Possibility Therapy

I was reading the first few pages of a book which I previously don't have time to read. These few paragraphs just jumped out at me because this is what I believe in as well about human and changes too. All should READ even if you are not interested in therapeutical works. It will tell you about how human we are actually.

I am concerned about this word positive. To me it smells like either that gung-ho, "You-can-do-anything-you-set-your-mind-to," school of sales/motivation training or a New-age Pollyanna view of life ("you can be wealthy if you write enough affirmations," and other such claptrap)

I don't like positive thinking because I think it minimizes the very real (you radical constructivists will excuse me for using that word) physical negative things that happen in the world and in the lives of the people with whom we work in therapy. I'm talking about things like rape, violence, poverty, malnutrition, job discrimination, and so forth. Positive thinking seems to me like putting gilding on the top of a pile of manure. It looks nice, but if you poke it very hard, you'll find the pleasantness does not go very deep. All the positive thinking, reframing, paradigm shifting or whatever doesn;t directly alter these difficult/ harmful conditions.

At the same time, I'm not voting for negative thinking either. Negative thinking holds that everything is manure and there's not much you or I or anyone can do to change that. People are "narcissistic" or "borderline" or "sociopathic" personalities and they will never change. This is not a recommended stance for a change-agent.

The possibility therapist recognises the seriousness of clients' situation without taking a minimizing or Pollyanna view. She/he also recognises the possibility that things won't change (the building will burn down), but works to be shift in the wind in clients' lives.

If you think you understand what the author is conveying, think or read again. If you don't, read again too.