2.3. Measure:
Opinions about Help for
Psychological Problems: A Measure of Humanistic and Nonhumanistic Values
Overview. PE therapy goes against the “cultural
grain” for many therapists and clients.
Therapists in training will need to examine their personal values to see
what they really believe about people and the change process. Otherwise, they will find themselves
telling angry (or even elated) clients to seek medication “to stabilize your
mood” or “to take the edge off” their pain. Similarly, many clients seeking therapy will be looking for
an authority to tell them what to do or think, including:
•helping master their emotions with positive thinking.
•dealing only with certain aspects of the
self (such as “my panic attacks”), while ignoring other aspects (such as the
abusive relationship that I am in).
•reassuring them that their problems are due to a “chemical
imbalance.”
•helping them feel good without effort or without examining their
pain.
•helping
them maintain their status quo.
•entertaining
them with the “therapy of the week.”
•providing
2 or 3-session “quick fixes.”
•offering expert guidance on the causes and solutions to their
problems
In order to assess some of these values, try taking the Opinions about
Help for Psychological Problems, an attitude questionnaire (Hitt & Elliott,
2002) that assesses humanistic and nonhumanistic beliefs about getting help for
psychological problems. Use
this questionnaire to help you look at your own beliefs, in order to decide how
closely they fit humanistic values.
This measure can also be given to clients at the beginning of therapy in
order to assess their match with PE therapy, and to identify client therapeutic
“allergies” and preferences.
Opinions about Help for Psychological Problems
(Experiential
Therapy Version, OPPH-E, R. ©Elliott, 2001. Adapted from Pistrang & Barker,
1992)
People have different views about what may help psychological
difficulties. The following
questions ask for your opinion of how you feel your own problems could
be helped. There are no right or
wrong answers: your own opinion is what counts. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each
statement by using the following scale.
Indicate your rating for each statement by circling the appropriate
number.
|
Disagree Strongly |
Disagree Moderately |
Disagree Mildly |
Agree Mildly |
Agree Moderately |
Agree Strongly |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
A good way to help my problems would be...
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
1. Being encouraged to develop my own understandings of
problems. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
2. Having a professional point out patterns in my behavior that
I’m not a aware of. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
3. Learning to accept all aspects of who I am. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
4. Being encouraged to develop new aspects of myself. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
5. Having someone listen to my feelings without giving advice. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
6. Having a professional point out problems in how I am doing
things. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
7. Being encouraged to find the hidden opportunities for growth
in painful experiences. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
8. Talking to someone who listens closely to what I’m really
saying. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
9. Appreciating my strengths. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
10. Learning about the things that give me an advantage over
other people. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
11. Learning to pay attention to my feelings. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
12. Information about the quickest way to get rid of problems. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
13. Discussing my problems with someone in an honest
person-to-person way. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
14. Being treated as responsible for my actions. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
15. Learning to accept myself for who I am. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
16. Learning better techniques to get other people to do what I
want them to do. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
17. Being encouraged to develop my own solutions to my problems. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
18. Keep busy so as not to think about problems. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
19. Having a professional show me how to think in a more logical
way. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
20. Finding sources of excitement in my life. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
21. Establishing goals that are important for me to work toward
in my life. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
22. Discovering what I really feel inside. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
23. Talking about my feelings to someone I trust. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
24. Resolving internal conflicts in myself. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
25. Being giving choices about what I want to change. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
27. Having a professional tell me whether my feelings are
appropriate or not. |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
28. Getting medication. |
Scoring Key for Opinions about Help
for Psychological Problems-Experiential version (OHPP-E)
Humanistic Values subscale: mean of the following items: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13,14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. (alpha: .93). Nonhumanistic Values subscale: mean of items 2, 6, 12, 16, 19, 27, 28 (alpha: .81) Normative data (college undergraduates, n =116): Humanistic Values: m = 4.40; sd = .86 ; Nonhumanistic Values: m= 3.12; sd = .99 (Source: Hitt & Elliott, 2002).
Reference:
Hitt, R., & Elliott, R. (August,
2002). Development of a measure of
humanistic-experiential therapy-related values. Paper to be presented at Annual
Conventioin, American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Materials designed to
accompany the book Learning Emotion-Focused Therapy: The
Process-Experiential Approach to Change from APA Books.
©2003 Robert Elliott, Jeanne Watson, Rhonda Goldman, and Leslie Greenberg
http://www.process-experiential.org/learning