The method that therapists use, will depend on their belief systems- therapists are more like priests in this way. To create a flawed and simplistic analogy:
Anglicans: Jungians, who try to integrate differences, and to be contemporary, but who invoke the assistance of unconscious forces, angels and saints, and certainly believe in the devil (who is a fallen angel, after all).
Catholics: Object relations (the old Freudians)- who tend to be fundamentalistic in their beliefs, and take the unconscious seriously, but since they know better, you are very much dependent on them for absolution They marry somewhat skewed and punitive concepts with highly intellectual thinking and warm relationships. Its very clever and seductive, but man, you have to be careful: it can do as much harm as it can do good: the devil and the angel are cleverly disguised, at times switching sides.
Protestants: Cognitive behaviourists - forget about intuition and the unconscious; its all in the head. Scientific, pragmatic, real.Well-researched. Safe. The uncsoncious, creative, intuitive,symbolic side of humankind is ignored, and not co-opted at times of distress. (Has humans not, since times immemorial, used song and symbol to move from depair towards healing?)
New church: Narrative therapists - it is all about different ways of telling the same story. We know from research that memory is highly selective; we create a belief-system, and then select information that fit our belief systems. Narrative therapy is about creating alternative, more constructive narratives. Good idea, and certainly usefull and highly effective with children. peronally, I like the techniques, but prefer a worldview with more depth and nuance, which can include acknowldegemnt of the sharp and dark aspects of humanity, existing at times also in their own clients and in the therapist.
Happy clappies: Self psychologists and positive psychology - who are so touchy feelly,and individualised that I am concerned that they create icons out of their own suffering or positive thinking, as if the world should only be made of me and of goodness. And no, the world does not consist of individuals in distress; it is all connected: I, the times and contexts that I live in. My belief systems, are also informed by my peers and the media, by my present history as much as my past - it's all a web: the job if the therapist, at least that's my belief, is to try to untangle the web - then you will find it is a multi-coloured thread (soos tolletjie brei).
Atheists: The clinical, medical people, who believe suffering is, in essence a result of chemistry and genetics. Bring on the medicine. As the knowledge is all in the head of the professional, these are the therapists who can be most attracted by the power complex, and who would be, of course, most unconscious - that is, from the perspective of a lapsed anglican, like me.
In movies, the cognitive psychologists are mostly shown, although to their credit, in a much reduced format.
