{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.02506112469437653, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0, 'mean_word_length': 5.344961240310077, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
On being “up to other things”: The nondirective attitude and therapist-frame responses in client-centered therapy and contemporary psychoanalysis

In this article I start with a summary of Brodley's writings on nondirectivity. I note that she acknowledged that therapist-frame responses, at times, can have an important impact on clients. However, she felt that the risks of therapist self-representations far outweigh the benefits. The main purpose of the article is to provide evidence of the usefulness of responses from the therapist's framework. In one example, I demonstrate the value of the kind of therapist-frame responses that give affirmation and support to clients. In other examples I show that being “up to other things,” by suggesting a change in the direction of a session, can be therapeutically helpful. Another purpose of the article is to describe the similarities that exist between client-centered therapy and contemporary psychoanalysis. For example, client-centered therapy and self psychology minimize therapist input and emphasize empathic understanding with clients. Both client-centered therapists and relational psychoanalysts seem to share a nondirective attitude, but relational analysts value and offer responses from the therapist's framework. From the clinical examples reported, I conclude that an overemphasis on empathic understanding in the client-centered approach can limit the creative and intellectual resources of the therapist. Once in a while a therapist may be “up to other things” with self-representations, so long as nondirectivity as an attitude is internally present and not forgotten.