Postmodern Perspectives

Postmodern Perspectives . . . Suggestion I’m often slow to offer suggestion inside the therapy room because I feel it’s disempowering to a client to offer my  solution options  instead of helping them to grow and strengthen their own ideas. However, sometimes  I feel that the situation does require me to insert something directly into the conversation. A way to do this, that I have become comfortable with, is to present an idea from a second hand perspective. I then immediately switch to a line of questioning that prompts the client to explore that option from their own perspective, morphing it into their own. An example might be:        In my work with other folks, I have heard of        _________________ being tried in this scenario. How might _________________ look or play out in your situation?  This approach keeps the client empowered to put their personal narrative into the suggested solution option. 

Postmodern Perspectives . . .  Being Critical  One of my favorite aspects of a postmodern therapeutic philosophy is drawing into question social norms, expectations, and the larger power structures that construct these ideas. My process generally involves asking questions that open space for the client to be critical of norms and expectations in order to help them find a more preferable existence in, in relation to those ideas. As a therapist, I find myself very comfortable in a questioning and critical position, but where I find challenge is in being so in a professional context. It seems to me that the practices and approaches of counseling/ psychotherapy/ psychology (whatever it’s called these days) and the power structures from which they come should be free game for the same kind of questioning and critique that I encourage my clients to engage in. And to be clear, I’m very comfortable questioning professional practices and approaches in my thoughts and in my