Beyond Determinism and Self-Blame

Rescuing – a universal phenomenon

“…12 Finally, a recognition that the relationship is bidirectional – “Can we not understand the varying influences…that lead people to do what they do and at the same time hold people responsible for their actions, thus according an all-important respect to their human dignity of having free choice”. 21…”

“…18 In clinical work, there is a tension between providing appropriate concern for the suffering endured by patients, and according a respect and understanding for choices that people make as to how they cope with their suffering – “To provide love or empathy without this proper respect for the potential freedom of our patients, even the freedom to act in perverse disregard to their own interest, is to convey a pity that only reinforces the patient’s sense of victimisation and passive resignation to an unfortunate fate”. 21…”

On the Supervisee's Future Orientation

“…Introducing the existentialist perspective helps us to understand the significance of future orientation because, for existentialism, the self is a construct directed toward the future and consistently in the process of becoming. Moreover, from this perspective, the self is born from exercising the freedom to be who we are despite our unique history, biology, or inner mental structure, including object representations, defensive organizations and relational schemas (Shabad, 2007). Therefore, the existentialist school of thought offers another route of investigation and interpretation that highlights the future and does not include exploring personal manifestations of unconscious enactments, motivations and parallel processes of the patient, therapist and supervisor.…”

“…Thus, for example, Stolorow (2015), who studied the existential meaning of emotional trauma, delineates the mental device of dissociation as a modification of the universal structure of temporality. Other theorists who incorporate philosophy into their analytic explanations include Wolson (2005), who highlights the fear of psychic death and the struggle to survive it as determinants of the experience of being and relating to others; Shabad (2007), who describes a drive for transcendence that propels both therapist and patient to devote themselves to someone or something that individualizes and defines them; and Slavin (2013), who portrays the therapeutic partners' struggle to be free to change and create new meanings.…”