New Forms of Therapy

[Variform]

Has anyone ever thought up a new form of therapy? If so, please elaborate. It can be anything from ridiculous to brilliant.

If not, here is your chance!

I will propose one here myself. Teddybear Group Therapy.
All clients will wear a teddybear costume. Everybody needs to hug before talking to anyone. Only one person during a circle chat (chair arrangement) must wear a bunny costume. Each client will get that chance. When you are the bunny, you most always directly confront and distort what anyone said and oppose it. Every time the bunny succeeds in making someone cry or really angry, the bunny may use a foam rubber baseball bat and spank any other member in the group before returning to his seat.

What do you all think this will accomplish?

PS: I am serious, not a joke.

 

[BigApplePi]

Has anyone ever thought up a new form of therapy?

Yes. Every time a new therapy came out that person who thought of it thought of it as new.

If so, please elaborate. It can be anything from ridiculous to brilliant.

I'm surprised no one has answered so far. Here is a new form of therapy: The patient sits on a stool and registers his complaint. Ice water is thrown on hir. The doctor asks if hir still has the complaint. If the answer is yes, a bucket of glue is tossed at hir. The doctor asks again. If the answer is still yes, the patient is coated with tar and feathers. This continues until the patient no longer has this complaint. I've thought this over and over and can't tell you whether this therapy has any merit. Maybe it's stupid, not brilliant or ridiculous.

You be the judge but don't knock it until you've tried it. Who wants to play doctor? Who wants to play patient?

If not, here is your chance!

Wait a minute. That therapy may have been thought of already. It's called shock therapy? Sorry.

I will propose one here myself. Teddybear Group Therapy.
All clients will wear a teddybear costume. Everybody needs to hug before talking to anyone. Only one person during a circle chat (chair arrangement) must wear a bunny costume. Each client will get that chance. When you are the bunny, you most always directly confront and distort what anyone said and oppose it. Every time the bunny succeeds in making someone cry or really angry, the bunny may use a foam rubber baseball bat and spank any other member in the group before returning to his seat.

I've heard of a therapy where people beat each other with a rubber bat. I thought it was called a "batacka" (sp?). It's a way to show your anger without hurting anybody. I've never seen it used, only heard of it.

What do you all think this will accomplish?

PS: I am serious, not a joke.

It brings out unexpressed inhibited anger without harm. Then a discussion can take place asking where the anger may have come from.

 

[Variform]

I saw the bat thing on an early Simpsons episode. But it is not the main part of the therapy. You didn't think much of the bear and bunny suits :-) What world do you live in that this escaped your attention? :-)

I thought of this because no one can see each other's faces and emotions. The ridiculousness of the suits also causes a dissociation in participants so that their feelings become more available and can be viewed from a distance. On one side it will force someone to cry harder to be noticed by the bunny, which is a threshold situation.

The group therapist can spot them more easily. Anything under that baseline is less relevant. A tear here and there under the bear mask would normally only distract or could be a ploy to avoid deeper underlying issues.

It will also cause a dissociation between the self and others, showing they are all the same, except for the bunny. When you become the bunny, you will feel much different, your role is different and your behavior. This causes a new ability to look at a situation differently. It will cause a self-reflection and an awareness of how one interacts with others. Since you cannot see anyones faces, you can only wait until someone really breaks down.

In some way it is what ancient Greeks did with their drama plays. People took on a 'persona'. The word 'person' comes from this Greek word. The persona was a mask depicting a specific character in the play.

One wonders how people thought about each other before that invention. Or themselves. We may think something e.g. like 'Don't hurt me, I am a real person!' Before the invention of a mask depicting a character, how would one think about themselves?

I think maybe that in principle, any therapy where you lift people out of their skin and do something totally alien, will have results because you just shake up the status quo and show people how they actually interrelate and what effects their behavior has on themselves and others.

 

[Vrecknidj]

How about a series of devices that connect two or more people in therapy such that any one of them can feel what the others feel?

Instead of this:

Person 1: Random yelling ... "and you don't know how I FEEL!"
Person 2: "Oh yeah?! Well you're a _____"

repeat

Instead, Person 2 is hooked up to Person 1 by some electrodes on their brains (or whatever), and the therapist directs the two people to talk to one another about things that induces each one to have certain feelings. Each person is given the ability to feel what the other person feels.

Now, the "you don't know how I feel" claim is removed.

Further, in some cases, empathy, once impeded, might now be possible.

I can imagine someone saying, in effect "Oh shit. I had no idea you felt that way when I told you that. I'm so sorry."

Who knows.

 

[peoplesuck]

They say they have a problem drop that bitch in Korea or Africa, guarantee that it makes them happy to be alive.

 

[Variform]

How about a series of devices that connect two or more people in therapy such that any one of them can feel what the others feel?

I like that idea. But it requires a still very difficult surgery, very tricky. But they are able these days to manipulate certain centers in the brain so that people experience OOBE's.

But I also shy away from this. Because the abuse is obvious. We are not ready for it, just made a post about the dangers of quantum computing. We are not ready to know much more.

Also, MDMA is supposed to have been proven in research that it is a good relationship therapy drug. I would prefer that option before physically affecting the brain?

 

[Variform]

They say they have a problem drop that bitch in Korea or Africa, guarantee that it makes them happy to be alive.

Despite the incoherence, I think you mean 'ordeal poison'. In Madagascar they use a 'psychoactive' substance that puts you through the wringer. It is very hard physically. Afterwards you feel so happy it is over, some problems seem less poignant.

 

[redbaron]

Also, MDMA is supposed to have been proven in research that it is a good relationship therapy drug. I would prefer that option before physically affecting the brain?

Implying that MDMA doesn't physically affect the brain?

 

[Variform]

Implying that MDMA doesn't physically affect the brain?

There is no conclusive evidence as far as I know on that yet.

 

[Tutu]

I saw the bat thing on an early Simpsons episode. But it is not the main part of the therapy. You didn't think much of the bear and bunny suits :-) What world do you live in that this escaped your attention? :-)

I thought of this because no one can see each other's faces and emotions. The ridiculousness of the suits also causes a dissociation in participants so that their feelings become more available and can be viewed from a distance. On one side it will force someone to cry harder to be noticed by the bunny, which is a threshold situation.

The group therapist can spot them more easily. Anything under that baseline is less relevant. A tear here and there under the bear mask would normally only distract or could be a ploy to avoid deeper underlying issues.

It will also cause a dissociation between the self and others, showing they are all the same, except for the bunny. When you become the bunny, you will feel much different, your role is different and your behavior. This causes a new ability to look at a situation differently. It will cause a self-reflection and an awareness of how one interacts with others. Since you cannot see anyones faces, you can only wait until someone really breaks down.

In some way it is what ancient Greeks did with their drama plays. People took on a 'persona'. The word 'person' comes from this Greek word. The persona was a mask depicting a specific character in the play.

One wonders how people thought about each other before that invention. Or themselves. We may think something e.g. like 'Don't hurt me, I am a real person!' Before the invention of a mask depicting a character, how would one think about themselves?

I think maybe that in principle, any therapy where you lift people out of their skin and do something totally alien, will have results because you just shake up the status quo and show people how they actually interrelate and what effects their behavior has on themselves and others.

This is really interesting and the role part you mentioned above reminds me of the psycho-drama therapy . That is by role-playing the client get the chance to percieve others or things in a different angle to trigger new thoughts and understanding. But do u think that clients always reach what u set up as goals?The group therapy that I know of can generally achieve those things u mentioned above so how is it different from the the traditional practice of group therapy?questions just poped up in head.

 

[Variform]

I think it would work faster, because people are hidden and can from that protection unload more easily.

I find that writing in English for me it is easier to share things as well. Because writing in another language acts like a filter. It is a self-deception, but it still works. I would not write the same stuff in my own speak.

So the uncoupling of self and replacing it with a persona might work quicker to break down defenses and deceptions. It is hard to go straight to the issue I find when I meet my therapist. I can wander for 15 minutes talking about PC's to him before I cough it up.

I think most things that are absurd or feel ridiculous will do it. In the same way that the surroundings of therapy matter. They did research on that. Clients recover faster when the therapist's office looks nice.