Does Therapy Work? What does it do?

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The question we are after here is "What does therapy offer us that friendship does not?" If it offers anything it would have to be something beyond close and healthy relationships. To answer this question, we must ask and answer a few others:

  1. What is the human person?
    The human person is a confluence of past, present, and spirit. Spirit is not a gnostic principle but rather a signal to reason—a framework of logic, judgment, and experience. We recognize that angels are understood by their frameworks: Satan is known by division (dis-communion), individualism (ego-theism), and the resolute refusal to serve God (contra-willing good, contra-willing, contra-good). In contrast, Michael is identified by the meaning of his name ("Who is like God?"), Raphael by "God heals," and Gabriel by "God is my strength." For humans, this experience differs, especially when viewed through the lens of humanity's finite, temporal, and material nature. Since we are material beings, the capacity for change is constrained; fundamentally altering one’s logic or reason requires corresponding changes in empirical experience. Our current state reflects the intersection of our present bio/psycho/social/spiritual experiences with those of our past. Further, anthropology is worth applying for comprehensive analysis, but for our current purpose, nothing further is necessary.
  2. What is friendship?
    Friendship, in its varying degrees and magnitudes, represents a genuine confluence of each other's bio/psycho/social/spiritual experiences and realities. Marriage elevates this relationship, introducing a substantial union that adds greater depth on every level. Discipleship, while less directly and intentionally therapeutic than a professional therapeutic relationship, can be understood as a step toward a therapeutic dynamic—distinct from marriage by degree.

Concluding thoughts

The therapeutic relationship, however, is specifically oriented toward the mutual purpose of improving the client’s bio/psycho/social/spiritual experience through the expertise of the therapist’s own bio/psycho/social/spiritual knowledge, particularly their academic and empirically evaluated insights. Therapy operates by:

  1. Removing unnecessary reasoning-based elements that contribute to negative bio/psycho/social/spiritual experiences.
  2. Planning for the improvement of these experiences.
  3. Equipping the client to effectively interpret and respond to past and present challenges.

Therapy is distinct from friendship because its aim is not a confluence or communion of persons, but rather the utility and specific purpose of the relationship, the psychological client's healing. Friendship, by contrast, should remain free from utility as its defining feature. While one party may require more emotional support during a difficult season, this need should remain accidental in the relationship.[1] Otherwise, there is a risk of forming a habitual interpretation of the other as being present solely for one’s utility, rather than for mutual communion—a good in itself—or for the pursuit of an extrinsic good. Any more particular distinction is often dictated both by ethics and the respective therapy chosen. In times of our need, we should turn to those through whom He extends His healing and providential arm. We should not always and everywhere treat our fellow man as if God only exists in them and they are only here to bless us but also to serve, where we can, our fellow man.  The truth is every person needs Christ, not in some abstract fashion nor in a "do better" sort of way but for providence in health, formation, salvation, and communion. If you take your problems to prayer, but the issues raised need a miraculous appearance you should seek spiritual direction as it pertains to following Christ well or counseling for a particular struggle against human nature in which simple desire, prayer, and more grace are not at issue. [2] Simple friendship will not help you answer what God's will is for you in terms of vocation, nor should be where you turn only for healing. In any case, there cannot be any shame in needing to take action for health, even mental health (as central as it is to personhood), because sin is the origin of all ailments, and none is free of that under the sun (Romans 3:23). [3]

Written by Carter Carruthers

FN:

  1. Carter Carruthers, “Series on Love,” Vivat Agnus Dei (21 December 2024), at www.vivatagnusdei.com.
  2. Carter Carruthers, "Importance of Spiritual Direction", Vivat Agnus Dei, June 25, 2023.
  3. Carter Carruthers, "The Source of All Sadness", Vivat Agnus Dei, January 24, 2021.

I am a created entity, not a person.

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