Season 2 Ep 2: Deep Play: Exploring the Therapeutic Playground
For the last few weeks, I’ve been reflecting on the conversation I shared with you in episode 2.1 with Silvana Espinoza Lau about therapeutic goal setting.
And what I’ve realized is that when you set out to look at the topic of setting goals in therapy in anything more than a superficial light, you relatively quickly start running into the question of what therapy is.
Why, in order to examine the topic of therapeutic goals deeply and honestly, do we first have to reckon with the question of what therapy is?
The existence of therapeutic goals implies something important about therapy: Therapy is a goal-directed activity.
We aren’t just passing the time. Therapy is supposed to accomplish something. The intention is to get somewhere different than where you started, no matter how granular or broad your goals may be. If you don’t, it didn’t work.
So what is it that we are setting out to achieve? What’s the overarching goal that we all share in the goal-directed activity of therapy, regardless of the diverse theories and delivery systems we subscribe to?
What is the big goal of therapy?
Listen to the full episode to hear:
Why the concept of improving mental health raises more questions than it answers
What differentiates therapy from other activities intended to mitigate human suffering
The real impact of goal-setting in therapy
What therapy has in common with game theory and play
Learn more about Riva Stoudt:
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About Riva
Riva Stoudt is a therapist based in Portland, Oregon. When she's not working with patients, she likes to talk about all the things a therapist isn't "supposed" to talk about.
