Each year we open submissions for our Annual Wise Therapy Spotlight, where we ask a question of particular importance to our wider therapist community. We are always moved by the depth and generosity of our community voices.
This year, we asked our community, What Is the Soul of Therapy? Read more about our inspiration for this, our 5th edition, in the letter from the editors and Academy of Therapy Wisdom founders, Brian and Ian.
Continue here to read the submission by Jo Chang, Ed.D., MBA, LCPC. We hope you enjoy it as much as we all did.
What is the soul of therapy?
The soul, or essence of therapy, is the relationship.
Another way to answer this question is to begin with: What is therapy?
Therapy is about healing: the therapist is the healer. The relationship between the client and the therapist is the indispensable soul of therapy. The soul includes an immaterial aspect or essence of a living being that is believed to be able to survive physical death. Do both the therapist and the client have a soul, and are they the same? Alternatively, is the person is a soul. Is the soul the non-material essence of a person?
The therapeutic relationship, or the rapport between therapist and client, is often regarded as the cornerstone of effective therapy. The therapeutic relationship is generally characterized by trust, empathy, and mutual respect. Many schools of thought believe that a strong therapeutic alliance or relationship can enhance the client’s comfort and willingness to engage in the therapeutic process, facilitating personal growth and change.
One might ask, then, what are the essential components of the therapeutic relationship. According to Carl Rogers (1977), three characteristics, or attributes, of the therapist form the core part of the therapeutic relationship – congruence, unconditional positive regard (UPR) and accurate empathic understanding.
As a Chinese therapist and a counsellor educator, I believe the concept of the “soul of therapy” can be used metaphorically to describe the essential qualities or core elements that make therapeutic practices effective and meaningful. Although different therapeutic approaches emphasize different aspects and philosophies of health and wellness, several fundamental components are generally considered central and essential to the therapeutic process.
It is a fundamental, core aspect of the therapeutic relationship that empathy and understanding involve the therapist’s ability to understand and share the feelings of the client. This deep sense of understanding and sharing helps clients to feel heard and validated; the sharing and understanding between the counsellor and the client are deemed essential; the ability to understand and respect other cultures and their cultural identity involves being aware of cultural differences and similarities without assigning them a value. It also involves learning about and reacting appropriately to the beliefs, values, norms, and behaviours of people from different cultures.
Do varied beliefs, traditions, and languages reflecting diverse perspectives and communication styles mean understanding and respecting impact the understanding that the soul of therapy is in the eye of the beholder? What happens when a client believes that the “soul” is the essence of the self? Is one’s soul or essence something to be shared or discovered?
Speaking as a Chinese therapist educated in the United States, the “soul” of therapy is the Chinese conception of “essence”. How is the “essence” of therapy conceptualized when working with Chinese clients who believe the “soul” is the essence of the self? It is not something to be shared or discovered. How can one be able to adjust to and carry out culturally relevant, suitable, competent, and effective professional counselling regardless of the client’s cultural background when the essence of therapy is the soul, and no two people have the same experience of the soul?
Chinese people, especially those who were born in China or grew up in traditional homes, generally neither believe in nor seek mental health services. Some Chinese feel that seeking mental health services is a waste of time; they accept their fate as a response to their fortune or misfortune. Most Chinese also believe that if their friends find out they are seeking mental health services, they will be laughed at, shamed and outcasted. Chinese prefer to seek other forms of treatment, such as special folk-counselling practices, acupuncture, or herbal treatment. Others appeal to supernatural powers or pray for blessings. Some seek Buddha or God for guidance. Based on my personal experience and discussions with Chinese people living in the United States, the reasons are compounded by the perception that Westerners do not understand Chinese thoughts and feelings. Therefore, there is a belief that Westerners cannot help them with their problems. Difficulty communicating in English, lack of trust in practitioners, and inability to understand the services offered are additional barriers.
Working with Chinese immigrants, I can relate to the concepts of maintaining face and dignity and avoiding shame in the family. I understand the Chinese people and can relate to the Chinese culture. Based on my own experiences and cultural beliefs, most Chinese people believe that seeking mental health services is perceived as being crazy or dishonourable, causing one to lose face, resulting in shame and embarrassment for the family. I believe that some Chinese people tend to think that mental health services apply to ‘abnormal people’ only. A major portion of older Chinese immigrants may be ignored because of the language barrier and their lack of understanding about mental health services. I wonder if language barriers impact the understanding of the “soul” of therapy among culturally diverse clients.
To further explore the meaning and dimensions of the soul of therapy, one can ask, “can the soul of therapy, the therapeutic relationship, be established with online therapy?” Does the therapy have to be an in-person encounter to experience the essence, the soul of therapy? How do we gain trust, empathy, and mutual respect (through online therapy), especially when working with culturally diverse clients? So how does one establish a relationship when one’s personal philosophy, the meaning of life and purpose diverge into differing world views and differences in the essence of therapy or the relationship?
And a final food for thought. What about Artificial intelligence (AI)? Can deep empathy and understanding be established with an AI-driven robot? Can an authentic therapeutic relationship be established with a virtual therapist? Can a robot have the capacity to actualize what makes a human human? Can a robot effectively care for other humans and embrace empathy, love and an understanding of who we are?
There are still so many unknowns, questions to be answered, thoughts to be explored, and relationships to be built, but for now, let us ask:
What is the soul of therapy?
It is in the eye of the beholder.
The soul, or essence of therapy, is the relationship…
The views expressed in this essay are not necessarily the opinions of Academy of Therapy Wisdom, its presenters or its staff. This is part of a series featuring the unedited voices of our community in conversation. All content is used with permission and is copyright 2024 by Academy of Therapy Wisdom. Only the author may reproduce their content.
To read more articles or download a free copy of the final publication visit Wise Therapy Spotlight.
