Care vs. Cure
By Bradon Grove, ACMHC psychotherapist at Mountain Valley Counseling The word ‘psychology’ comes from the Greek ‘psychos’ meaning ‘soul.’ Modern psychology is at odds with this, often focusing on study of the brain, behavior, and a kind of emotional hygiene that searches for an end to pain. Its etymological root suggests instead that psychological practice is aimed at something deeper; a quality or dimension of experiencing life and ourselves, based on attending to the symptoms our psyches use to communicate with us. What gets left out between these two definitions? In the rational, cognitive, behavioral view of psychology – often referred to as the medical model – therapy is often conducted with the goal of eradicating pain, trouble, and anomaly, through steady application of concepts and procedures designed to affect outcomes that have been predetermined to result in better living by careful research design and generally accepted views of what…