. It may be assumed that toilet training in early childhood influ-
ences later personality development, at least regarding the attitude toward cleanli-
ness.
How One Asks About It: Which of you values cleanliness more highly? Do you
have or have you had difficulties because of cleanliness (with whom)? How do you
feel when you are in unclean surroundings? Do you pay attention to physical
hygiene, cleanliness of clothing, of the dwelling, of the environment? Which of
your parents valued cleanliness and purity more highly?
Synonyms and Disturbances : to clean, to wash, to purify, pigsty, slovenliness, filth,
stay clean. - Ritualized cleanliness, compulsion to wash, uncleanliness, contact dis-
turbanees, sexual disturbanees, wetting one's pants, defecating in one's pants,
eczema, allergies.
Rules 0/ Behavior: Washing your hands together with the child berore eating saves
many words. If one knows why one should wash one's hands, it's easier to do so.
 415

Orderliness

Definition and Development:The ability to organize and arrange one's perceptions

and environment. It is oriented toward various reference systems: conformity with
reason; objective order; traditional order; intuitive, fantasy-filled, romantic order;
outward and inward order. Even the disorderly child has his orderliness and his
sense of order. Orderliness is learned from the parents' example, the immediate
environment, and reward and punishment. The child's apparent disorderliness is a
stage in his efforts to organize his world. The basic function of orderliness is differ-
entiation. Through it, one establishes a certain relationship with and trust in
things.
How One Asks About It: Which of you values orderliness more highly? Do you
have or have you had difficulties with orderliness (with whom)? Do you take care
that your house (apartment, bedroom, living room, garage, yard), or your place of
work, is always neat and tidy? Do you feel uncomfortable in a disorderly environ-
ment, or do you find that a little disorder is appropriate (situations)? Which ofyour
parents paid more attention to orderliness? When you were a child, what happened
when you hadn't straightened up?
Synonyms and Disturbanees: straighten up, thrown everywhere, chaotic, neglect
one's appearance, poorly arranged. - Pickiness; compulsion to control; inner agi-
tation; degeneracy; aggression; generation conflicts; professional disturbances;
heart, stornach, and intestinal ailments.
Rules 0/ Behavior: A rough classification (macro-ordering) often provides the first
necessary overview. A chest for the things that one doesn't need at the moment pre-
vents chaos in the room. Everything in its place. One finds things where one has
laid them down (micro-ordering). The child needs his own order, especially at play.
If you take something of your partner's, tell hirn. You will save yourself and hirn
time and annoyance.

Obedience

Definition and Development: The ability to accede to requests and follow orders
and commands from an external authority. Obedience is demanded and shown
principally in domains which are circumscribed in terms of contents, such as order-
liness, punctuality, and diligence/ achievement. Obedience can be developed
through punishment or threats of punishment, through praise when orders are car-
ried out, and through the reference person's example.
How One Asks About It: Which of you values obedience and discipline more
highly? Which of you is more inclined to give orders? Do you like it when other
people (partners, colleagues, superiors, parents) tell you what to do? Do you or did
you have problems because of obedience or disobedience? Which of your parents
more highly valued obedience? How did your parents react ro disobedience?
Synonyms and Disturbanees: compliance, self-denial, submission, coming down a
peg, acting big, rebellion, defiance. - Credulity vis-a-vis authorities, autonomy vis-
a-vis orders, crisis of authority, anxiety, aggression, insoience, chewing of nails,
bedwetting, difficulties in adaptation.
416

Rules 01 Behavior: Screaming and discourtesy by no means guarantee obedience

and a friendly atmosphere. Motto: Try it with courtesy. If one knows why one
should do something, one does it more easily. The other person may be right, too.

Courtesy

Definition and Development: The ability to shape interpersonal relationships. Its

manifestations are manners, in which social mies ofbehavior are recognized; con-
sideration; paying attention to the partner as weH as to oneself; and modesty.
Courtesy, as adeferment of one's own interests and needs, is a sociaHy based inhi-
bition of aggression. Leaming from a model (mostly the parents' model) and leam-
ing from success (of one's own ways of behaving) playa role in the acquisition of
courtesy. The parents' reaction to the children's seemingly discourteous behavior
has a strong influence. The kind of courtesy to be leamed is largely determined by
the culture and the norms of the social stratum.
How One Asks About It: Which of you values courtesy (consideration, good man-
ners) more highly? How do you feel when your partner does not manifest the
expected courtesy (respect) (name situations)? Are you more courteous or more
honest? Do you pay much attention to what others say about you? Would you
rather swaHow your anger than risk good relationships? Which of your parents
more highly valued good manners?
Synonyms and Disturbances : behave yourself, knowing the proper thing to do, pay-
ing attention to manners and forms of interaction, good breeding. - Hypocrisy,
ritualized politeness, inability to say no, egotism, social unsureness, anxiety,
indadequate ability to defend one's own interests, a1coholism, muscle cramps,
rheumatic ailments, headaches, heart pains, stornach and intestinal complaints.
Rufes 01 Behavior: Not infrequently, courtesy provides a possibility for contact.
Instead of "Gimme," it's better to say "Would you please ... ?" What would you
say if your partner were to treat you the same way you treat hirn? In relation to
which domains (thrift, faithfulness, sexuality, orderliness) and toward whom are
you especially courteous? It pays to control yourselfwith regard to the gaps in your
courteous behavior.

Honesty/Candor

Definition and Development: The ability to express one's opinion openly, to share
one's needs or interests, and to give information. Tmthfulness and sincerity count
as honesty. In a relationship between partners, honesty counts as faithfulness; in
social communication, as candor and uprightness. At the age at which the child
begins to speak, he cannot yet clearly distinguish between imagination and reality.
If the adult does not understand the logic of the child's experience, and punishes
hirn for telling a lie, he may already be teaching the child dishonesty.
How One Asks About It: Which of you can express his opinion more candidly? Do
you have or have you had problems with yourself or with your partner because of
 417

dishonesty (name situations)? How do you react when someone lies to you (name
situations)? Are you generous with your truth, or rather excessively exact? Do you
need to tell a white lie from time to time? Do you tell other people much or little
about yourself (candor)?
Synonyms and Disturbanees: speak your mind frankly, be plain spoken, tell a per-
son the whole truth, don't mince words, hold your tongue, keep your opinions to
yourself. - Cursing, backbiting, exaggerating and belittling, drive to dominate, ego-
ism, interpersonal conflict, aggression, outbreaks of perspiration, high blood pres-
sure, headaches.
Ru/es ofBehavior: Say what you think is right, but say it in such a way that it doesn 't
hurt your partner. Many people who are now offended by your frankness wililater
thank you for it. Even though you may not find it hard to be honest in your mar-
riage partnership, it isn't so easy for you at work, when it concerns money. For the
most part, people don't employ the same standards for honesty in all areas of life.
Motto: Observe with which actual capacities, in which situations, and vis-a-vis
whom you find it hard to be honest.

Faithfulness

Definition and Deve/opment: The ability to enter into a stable relationship and to
maintain it for a long time; to behave in a trustworthy manner. In our culture area,
faithfulness, in the strict sense, is especially related to sexuality. Conventional mar-
riage is based on faithfulness. However, faithfulness is also found vis-a-vis institu-
tions, outlooks, or principles, e.g., faithfulness to the constitution and faithfulness
toward oneself. A labile attitude toward faithfulness has a background in one's life
history, just as does an unconditional, naive fixation on a partner.
How One Asks About It: In your partnership, do you have problems with faithful-
ness (name situations)? What do you understand by unfaithfulness? Do you have
or have you had difficulties because you were unfaithful to your partner? How
would you react if your partner were to take another lover? (lf applicable: How
have you reacted in such situations?) Have you played around with the thought of
taking another partner? Do you think it possible that your partner would be
unfaithful to you in your absence? Do you believe that a little unfaithfulness is
quite stimulating? Were your parents true to one another?
Synonyms and Disturbanees: confidence, trust, loyal, attached, conservative, to
bind oneself, to promise, mistrust, unfaithfulness, a rat, in good faith, as true as the
knights of the round table. - Fixated faithfulness, jealousy, jealousy mania, faith-
lessness, violation of confidence, treachery, hopelessness, anxiety, aggression,
depression, sexual disturbances.
Ru/es of Behavior: Faithfulness doesn't begin on the wedding day. The choice of a
partner also has to do with faithfulness or unfaithfulness. Motto: Choose a partner
who you'lI want to be faithful to (sex - sexuality - love). Deciding on one partner
usually brings fewer problems than vacillating between two partners, neither of
whom one wishes to hurt. Ifyou determine that your partner doesn't suit you, sepa-
rate first, before you look for another partner. This is more honest, both to the part-
ner and to yourself.
418

Justice

Definition and Devefopment: The ability to balance one's self-interest against the
interests of others. In the process, one perceives as unjust any dealings which are
dictated by personal inclination or disinclination, or partisanship, instead of by
objective considerations. The societal aspect of this capacity is social justice. Every
human being has a sense of justice. The way the reference persons treat a child, and
how just they are to him, to his brothers and sisters, and to one another, shapes the
individual's reference system for justice.
How One Asks About It: Which ofyou values justice more highly? (Justice or injus-
tice in which situations, and towards whom?) Do you find your partner (the chil-
dren; the parents-in-Iaw; your fellow human beings; you, towards your own seit)
just? How do you react when you are unjustly treated (at work, in the family, etc.)?
Do you have or have you had problems with injustices? (Was someone else shown
favoritism?) Which of your parents paid more attention to justice with respect to
you or your brothers and sisters (name situations)?
Synonyms and Disturbanees: fair, well-eamed, objective, impartial, disagreeable,
unjustified, in comparison with ..., to feel injured. - "Justice tic," taking the law
into one's own hands, oversensitiveness, rivalry, power struggle, feeling of weak-
ness, injustice, retaliation, individual and collective aggression, depression, finan-
cial neuroses.
Rufes 0/ Behavior: Justice without love sees only achievement and comparisons;
love without justice loses control of reality. Leam to unite justice and love. To treat
two people identically means to treat one of them unjustly.

Düigence/Achievement
Definition and Devefopment:The ability and readiness to maintain a mostly exertive
and fatiguing type ofbehavior over a long period oftime, in order to reach a certain
goal. Diligence and achievement are criteria of success in society which are
honored with prestige and recognition. In the development of a child, play pro-
vides an early opportunity for diligence and achievement. In school, diligence
becomes a serious requirement. It then goes together with a renunciation of other
kinds of drive satisfaction, which might be easier. It is therefore true that the more a
person can himself perceive the pursuit of a task to be rewarding, the easier it is for
him to be diligent.
How One Asks About It: Which of you values diligence and achievement more
highly? Do you have or have you had professional problems? Are you dissatisfied
with your profession or with the people you work with? What are you more com-
mitted to, your job or your family? Do you feel good when you occasionally have
nothing to do? Are you satisfied with your children's academic or professional suc-
cess? How did you happen to enter your profession? Which of your parents valued
diligence and achievement more highly?
Synonyms and Disturbances:to be active, to busy oneself, to create, to be involved
in activities, to make good use oftime, to bend one's back to something, he doesn't
know the meaning of work, take your time. - Escape into work, pushiness, compul-
 419

sion to achieve, stress, overburdening, ennui, competitive struggle, envy, aggres-

sion, anxieties, laziness, escape into solitude, stornach ailments, sleep disturbances,
headaches, alcoholism, and drug dependency.
Rules 0/ Behavior: A person needs more than information, in the sense of training.
He also needs an emotional base in order to master that training. Leam to distin-
guish between education and training. When you get annoyed with your job, it is
worthwhile to distinguish whether are you really upset about your professional
activities or about unpleasant accompanying circumstances (unjust rules, rivalry
among colleagues, etc.)? When "achievement" becomes the focal point of conflict,
one's aim need not necessarily be to reduce the achievement, but rather to promote
the other domains, such as contact or the relationship with one's self.

Thrift

Definition and Development: The ability to practice economy with money, valu-
ables, capabilities, and energies. Its extremes are prodigality and miserliness. We
first talk about thrift in the narrower sense as of that point in time at which a child
can handle playthings and money. The child leams to recognize the value of money
through its counterpart, and also through the necessary expenditure of diligence
and achievement.
How One Asks About lt: Which ofyou values thrift more highly? Do you or did you
have financiaI problems? What would you do if you had more money? What do
you prefer to spend money on, and what would you rather not spend money on?
Which of your parents was more thrifty? Did you receive pocket money when you
were a child or youth?
Synonyms and Disturbances:to be tightfisted, to economize, to pay attention to the
price, to squander, to waste, to live high on the hog, generosity. - Stinginess, money
as a means to power, wastefulness, passionate desire to dominate, gambling, swin-
dling, attitude of passive waiting, naive optimism, irresponsibility, fear of life,
depression, problems with self-worth, inner agitation, insomnia, suicidal
thoughts.
Rules 0/ Behavior: Investing money in just one project means playing the lottery.
Spending money can have various aims: spending money on yourself, on your fam-
i1y, on your fellow man, on social institutions, and for the future. Don't spend
money until you know where it's coming from: talk over plans with your family.
Give every member of the family pocket money. One leams to spend and to save.

Reliability, Precision, Conscientiousness

Definition and Development: We talk about reliability when we can rely upon a per-
son. Even in our absence, he will carry out a task in the agreed-upon way, and he
will not disappoint our expectations. Precision means that an assignment is accom-
plished in the prescribed way. The greater the precision, the less the probability
of error. Conscientiousness presupposes an inner standard of precision, careful-
420
ness, and correetness. One speaks of conscientiousness when an accomplishment
corresponds to this inner standard and is therefore compatible with the con-
science.
How One Asks About It: Which of you values reliability more highly? Do you or
your partner tend to feel that you always have to do everything perfeetly and with-
out making any mistakes? Do you have or have you had problems in conneetion
with reliability, precision, and conscientiousness? Do you do your work just as weil
when your boss is out as when he is in? How do you feel when your partner is unre-
Iiable toward you? Can you give any examples? Which of your parents more highly
valued reliability and precision? How did your parents reaet when you occasion-
ally didn't do such a perfectjob?
Synonyms and Disturbances:precision, pickiness, exaetitude, it's a waste oftime to
rely on hirn, thoroughness, perfeetionism. - Fussiness, inadequate flexibility,
superficiality, betrayal of confidence, fear of failure, social and professional con-
fliets, compulsive delusions, compulsive behavior, disillusionment, overburdening,
depression, guilt feelings, insomnia, brooding.
Rufes 0/ Behavior: Reliability and independent work were not sufficiently weil
leamed (minus symptomatology): big assignments represent an overburdening, so
give small assignments, with frequent feedback and control. One has leamed to
perfeet certain aetivities; other domains are negleeted in the process (plus symp-
tomatology): slowly take aim at new domains, especially from among the primary
capacities. Reliability and precision appear only transitorily (inconsistent con-
duet); contaet is c1aimed in an absolutistic way, only to be soon given up again, e. g.,
a patient calls and asks for an immediate appointment, but doesn't show up, or is
late. Don't let an appointment be dietated to you, but rather set the appointment
yourself.

Love

Definition and Devefopment: The capacity for a positive emotional relationship,

which can be direeted at a number of objeets in different degrees. Love does not
imply any single behavior: one has the capacity to love another, and the capacity to
behave in such a way as to be loved. The general recommendation, "give the child
more love," helps very little, if at the same time information is lacking regarding in
which domain there exists a love deficit, and which kind of emotional relationship
is therefore to be given special emphasis. The most urgent forms of expression of
love in rearing are modeling, patience, and time.
How One Asks About It: Do you accept yourself (your own body)? Which ofyou is
more inclined to accept the other partner? Would you prefer to have your partner
all to yourself? In a large group, do you feel sheltered or pressured? What moves
you to do something good for other people? As a child, and later as a young person,
were you accepted by your parents? At horne, were people generous or frugal with
you in terms of displays of tendemess, affeetion, or love?
Synonyms and Disturbances:to find one's self, to hang on to someone, to be in love
with someone, to like, to be good to hirn, to have a special feeling for hirn. - Fear of
love or of withdrawal of love, insecurity, mistrust, jealousy, exaggerated expeeta-
 421

tions, moodiness, narrow feelings, sexual disturbances, poverty of contact, getting

emotionally stuck.
Rufes 0/ Behavior: If you love your partner, do you also behave in such a way as to
be loved? If you behave in such a way as to be loved, are you also able to give love
and displays of tenderness? For you, which actual capacities are criteria for
whether you can accept and love your partner?

Modeling

Definition and Devefopment:The ability to imitate others or to provide a model for

others to imitate. Not only ways of behaving which the model offers for imitation
are imitated, but also conduct, attitudes, and qualities of feeling which the model
regards as his own private affair. Imitation is one of the essential learning func-
tions. The child imitates his parents because he finds the imitation, as such, reward-
ing. Imitation occurs because it is rewarded. Imitation does or does not take place
because the model is rewarded or punished.
How One Asks About It: Which of you is more of a model? Which person, which
figure, which author, which motto is your paragon ? Would you like to be like oth-
ers? Which of your parents was your model? Do you find in yourself (in your part-
ner) attributes and ways of behaving which you remember in earlier reference per-
sons?
Synonyms and Disturbances : to pattern oneself after, imitate, copy, mimic, ape,
emulate, tread in somebody else's footsteps, deck oneself out in borrowed plumes.
- Imitation tendencies, shrinkage of one's own capacity for judgment, affective
rejection of the model, oscillation between love and hate, inhibitions, idealization,
exaggerated expectations, disillusionment, self-worth problems, financial difficul-
ties.
Rufes 0/ Behavior: Each of our acts and thoughts can be an example for others.
Conduct yourself in full awareness that you are a model. Even that which we have
taken over from the best model requires examination. See with YOUf own eyes, hear
with your own ears, use your own judgment to decide.

Patience

Definition and Development:The ability to accept oneself, another person, or a situ-

ation the way it iso Patience is equivalent to the ability to wait, to tolerate the part-
ner's own ways in spite of existing doubts and expectations, to postpone partial
satisfaction, and to give the other person time. The development of patience
depends on the evaluation of the actual capacities involved. There hardly exists a
person who is impatient in principle. He is perhaps impatient in relation to punctu-
ality, orderliness, thrift, faithfulness, or diligence/achievement, etc.
How One Asks About It: Which of you is more patient, and which of you gets upset
more easily? In which situations and towards whom do you and your partner
become impatient? How do you feel when YOUf partner gets impatient? Can you
422

wait? Do you quickly lose control ofyourself? Which ofyour parents showed more
patience? How did your parents react when you occasionally lost your patience?
Synonyms and Disturbances:to pound one's fist on the table, to burst a blood ves-
sei, it bums me up, it gets on my nerves, to put up with it, to make allowances for it,
to be able to stand it, to tolerate it, to control oneself, to bear it, to take it, to keep
one's temper, to get a grip on oneself, to let it be. - Impatience, patience due to anx-
iety, inconsistency, oversensitivity, exaggerated expectations, ambition, not being
able to listen, inconsiderateness, arrogance, headaches, disturbances of sleep, inner
agitation.
Ru/es 0/ Behavior: You don't need to let impatience gnaw away at you. You can talk
about it. Write down what made you impatient and how you have made your part-
ner impatient; talk it over with your partner at an appropriate time. When you have
spoken to your partner about a problem, leave hirn the time that he needs to come
to grips with your concepts and to defend his own concepts. Don't content yourself
with the affirmation that you are an impatient person. Pay attention to what situa-
tions you lose your patience in, toward whom, and to what degree. If one has been
impatient, it is sometimes more pleasant to excuse oneselfthan to carry around the
guilt feelings for one's behavior.

Time
Definition and Deve/opment:The ability to shape the course oftime and to establish
a relationship with the past, the present, and the future. This can take pi ace pas-
sively, as divisions and configurations of time are adopted, and actively, through
the distribution of time in accordance with a personal plan. From early childhood
on, the child learns whether he hirns elf can do something with time and how he can
shape it, or whether he is to passively observe all events.
How OneAsks About It:Which ofyou has more time foryourselfand foryour part-
ner? How do you feel when your partner has too !ittle time for you (situations)? Do
you have the right amount of time, or do you feel bored or pressed for time? Do
you have enough time for yourself, and can you get anything done in this time?
What would you do if you had one week of free time at your disposal? Do you
(does your partner) have a regular time for work? What are your plans for the
future? Do you often think about what you did right or wrong in the past? Which
of your parents had more time for you?
Synonyms and Disturbanees: boredom, lasting, permanent, ephemeral, utopian,
pressed for time, free time, the good old days, to waste time, time is money, wait
and see, make hay while the sun is shining. - Overburdening, underutilization,
neglect, anxiety, musing, eccentricity, manifestations of stress, fixation on the past,
one-sided relationship to reality, utopianism, stornach ailments, he art ailments, sex-
ual disturbances.
Ru/es 0/ Behavior: Think over beforehand what you want to do with your time. Talk
about it with your partner or family. Through planning, you can reduce distur-
bances. Nevertheless, we do have to deal with the surprises that pop up. Establish
what is more and what is less pressing; take these things up one after another. What
to take time for: for yourself, your partner, the family, social contact, profession,
Weltanschauung/religion.
 423

Contact

Definition and Deve/opment: The ability to establish and cultivate social relation-
ships. Social contact is one manifestation of the capacity for contact, which can
also be directed towards animals, plants, or things. The other actual capacities
function as criteria for choice of contacts: one expects of another person courtesy,
punctuality, orderliness, occupation with certain areas of interest, etc., and looks
for partners who satisfy these criteria.
How One Asks About It:Which ofyou is more sociable? Which ofyou most enjoys
having guests over? How do you feel when you are in a large group ofpeople? Do
you find it difficult to establish contact with other people? How do you feel when
you have many guests? Which of your parents was more sociable? As a child, did
you have many friends, or were you rather isolated? When your parents had guests,
were you allowed to take part and to join in the conversation?
Synonyms and Disturbanees: conversationalist, sociable, to encounter, to meet,
exchange ofviews, consultation, getting together, in elose touch, in contact. - Inhi-
bitions, unsureness, mistrust, oversensitivity, paucity of contact, exaggerated expec-
tations, isolation, loneliness, escape into sociability, financial difficulties, depres-
sion, generation problems, transcultural difficulties.
Ru/es 01 Behavior: It's no use to have a pronounced need for contact if you don't
take any steps toward establishing contact, such as visiting people, receiving guests,
writing letters, telephoning, going out, etc. One can leam how to make contact and
cultivate social relationships. Contact training by itself is of little use if the distur-
bances of contact are derived from other actual capacities. Shrinkage of contact
can occur for reasons of thrift, orderliness, eleanliness, courtesy, punctuality, etc.

Sexuality

Definition and Deve/opment:The ability to establish with oneself or with a partner

(Thou) a sexual or sexually motivated relationship. We distinguish among sex, sex-
uality, and love. Sex is related to bodily attributes and functions. Sexuality concems
the qualities and peculiarities which become criteria for affection or rejection. Love
encompasses the bearer of these qualities, whom one loves. Not what he has is
loved, but rather he hirnself. The development of sexuality is directly influenced by
the parents' example, how they reacted to the child's need for displays of affection,
and how the sexuality is related to other actual capa ci ti es, such as eleanliness,
courtesy, honesty, faithfulness, and punctuality.
How One Asks About It: Which ofyou is more sexually active? Do you have prob-
lems in the area of sexuality? Do you like your partner physically? Which of your
partner's characteristics do you like, and which not? Had you already had sexual
relationships with another partner? Do you miss hirn? When did you have your
first sexual relationship? When did you begin to masturbate? What do you think
about that? Which forms of sexuality do you prefer? Who told you about the birds
and the bees? What was your parents' attitude toward sexuality?
Synonyms and Disturbanees: in love, loved, infatuated, tender, devoted to, erotic,
passionate, ravishing, stimulating, attractive, seduce, attractiveness, affection,
424
devotion, lust, passion. - Sex as the goal of life, hypersexuality, masturbation as a
mania, sexual degeneracy, perversions, sadism, masochism, compulsion to achieve
sexually, sexual anxiety, disillusionment, self-worth problems, marital difficulties,
sexual defensiveness, clinging tendencies.
Rules 0/ Behavior: Learn to distinguish between sex - sexuality and love. Explain
about the sexual functions, interpersonal relationships, and the causes and conse-
quences of a partnership in accordance with the stage of development. Also talk
about sexual problems and desires.

Trust - Confidence

Definition and Development. Trust: The ability to place oneself in the hands of
another and to feel secure with him. Confidence: The ability to depend upon certain
accomplishments and qualities, and to expect them. Trust first arises out of the soil
of the primary capacities and the capacity to love, and involves the whole person,
and sometimes the whole milieu, in a trusting relationship. On the other hand, trust
is regulated through certain experiences which one has had with regard to the
actual capacities, i. e., through confidence.
How One Asks About It: Do you trust yourself and your partner? Have you been
disappointed in your trust (name situations)? Have you disappointed others who
trusted you (name situations)? Can you trust strangers, or are you rather cautious?
Which ofyour partner's capacities and possibilities do you rely upon (faithfulness,
honesty, diligence/achievement, reliability, punctuality)? Do you rely upon your-
self (your partner).1o be able to change certain ways of behaving (e.g., to come
home on time)? Which ofyour parents did you trust more? Who did you feel more
secure with as a child? Did people rely upon you to behave independently, or did
they constantly control you?
Synonyms and Disturbances:trusting, inspiring confidence, trustworthy, gullible, to
suspect someone, swear on a stack of Bibles, without a shadow of a doubt, in good
faith. - Breach oftrust, mistrust, blind trust, disillusionment, jealousy, hatred, envy,
abhorrence, exaggerated expectations, expectation of failure, feelings of inferiority,
resignation, anxieties, depression.
Ru/es 0/ Behavior: "Trust in God and tie your camel securely." Instead of mistrust,
more precision and honesty. To which characteristics, which persons, and which
groups are the trust, confidence, or mistrust related? What gave rise to the mistrust
- disillusionment of imitation?

Hope

Definition and Development:The ability to develop positive attitudes toward one's

own capacities and those of one's partner and group, which go beyond the present
moment. In this sense, we hope that tomorrow, next year, or at some undetermined
time, something will happen; and this makes individual actions or our whole life
seem meaningful to uso The positive concept ofhope is optimism; the negative, pes-
 425

simism. In its development, hope depends upon the practical and other experi-
ences that a person has had, and upon the prospects that are held out to hirn by his
environment. Hope, as an attitude toward the future, is regulated through positive
experiences and disappointments, which are concretely related to individual actual
capacities.
How One Asks About It: Which of you is more optimistic? What plans do you have
for your private and professionallife? How do you (how does your partner) react
when you are (he is) disappointed (name situations)? In which domains are you
especially susceptible to disillusionment (name situations)? Do you have the hope
that everything will turn out weIl for you or your partner (foundation)? Which of
your parents was more optimistic or pessimistic? How was that expressed?
Synonyms and Disturbances : hoping, counting on something, promising oneself
something, promising, expectation, hold out a prospect of something to someone,
c1inging to straws, seeing everything rosy, seeing everything black, meaningless,
with no prospects, unattainable, unsolvable, impossible. - Hopelessness, dissatis-
faction, pessimism, resignation, escape into fantasy, attitude of passive waiting,
naive optimism, fear of life, fear of death, blockage of the ability to act, suicidal
intentions.
Rules 0/ Behavior: "Every dark night has a bright ending." Instead of "You can't do
it, you know," "You can't do it yet." Distinguish between what one can change and
what one must leam to bear (birth, death, past). Do I merely wait to see if my hopes
are fulfilled, or do I do something about it? Even the darkest hopelessness has its
causes, mostly in experience with the actual capacities. Motto: What are the real
roots of hopelessness? In spite of hope and the most precise planning, there is still
an incalculable element. Motto: I rejoice at the hoped-for future, but I also rejoice
at the surprises.

FaithlReligion

Definition and Development: The ability to establish a relationship with the

unknown and unknowable, and to approach it step by step, until apart of this
unknown becomes known. Faith can be directed toward one's own capacities,
toward those of one's fellow human being, and toward as yet unknown and unre-
searched scientific truths and the Unknowable of the religions. At the beginning,
the child has an absolute faith. Later the contents of faith are differentiated: the
child believes in the parent's affection or justice. Through the parents' example, he
leams to build a relationship with the unknown and unknowable, and adopts the
historically shaped forms of religious or Weltanschauung-related belief.
How One Asks About It: In your marriage partnership, are there problems due to
religion or Weltanschauung? Which of you is more religious? Do you believe in a
Supreme Being? Do you believe in life after death? What do you think about the
religions? Which religious community do you belong to? How do you feel about
the church? Which of your parents was more religious? How was religion practiced
in your horne (prayer, meditation, rites)? Do you believe that you (your partner)
can further develop and open up still further reserves of energy? Do you have firm
goals for your professional and private activities?
426

Synonyms and Disturbances:to embrace (a faith, etc.), to be ofthe opinion, to feel,

to presume, to presuppose, to rely upon, to trust, Weltanschauung, ideology, theory,
hypothesis. - Superstition, bigotry, crisis of faith, unbelief, anxiety, aggression,
imitation, resignation, overburdening, unsureness, alternating moods, fear of life,
collective hatred, prejudices, fanaticism, religious mania, etc.
Rufes 0/ Behavior: Every human being, without exception, has the capacity to
believe. Learn to distinguish between faith, religion, and church. Believe in your-
self. in your capacities, in a partner, in a group, in an idol, in an idea, in a theory, in
a Weltanschauung, in a God.

Doubt

Definition and Devefopment: The ability to call a belief into question, to make dis-
tinctions, and to weigh contents against one another. The function of doubt, which
is related more to individual actual capacities than to the whole personality, is
learned in interaction with the reference persons.
How One Asks About It: What is your doubt directed at? Do you doubt your own
capacities? Do you sometimes have the feeling that you don't have the right wife
(the right husband)? Do you have the impression that you didn't choose the right
profession? Would you rather have been born at another time and in another mi-
lieu and society? Do you sometimes doubt your religion and Weltanschauung?
Which of your parents was the biggest doubter?
Synonyms and Disturbances : inner cleavage, oscillation, hesitation, indecisiveness,
warring with oneself, saying neither yes nor no, trying to make up one's mind. -
Unsureness, anxiety, ambivalence, alterations of mood, moodiness, impatience,
lack of certitude, indecisiveness, perplexity, self-worth problems, negativism.
Rufes 0/ Behavior: Doubt is not to be regarded merely as a weakness; rather, it is an
essential function for timely control of reality. Do we doubt ourselves, our partner,
the world, or certain qualities which are no longer consistent with our pretensions?

Certitude

Definition and Devefopment:The ability, after an attack of doubt, to make decisions

which no longer provoke any guilt feelings. One is capable of clearly saying yes or
no, and identifying with this decision. Furthermore, certitude means a quality or an
intensity of faith. Even with a baby, situations of doubt are found. When it cries to
be fed, it doesn't know whether anybody will come to feed it. As the mother again
and again comes to it, certitude develops: "Even ifmy needs are not immediately
met, they will soon be satisfied."
How One Asks About It: When you make (your partner makes) adecision, do you
have the feeling that what you are doing is right? How sure do you feel when you
have to make adecision (professionally or privately)? Which of your parents did
more to transmit a feeling of sureness, calmness, and certitude? How did your par-
ents react when you made an independent decision?
 427

Synonyms and Disturbanees: sureness, firm conviction, without a doubt, absolute,

definitive, definitely, unquestionably, of course, in any event, steadfastness. -
Rigidity, dogmatism, fixation, fanaticism, defensiveness, ambivalence, guilt feel-
ings, uncertainty, anxieties, mistrust, hopelessness, overburdening.
Ru/es and Behavior: The regulator of certitude, doubt, is a human capacity for the
testing of reality. In relation to which contents do you feel certitude: faithfulness,
honesty, justice, or religious or Weltanschauung-related contents? Confront your
certitude with the certitudes of others (contact, conversation, recognize and resolve
conflicts, mutual understanding and respect, relativity ofvalues).

Unity

Definition and Deve/opment: The ability to integrate the configurations of the actual
capacities, the basic capacities, the value system, and experiences. This psychologi-
cal unity must support the unity ofthe personality, which means the ability to inte-
grate as a single unit the functions, characteristics, and needs of the body, of the
environment, and of time. Superordinate to these is the "universal unity," which
means the ability to establish relationships with other people, groups, life forms,
things, and powers, and to grasp existing interconnections. The unity of the person-
ality, which also encompasses self-perception, depends on the development of the
actual and the basic capacities and on experiences with them.
How One Asks About It: Are you satisfied with your physical appearance, your
health, the performance capability of your body? Are you satisfied with yourself,
with your characteristics and capacities? To what do you relate the meaning of your
life: to your own well-being, to your family, to special groups such as national
groups, to the whole of mankind, to a better future? Do you have the feeling that
you are at one with yourself? Do you have the feeling that you are at one with the
world around you, or that you are in confrontation with the world? Did you have
the feeling that you were accepted by your parents in all areas ofyour personality?
If not, which areas and contents were emphasized or neglected?
Synonyms and Disturbanees: cooperation, integration, identity, unified, oneness,
interconnections, system, universal, uniformity, totality, synthesis, structure, polar-
ity. - Loss of unity, disintergration, disturbance of the I, depersonalization, one-
sidedness, hypochondriacal observation of the body, profession as game of life,
escape into fantasy or into the future, prejudices, identity crises, totalitarianism,
idolatry, uniformity, sectarianism, edecticism.
Ru/es 0/ Behavior: Everything we do is connected with everything else around us,
even if we don't want to perceive this. There are a large number of points of refer-
ence that can help us establish unity in any given situation. Therapy is notjust elim-
ination ofthe disturbance, but also restoration ofunity. An illness, a suffering, a cri-
sis is not a universal disturbance, but rather a disturbance of certain areas. Learn to
distinguish between disturbances and capacities.
428

Statistical Investigations in Positive Psychotherapy

In what follows, we have sought to examine statistically the question of

which actual capacities (primary and secondary capacities) are most fre-
quently named in relation to partners hip and professional conflicts, as
well as to conspicuous behavior in children. Our data were gathered from
patients through the paired interview method (self-rating and rating ofthe
other), and coded by the interviewer according to the subjective signifi-
cance estimated by hirn. The following results may therefore reflect a
trend.

Partnership-Related Conflicts (Sexual Disturbanees) and Actual Capacities

From the rolls of patients with sexual disturbances (difficulties with orgasm, pre-
mature ejaculation, impotence, frigidity, compulsive onanism), a random sampie of
50 patients (16 male, 34 female) was taken. Each patient was asked about possible
areas of conflict in their relationship with their partner (marriage partner, boy-
friend, girlfriend). Attention was paid to the actual capacities which are contained
in the Differentiation-Analytic Inventory (short form), as conflict factors.
The domain of "orderliness" was named most frequently (48 times, i.e., in 96 per
cent ofthe cases) as a very important conflict factor in the relationship between the
partners. If, however, one combines "courtesy" and "honesty/faithfulness" as com-
plementary dimensions, they prove to be the most frequently cited area of distur-
bance, with 50 mentions (100 per cent).
Thirty-four patients (68 per cent) held the actual capacity "punctuality" to be one
ofthe most significant conflict contents in the partner relationship. For 31 patients,
cleanliness was a prominent area of conflict (62 per cent). Twenty-seven patients
(54 per cent) stressed the significance of diligence/achievement, and 24 (48 per
cent), the importance of thrift. The remaining secondary capacities were less fre-
quently mentioned in connection with the sexual disturbances.
Among the primary capacities, shortages of "patience" (34 mentions, 68 per
cent), "contact" (30 mentions, 60 per cent), and "time" (16 mentions, 32 per cent)
were most frequently singled out.
With the help of the X2 test for variables with more than two qualitative classes
(Mitteneker, 1968, p.45), we checked to see whether the differential frequencies
could be due to chance. The chi square yielded a value which is significant at the
.05 level: the probability that the differences in frequency are due to chance is less
than 5 per cent.
 429

Professional Conjlicts and Actual Capacities

This study was based on a random sampie of 34 patients (16 male, 18 female) who
came to us with difficulties in their profession or in professional training (teacher,
school, study) and mentioned vegetative-functional and organic-neurotic distur-
bances in connection with them. Eighteen patients named anxiety and aggression
as symptomatic. It seems interesting that only three men (vs. eight women) named
anxiety and phobic symptoms, while six men (vs. one woman) complained of
aggressive attitudes and/or ways of behaving. Thirteen patients mentioned ner-
vousness, inner agitation, and disturbed concentration. Disturbances of concentra-
tion were considerably more frequently mentioned by male than by female pat-
ients. The reverse was true with nervousness and inner agitation, where all the
indications are that female patients are more heavily represented. Nine patients
complained of stomach and intestinal ailments, as weil as ventricular and duodenal
ulcers. The latter clinical profile was dominated by male patients (six males vs. one
female). Likewise, nine patients complained of inhibitions.
This group showed the following estimations of conflict potential: of the second-
ary capacities, inadequate "honesty/ candor" on the part of the patient (private and
professional domains) was most frequently named as a conflict potential (by
15 patients). Eleven patients mentioned the actual capacity "courtesy." The trilogy
"punctuality," "cleanliness," and "orderliness" was also often named (28 times).
More than ten mentions were found of the actual capacities "diligence/achieve-
ment," "thrift," and "precision/reliability." No significant gender-specific differ-
ences were established.
Among the primary capacities, the actual capacities "sexuality" (17 mentions),
"patience" (16), and "contact" (15) were frequently said to be disturbed, while reli-
gious attitudes (5) were relatively seldom named. The inadequate "patience" ofthe
parents with their children, now the adult patients, and the relationship between
the parents were said to be disturbed in 16 and 15 cases, respectively, while the par-
ents' relations with the outside world ("contact") and with "religion" were less
often perceived as conflict producing. At least 12 of the 34 patients regarded their
relationship with their parents as a (conflict-laden) parental attachment, with the
mother attachment predominanting by far (mother attachment ten mentions, father
attachment two mentions).

Conspicuous Behavior in Children and Adolescents

from Me Point of Vtew ofMe Actual Capacities

This investigation was based on a random sampie of 48 children (32 boys and
16 girls, aged 3 to 16), who had been brought in because ofvarious psychoreactive,
vegetative-functional, and organic-neurotic disturbances. Most of the children
presented several symptoms. The children came to us relatively frequently because
of inhibitions and disturbances of concentration, scholastic difficulties, leaming
and concentration difficulties, anxiety or aggressive behavior, and inner agitation/
nervousness.
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The parents (reference persons) were asked their views as to which secondary
capacities appeared to be "disturbed" in their children. Furthennore, they were
asked about their relationships with the child concemed, with one another, to the
outer world, and to religion (basic conflict).
Among the secondary capacities, "diligence/achievement" and "orderliness"
stood out (statistically highly significant). Both these ways ofbehaving clearly rep-
resent conflict potentials in most cases.
Also important - not statistically significant, but with a relatively high frequency
of appearance - were "cleanliness," "courtesy," "honesty," "obedience," and
"punctuality. "
In our investigation, "justice," "precision/reliability," and "thrift" were practi-
cally negligible.
Among the primary capacities, the most highly statistically significant was inade-
quate "patience" (39 out of 48 cases) on the part of the parents vis-a-vis the child,
followed by paucity of "time" (31 out of 48). In 32 cases the relationship between
the parents was disturbed (ten couples were separated), and in 21 cases, relation-
ships with the outside world (contact disturbances on the part ofthe parents). Reli-
gious attitudes and ways of behaving rarely appeared as conflict potentials.
The results presented here point to the connections between actual capacities
which have been shaped in a conflict-Iaden way and manifest symptom profiles. It
should be noted, however, that these statistical investigations must be regarded as
only preliminary studies, which can merely hint at trends. A Differentiation-Ana-
lytic Inventory which satisfies the requirements of questionnaire construction and
can therefore provide "harder" data is in preparation. A number of scientific
studies of Positive Psychotherapy are included in a research project being under-
taken at the Psychological Institutes of different Universities.