Trying a new life style (Fixed Role Therapy)
A
generation ago, George Kelly (1963) observed that people have certain views and
explanations of what is happening in their lives. Thus, every one is a
scientist; we all have theories about the world. Those theories (Kelly's
"constructs") change as we get new information, as we see things
happening different 23223e417x ly than we thought they would. The cute 17-year-old who
believes her Dad will buy her a nice car, if she begs him for it, has to change
her mind (her construct about Dad being a soft touch and in her control) when
he says, "No, but I'll help you get a job so you can buy
one."
We
keep our ideas that predict events (how Dad will react) and revise our ideas
that don't fit reality. Problems, in general, result from some weakness in our
theories, i.e. being unable to foresee events and how to handle them. Kelly
also thought emotions resulted from a change in our personal constructs or from
a need to change our ideas about the world. For example, fear results when we
suspect that our ideas are not adequate to handle an upcoming event, anger is
when we discover some of our ideas and expectations are clearly wrong,
happiness and complacency is when our constructs (explanations and theories)
seem to fit what is happening in our world. Kelly did not advocate changing emotions
or behavior by directly changing our ideas, as in Rational-Emotive therapy
(method #3), but rather more indirectly by doing the opposite: change one's
ideas (constructs or explanations) by experiencing new events in the world,
i.e. by changing one's behavior.
In
short, Kelly treated clients by helping them gain a better grasp of psychology
and the world so they can live their own lives better. There is no one ideal
personality or optimal adjustment to strive for; there is a constant changing
of one's thinking to better anticipate the future and handle it. We, as
scientists, learn new and better constructs (theories) by having new
experiences and we have new experiences by behaving differently. Thus, Kelly
suggested that therapists encourage clients to try new ways of coping with life
(and new ways of viewing themselves) by acting out new roles or life-styles for
at least two weeks. The therapist would write a script--a role description--for
the patient. This new role would be radically different from the person's
current behavior, i.e. both an improvement and in keeping with the person's
basic needs and values.
As a
result of being "a different person" for two weeks, patients
frequently discovered new ways of handling situations which they adopted. In
fact, occasionally a patient reported that the new role, after a couple weeks of
practice, seemed as though it was their real self, perhaps a personality trait
they had kept hidden and was only dimly aware of for many years.
Purposes
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